With nearly a month left for her much-awaited MMA comeback, Ronda Rousey recently shocked the world when she made her surprising AEW debut. At the Revolution PPV in Los Angeles, Rousey made her AEW appearance.
After a short face-off with Toni Storm with Marina Shafir by her side, Rousey walked out through the crowd. The moment soon became one of the most talked-about AEW segments and trended heavily on the internet. However, with still concerns surrounding her AEW status, Rousey was recently labeled a “marketing genius” by WWE legend Rikishi.
Speaking on his “Off The Top” podcast, Rikishi heaped praise on Rousey and lauded her ability to earn big amounts of money both at UFC and WWE. “Well, good for Ronda Rousey. You talk about a marketing genius, she surpassed a wrestling fan, she surpassed the UFC fan, she [is] coming after the bag.
“At the end of the day, every single wrestler, every single UFC fighter, that's what you should be concerned about, you know. And so when you see a person like that that came into WWE, she first took the bag from UFC, came into WWE featured,” Rikishi added. “Took the bag from there, then she turns around, and I can guarantee you probably after this run here that'll probably be it for Ronda. She's good enough right now.” (H/t WrestlingInc]
Rousey is scheduled to fight 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.
Rikishi defends Ronda Rousey's pro-wrestling skills
Despite being one of the most dominant MMA fighters of all-time, Rousey had a rocky pro-wrestling career. Often at the receiving end of criticism for her matches and promo skills, Rikishi recently chose to display his hope in Rousey. On the same podcast, he proceeded to call Rousey a “skilled wrestler.”
“I believe that she can handle her own. Is she a skilled wrestler in professional wrestling? I feel she is. But, you know, maybe she might not, you know, get along with a few of the wrestlers that are there. But this is the industry we in. If you're successful, you got jealous people; when you're not successful, not a damn soul going to reach out to pick you up.”
