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Former WWE RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey had one of the most memorable rookie years in the history of the company, making a very impressive debut at WrestleMania 34 in tag team action alongside WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle.
Rousey also held the namesake of being one of three women to main event WrestleMania for the very first time, as Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair competed in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 35 this year and made WWE history.
Rousey's future in WWE is currently unknown, as she is currently on hiatus from the company while she and husband Travis Browne work on having a family. Despite taking time off from in-ring competition, Rousey remained on WWE TV making her Total Divas debut in the last season of the show.
With Rousey's return to the ring currently in question, let's take a look at 5 backstage Ronda Rousey stories you need to know.
#5 Ronda Rousey vs Becky Lynch is a rumored WrestleMania 36 match
Despite Becky Lynch emerging victorious at WrestleMania this year and taking the RAW Women's title from Ronda Rousey, the match finish was not without controversy, however, as many fans feel Rousey's shoulders were not fully pinned to the mat when the referee counted three to end the historic bout.
The controversial match finish could leave the door open for a possible Rousey vs Lynch singles match in the future, and according to SK's Tom Colohue, WWE is still hoping that match can happen.
“Going forwards, I think the Rousey versus Lynch storyline is still very much the main storyline they want, but I think that’s more likely to be heading into a WrestleMania," said Colohue. "We’ll have to see. Asuka seems to be lined up to be the next challenger, at least for the December pay-per-view, and then at the Royal Rumble, we’ll see. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Ronda Rousey as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble.
“What they don’t want to do, given that the whole purpose of this is to make NXT look as good as they can, they don’t want Ronda Rousey to come in and completely overshadow Shayna Baszler. They don’t want that. Neither of the women involved want that, so I very much doubt we will see Ronda Rousey.”
#4 Ronda Rousey is actively preparing for "doomsday"
Ronda Rousey was a new addition to the cast of Total Divas this year, and during her appearance on the show, it was revealed that she is a "doomsday prepper", and is constantly preparing for the possible end of the world.
During one particular episode of Total Divas, Rousey further explained her stance on doomsday while speaking with fellow WWE stars Natalya and Sonya Deville.
"Our antibiotics are about to stop working. We're about to not have medicine for simple things that are gonna kill us. That is what I mean when I say zombie.
"Our next thing that I wanted us to try doing is a little bit of archery because it's part of my doomsday prep. You know people can go cannibal and just start eating each other.
"I love doomsday prepping. I like thinking about all the different ways the world can end and stuff. There's a super pathogen, or there could be a super volcano, or there could be zombies."
Ronda Rousey and her husband, former MMA star Travis Browne, live on Browsey Acres, which is a self-sustaining farm in rural Riverside, California.
#3 Triple H says Ronda Rousey will return to WWE
Despite Ronda Rousey signing a multi-year deal with WWE when she made her debut at the 2018 Royal Rumble PPV, there remains no word as to when or if Rousey will be returning to the ring anytime soon.
Rousey had a significant presence on the most recent season of Total Divas, but she has publicly said that the reason behind her taking time off from WWE following WrestleMania 35 was so that she and her husband could have a baby.
With the end of 2019 just a few weeks away, it's unknown whether or not Rousey's family plans have changed, or if she plans to make some type of in-ring return in time for WrestleMania next year.
Rousey has been keeping herself busy while off WWE TV, as she landed a recurring role in the TV show 9-1-1, and has a small role in the Charlie's Angels remake playing a fight instructor.
During a recent interview with TMZ, however, Triple H seemed confident that Ronda Rousey will appear in a WWE ring again in the future.
“Ronda’s doing phenomenal," said Triple H. "She’s got the bug for this big time. She’ll be back at some point. She’s just getting a lot done, man."
#2 Ronda Rousey legitimately angered fellow WWE stars during her heel turn
During her much acclaimed first year in WWE, Ronda Rousey was able to accomplish much more than most WWE stars accomplish during their rookie year, not only winning the RAW Women's Championship, but also turning heel midway through her run.
During this season's run of Total Divas, it was revealed that some of Ronda Rousey's comments made during her heel turn, which Rousey maintains were in-character statements and promos, rubbed fellow WWE stars the wrong way, and legitimately angered them backstage.
At one point during the show, Nia Jax called out Ronda Rousey for Rousey's heel remarks, explaining the following.
"It doesn't just take one person to make you a star. You are not the only person in this world, but for some reason you think that you can walk on water and that nobody can touch you. After all the hard work it's taken for - not only me, but every woman in this division to build her, to teach her - now she just does and says whatever she wants. That might have worked in the UFC, but that doesn't work here. In the WWE, we're a family. How dare you disrespect all the women who have laid the groundwork for you."
#1 Brock Lesnar landing on SmackDown was due in part to Ronda Rousey
One of the more surprising moves made in this year's WWE draft was sending 'The Beast' Brock Lesnar to SmackDown only to have Lesnar move back to RAW several weeks after the draft.
Lesnar shocked the world when he defeated Kofi Kingston for the WWE title in a mere 8 seconds, and the move kept 'The Beast' on WWE SmackDown temporarily until the move was made to swap him back to RAW in exchange for 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt.
One of the reasons why WWE hot shotted Brock Lesnar to SmackDown is because FOX executives were hoping to land Ronda Rousey on the brand, but were unable to secure the former WWE RAW Women's Champion when FOX learned she was not yet ready to return to WWE TV.
“I think that it was an executive decision at FOX that they had to get Brock Lesnar because they’re not getting Ronda Rousey, at least for a while," reported Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com.
As for Ronda Rousey's brand future, it remains unknown which WWE brand she might return to when she is ready to return to WWE TV, but with a rumored Becky Lynch vs Ronda Rousey match at WrestleMania 36, it's possible Rousey could return to RAW.
