Ronda Rousey: 'I need to find a way' to return to WWE
Following a dream come true moment at WWE's Wrestlemania a few weeks ago, UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is champing at the bit to return to the squared circle for another shot at professional wrestling.
Rousey appeared alongside her friend Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson against real-life WWE co-owner Stephanie McMahon and her husband Triple H (Paul Levesque). The UFC champion has been a lifelong fan of professional wrestling and getting the chance to perform in the promotion's biggest event of the year only left Rousey wanting more.
"I hit the ground running. The first I ever wrestled was at Wrestlemania with an attendance record at Levi's Stadium. I had a problem when I left. There's no way I can't not go back in there again. There's no way. After experiencing that, there's nothing like it," Rousey said when appearing on the "Rowdy" Roddy Piper podcast recently.
"The second I left I was already thinking, 'How can I possibly go back?' I didn't even change (clothes) yet. I hadn't even gotten out of my outfit yet."
Rousey, who actually received Piper's blessing to use the nickname "Rowdy", admits that the pressure was ratcheted up to an unbelievable level when she first stepped into the ring.
The Rock and Triple H had one of the most infamous rivalries in the history of professional wrestling, so Rousey taking part in the latest incarnation was certainly a huge moment for everyone involved. Thankfully, the spot went off without a hitch even though it didn't go down the exact way it was supposed to happen.
"It's a tricky thing having (The Rock involved). He's so good at putting people over," Rousey said. "He holds the room so intensely, it's hard to not be outshone by him. Triple H and The Rock could be one of the biggest rivalries of all-time. How can we make a situation where we ignore them? That's a lot of pressure, to be captivating enough to ignore them.
"That wasn't even a throw I was planning. I made it up on the spot. I pulled it out of my ass. I don't even know what that is. It was kind of awesome to see everything planned, and everything that doesn't go according to plan."
Rousey loved her time in WWE, but no matter how much the squared circle may call her back one day, her true passion always will be fighting in the UFC Octagon.
There's just something about the unknown that awaits her when she steps in the cage that Rousey can't live without. Wrestling is exhilarating, but at the end of the day the outcome is still pre-determined so it's just a different kind of adrenaline for Rousey.
"It's the uncertainty of the fight," Rousey said of MMA. "I don't know exactly what's going to happen. I don't know if I'm going to get really hurt. I don't know what they're going to come out with. My mind is still running over a million things that could possibly happen, whereas when I know exactly what's going to go down, roughly, because it didn't go down exactly as I thought. Give or take. I'm like, 'OK, this is the way it's going to be and if it's going to be this way, I'm not going to screw it up.'
"Whereas in a fight, I'm like, 'Don't get stuck in a certain way. It can go any way so don't screw it up.' It's a different kind of anxiety."
As of now there are no plans for Rousey to return to the WWE any time in 2015, but there have been plenty of rumors that she may appear at Wrestlemania again next year to continue the story with The Rock, Triple H and McMahon.
Rousey definitely plans to go back to the WWE at some point, but her focus remains her upcoming fight at UFC 190 against Bethe Correia. The outcome of the fight isn't determined, but Rousey already has a good idea how it will end.
"I need to find a way (to go back to WWE) but I have a lot of stuff going on. I'm fighting Aug. 1. First of all, the kind of beating Bethe is going to get in Brazil is nothing compared to anything anyone can make up in the meantime," Rousey said.
"So I can't make anyone excited about anything while that fight is looming over my head."
