Ronda Rousey appears to be done with professional wrestling.
It was well known that Rousey was a huge fan of the sport. When she made her official in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34, it was an exciting tag team bout that further emphasized Rousey’s love for the sport.
Her run would continue throughout the year, but it was clear that fans weren't as thrilled with Rousey at Survivor Series as they were with her at WrestleMania 34. The former WWE RAW Women’s Champion continued to move forward her career, but you can tell that something was off with Ronda, especially her second stint.
For the most part, her first stint was giant success as Rousey was a big reason that Evolution was a thing. Plus, she was also a big component for the women main eventing WrestleMania for the first time ever.
However, Rousey did find success in her second stint, but it just wasn’t the same as her first. Ronda has talked about it in the past noting the issues she had backstage. Ronda left WWE in 2023 after an MMA rules match against Shayna Baszler. She would fight a couple of matches here and there on the indies and Ring of Honor, but she hasn't stepped into the ring in over two years.
Why?
That’s because the 38-year-old is essentially retired. Ronda pretty much confirmed the news during her interview on The Lapsed Fan podcast.
“Pretty much, I’d say so,” she said when asked if fans should stop expecting a comeback. “I got into WWE because I wanted to be able to wrestle with my girls, you know, the Four Horsewomen and be able to wrestle with my friends. And they kind of dangled that carrot for my whole run and never let it happen.”
“And then the second run, they kept dangling it. And then by the end, I was like, I’m fcking leaving unless I can wrestle with Shayna [Baszler]. And that’s how I was able to do it at all.”
Ronda simply wasn’t having fun anymore and decided that it was best to walk altogether.
“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. So I can’t continue to do that. So I’m going to go f**king be awesome and doing other things.”
While there was plenty of frustration throughout both of her runs, Ronda doesn’t feel that being in WWE was a waste of her time. In fact, she applies everything she’s learned through everyday life.
“I’ll take everything that I learned from pro wrestling and apply it elsewhere into my other passions, you know, in comics and fight choreography and in film and screenwriting and all of these things. If anything, it was like I was doing like a sabbatical. When you go off and you study something for years and come back and utilize what you learned, that was my wrestling sabbatical.”