When news broke that Ronda Rousey, the UFC legend, WWE Superstar, and Southern California native, made a surprise appearance at the Ring of Honor taping at the Kia Forum following the conclusion of AEW Collision and Rampage, it turned heads around the industry.

Now sure, Rousey had been working matches around the Southern California area over the previous month, first joining Marina Shafir at Lucha VaVoom in a surprise match against Taya Valkyrie and her trainer, Brian Kendrick, and then following it up with an advertised bout against Ring of Honor Women's Champion Athena and Billie Starkz at Pro Wrestling Revolver, but going from fun little romps on the indies to an angle at Ring of Honor and everything that comes with it is a completely different story entirely.

So what gives? Is Tony Khan looking to goose Ring of Honors numbers like Nick Khan did for NXT, using mainstream names to sell tickets for Final Battle and prove the viability of the brand in media right contractual negotiations a la Chris Jericho in early AEW? Or was this a well-paid one-off to generate some hype and excitement around Full Gear weekend?

Well, according to Fightful, the reality falls somewhere in between, with Rousey currently appearing on a handshake deal with the company.

“The hope is that Ronda Rousey’s appearance in Ring Of Honor can help generate some subscriptions for the Honor Club service,” Draven shared from Fightful. “She’s currently on a handshake deal and has not signed with AEW or ROH as of Friday night.”

Interesting stuff? You bet, but what did Khan have to say on the subject when it was broached during the official AEW Full Gear media scrum? Well, fans didn't have to wait long to find out, as it was the second question sent his way after Orange Cassidy hit the proverbial showers.

“She is not signed, but we had a great conversation. It came about because there was some unfinished business,” Tony Khan said of Ronda Rousey. “They had that match, and I thought it would be great for our fans to settle it in the ring. At the Wrestling Revolver show, they had the match, and I had spoken to them, and I thought it would be great to have a match and build some interest and then have the story come to Ring of Honor where Athena is the Ring of Honor Women's Champion, Billie Starkz is her minion, there is a lot of interest in that. I thought it would be great to see that tag team against two of the Four Horsewomen, Marina (Shafir) and Ronda Rousey. Ronda was happy to come here, she was great, the crowd was really excited to see her, and it was a great match. We would love to have her back sometime, it was really fun, her being out here. She's a local, lives nearby, and that helped make it possible. Anytime it's convenient, we would love to have her back because she was tremendous. And it was a great match, and if fans want to see it, they should check out ROH.”

Welp, there you go, folks; Rousey isn't a member of AEW or Ring of Honor, at least for now, but if the opportunity presents itself, Khan appears willing to bring in the “Baddest Woman on the Planet,” even if it potentially presents the same sort backlash that signing Ric Flair brought to All Elite Land.

Marina Shafir is happy to be back with her best friend.

Though WWE pushed Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler as the best friend MMA fighters-turned-professional wrestlers, in the humble opinion of Marina Shafir, another Four Horsewoman of MMA, it's her relationship with the “Baddest Woman in the World” that holds real weight, as they've been working together since either became interested in the sport.

Taking to social media to celebrate a very successful week of professional wrestling following her pair of matches with Rousey against Athena and Billie Starkz, Shafir celebrated her chance to wrestle alongside her friend for the first time in her career and everything that comes with it.

Will AEW and/or Ring of Honor fans get to see even more Rousey in the squared circle, proving that her performances in WWE weren't all she's capable of? Only time will tell, but as TK noted at Full Gear, if she wants to wrestle, there's a spot for her within the promotion – whether she decides to take that offer and become a full-time professional wrestler once more, however, could define the futures of multiple wrestlers and of AEW as a whole.