WWE Rumors: Major update on Ronda Rousey’s return to Raw (Exclusive)

What’s the story?

Ronda Rousey hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since WrestleMania when she lost her Raw Women’s Championship to Becky Lynch in the 'winner take all' main event at that show.

After suffering a break in her hand, Rousey would vanish from our screens for a prolonged period. It was reported by the Wrestling Observer in the lead up to the match that this was planned anyway and that Rousey would be out of action until the fall.

However, with Paul Heyman now in the Executive Director chair for Monday Night Raw, that may be about to change.

In case you didn’t know…

There has been considerable speculation about Ronda Rousey’s WWE contract, with Dave Meltzer reporting different deals being in place and then reporting a planned leave of absence that was apparently contractual.

In pursuit of further information, I discovered last year in June that Ronda Rousey is on a rolling one year contract, similar to what Ric Flair has said about the terms. Both WWE and Rousey would have to opt in to a further year and this is why Rousey has the freedom to take her current time off.

#MITB against Jax.#Summerslam against Bliss.#SurvivorSeries against Asuka (Or Lynch)#RoyalRumble against Banks.#Wrestlemania against Charlotte (only loss)

— Tom Colohue (@Colohue) June 23, 2018

Also, in June 2018, before Rousey won the women’s championship, I sent out the above tweet detailing the schedule laid out for her.

With Rousey now absent and expected back in the fall, a source had told me to expect Rousey’s return to coincide with the first SmackDown Live on Fox, due to WWE seeing Rousey as perfect to lead a show on the Fox network.

The heart of the matter

The same source has now come back to me with further information suggesting that Rousey might be returning to the red brand instead.

“A lot has changed with Raw since WrestleMania. Banks is MIA so Becky’s leading there but Heyman coming back is a big deal. He likes working with Rousey and she likes working with him.”

With Raw being noticeably more aggressive and intense this last week, I believe it makes sense for Rousey to return, particularly now that she has some unfinished business with Becky Lynch.

The current Raw Women’s champion has been defending her title against Lacey Evans for a while but she unquestionably has a target on her back that the baddest woman on the planet will undoubtedly aim for.

“If she does come back to Raw, it might not take until October either. She wants to work with Heyman now. She wanted to the whole time.”

What’s next?

Love her or hate her, there’s no dispute over Ronda Rousey’s talent. She is a solid storyteller with a varied and different move set and a legit sports combat background that makes her a threat to anyone. Either Raw or SmackDown Live will benefit hugely from her.

Where she goes at this point is up to Rousey but with ratings dropping and new management, we might be seeing her sooner than we think.

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