FINISHING MOVE:
Armbar
SIGNATURE MOVE:
"The Baddest Woman on the Planet"; "Rowdy”
NICKNAMES:
"Bad Reputation" by Joan Jet (WWE)
Currently signed to WWE’s RAW brand, Ronda Rousey is a former UFC fighter. Before pursuing her career in professional wrestling, Rousey competed in Olympic Judo. In 2005, she became the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in Judo. She also won the silver medal at the 2007 World Judo Championships in the middleweight division and the gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games.
Rousey retired from Judo at an early age of 21 and started training herself in Mixed Martial Arts.In 2010, she made her MMA debut and defeated her opponents one after another using her finisher, armbar.
She made her Strikeforce debut in 2011. Following brief feuds with several other renowned wrestlers, Rousey challenged Miesha Tate for the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion and the two were very public about their rivalry.
In 2012, she faced Tate and made her submit owing to her armbar. Rousey became the new Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion and dislocated her opponent’s hand in the process.
In the same year, Ultimate Fighting Championship announced that Rousey has become the first ever woman fighter to have signed with the company. Moreover, she was announced as the UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion by Dana White, UFC President.
While defending her title against Liz Carmouche, Rousey was seen struggling for the first time. Although she went on to successfully retain her title, her jaw was dislocated by Carmouche. However, she continued to remain fan favourite and her popularity started soaring with each passing day.
Rousey also locked horns with Sara McMann in the main event at UFC 170 on February 22, 2014 in order to defend her Championship. She went on to win the by TKO after she knocked out McMann and for the first time, Rousey had picked a win using any method other than the armbar.
Rousey used to admire "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in this profession and she even dedicated her win against Bethe Correia to Rowdy after his unfortunate demise on previous day of the fight. Slowly, Rousey was making a name for herself by being indestructible inside the octagon and was being applauded for the considerably less time she used to take in demolishing her opponents.
After six successful attempts at defending her title, Rousey finally lost her championship to Holly Holm. That night, her three year long championship reign had finally come to an end.
Talks of her joining the WWE was up in the air for long. However, she made her first in-ring WWE appearance was at WrestleMania 31. She came inside the ring as an ally to the Rock who was negotiating with the authorities. Rousey came from the crowd and went inside the ring as soon as Stephanie McMahon punched The Rock.
Soon after that, Rousey attacked both Triple H and Stephanie when they tried to bring her down. The crowd greeted this segment with a loud pop and it was confirmed that the WWE Universe would love to have the UFC Champion competing inside the WWE ring.
Following that incident, Rousey was spotted at the Mae Young Classic tournament when she arrived to support her Horsewoman Shayna Baszler. This appearance also teased a possible match between four horsewomen of UFC against the fur Horsewomen of WWE.
Finally, in 2018, Rousey made her WWE appearance at Royal Rumble. Shockingly, she did not enter the first ever women’s Royal Rumble as a participant. Instead, she showed up after Asuka won the Royal Rumble.
By this time it was pretty clear that Rousey will not be facing jobbers for her initial feud. Instead, her rivalry with the RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon reignited and she took down both Stephanie and Triple H after her official signing with the RAW was aired.
To the disappointment of the Authority, RAW General Manager decide to side with Rousey and warned her about the intentions of the Authority. This led to a brawl between the four and it was finally decided that Rousey and Angle will face Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a mixed match challenge at WrestleMania 34.
Currently, Rousey is expected to go head to head against her Bosses in her very first feud in the company. Moreover, the WWE see an opportunity to add more value to the Women’s Revolution that the company intends to introduce.
Needless to say, Rousey is an important deal for the WWE. However, her lack of mic skills allow the fans to doubt her dominance inside the WWE ring as the wrestlers her require to cut convincing promos. It is expected that Rousey will learn how to work the crowd and if nd when she does, there will be no stopping for this “Rowdy” wrestler.
