In the age where anyone could return to the ring, don't expect ex-WWE star Ronda Rousey to make a return to wrestling after her departure in 2023.
During an appearance on The Lapsed Fan podcast (via Wrestling News), Rousey was asked if her professional wrestling career was in the “rearview mirror.”
She replied, “Pretty much, I'd say so.”
Rousey first joined WWE in 2018 after making some one-off appearances. She made her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34, teaming with Kurt Angle to face Stephanie McMahon and Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
She would win the RAW Women's Championship from Alexa Bliss at the 2018 SummerSlam event. Rousey would hold the title for 231 days.
In 2022, she returned at the Royal Rumble. Rousey would win the battle royal but unsuccessfully challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 38. She would eventually beat Flair at Backlash the following month.
That title reign lasted 83 days before losing the championship to Liv Morgan. Rousey would later regain the title from Morgan before losing it to Flair later.
Her final feud was against Shayna Baszler. They started as a tag team before eventually having an “MMA Rules” match at the 2023 SummerSlam PLE.
The real reason Ronda Rousey left and retired from WWE
It sounds like Rousey was underwhelmed by WWE's creative process, especially during her second run. Initially, she joined the company to “be able to wrestle with my girls,” including Shayna Baszler.
Instead, she felt like she was being held back by the creative team. That is seemingly what caused her first hiatus from the company.
“That's what made me have to step away, because it got to the point where I'm just like, They're never going to allow me to make it as good as it can be, and, like, meeting them halfway in this range of mediocrity is like crushing my soul,” Rousey explained. “So, I can't continue to do that. So, I'm going to go f*****g be awesome and doing other things.”
Rousey called her time as a professional wrestler a “sabbatical.” It helped her sharpen skills to use for her “other passions.” At least she took something away from her time in the ring.
