UFC and WWE veteran Ronda Rousey recently shocked the world when she made her surprising AEW debut at the Revolution PPV. Following a face-off with Toni Storm, Rousey left the ring and walked out through the crowd.
Shortly after, several rumors and speculations emerged about Rousey's AEW appearance. While none were able to share a concrete reason, WWE legend Booker T claimed that Rousey's appearance was related to a big “payday.”
Later, Fightful Select, PWInsider, and WON also noted that Rousey had not yet signed a contract with AEW, and there are currently no active plans for her to come back to All Elite Wrestling.
In a recent backstage footage released by Rousey on her YouTube channel, she gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her preparation and shared in detail about her AEW appearance. “I was brought into the arena in a very unique — I thought this was going to be much more chill like whatever kind of day, but they’re acting like it’s freaking Royal Rumble super secret whatever,” she said. “But they had me jump into a wheelchair and throw a tarp over me and wheel me in here.
“I mean, it’s a little bit weird, but also familiar, but also it’s like AEW, so it’s nice. It’s a little bit more laid back. But actually, this is my first, I think, full-on AEW show because I only did Ring of Honor before,” Rousey said. “Like, I think I’ve been at the shows, but never really performing them. And Ring of Honor was kind of like a pre-taped, that was a smaller crowd. So, I’ve never been to an AEW pay-per-view, so I don’t really know what to expect so much, but I’m thinking a less restrictive, more adult version of WWE, which sounds like a good time.
“Those are all very good descriptions, I felt. So, yeah. And it’s kind of a cool little bit of a, like, little bit of a ‘f**k you’ to the TKO group, which is kind of funny because WWE is on Netflix, but I kind of figured it’d be easier to ask for forgiveness instead of permission on this one. Like, I’m promoting your show. It’s fine. We didn’t advertise it. It’s not like we boosted the ratings of it, so it should be fine.”
Rousey is scheduled to make her MMA comeback against Gina Carano in May. 2026 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. The fight will be under the banner of Jake Paul's MVP and streamed live on Netflix.
