Last week on Sunday, Mar. 15, 2026, MMA and wrestling veteran Ronda Rousey made her shocking AEW debut at the Revolution PPV. Moments after Toni Storm earned her victory over Marina Shafir, Rousey entered the ring through the crowd and stood with her friend, Shafir. She then proceeded to share an intense stare-down with Storm before walking out.
With just weeks left for her MMA comeback fight against Gina Carano, Rousey was recently accused of appearing on Tony Khan's AEW for a heavy “payday.” However, now Dave Meltzer of WON has revealed the actual reason behind her appearance.
According to a source close to Meltzer, it was noted that Rousey’s AEW debut ties strongly with her frustrations with TKO. Furthermore, Meltzer noted that TKO was not happy with her degrading UFC. In addition to that, people in WWE wouldn’t be happy about the situation either. Her dissatisfaction with TKO stems from the year-long negotiation period for the Carano fight. However, when the model changed from PPV to streaming, it changed the compensation, believing they would have nowhere else to go.
The Rousey vs. Carano fight was originally planned to take place under the UFC. “The Baddest Woman on the planet” was also offered a hefty compensation under the PPV model. However, with Carano requiring more time to prepare, the fight was pushed and later switched to the streaming model.
Rousey and Carano are now scheduled to fight on May. 16, 2026 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. The fight will take place under Jake Paul's MVP (Most Valuable Promotions) and will also be streamed live on Netflix.
