Ronda Rousey On Why She Won't Be In The Women's Royal Rumble Match
As noted, rumors continue to swirl about former UFC Champion Ronda Rousey joining WWE imminently and potentially making her debut at the Royal Rumble, this Sunday. Betting sites currently have her listed with the best odds of winning Sunday's Rumble match. Today, TMZ Sports caught up with Ronda Rousey at the airport and asked about her making an appearance in the Women's Royal Rumble Match this Sunday. Rousey responded that she wouldn't even be in the country, as she's headed to Columbia to finish shooting the movie, Mile 22.
"I appreciate everyone's confidence, but I'm actually leaving to Colombia right now to finish shooting Mile 22 and won't be back until mid February," Rousey said. "I appreciate you saying that and it's a real honor to hear it."
Rousey was also asked what it felt like to already have a target on her back in the WWE, noting the recent comments from WWE Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss, who scoffed at the idea of someone taking her title and saying "good luck" to Rousey. Rousey didn't seemed phased, responding that she's working on other projects at the moment, while also noting that she hasn't signed with WWE.
"That's really sweet of her to say, but yeah, I've got other stuff to do right now," Rousey replied. "No, I haven't signed anything – regardless to what anyone said – no pen-to-paper for me."
Wrestling Inc. President, Raj Giri, took part in yesterday's media call with Triple H, and asked if Rousey did come to the WWE, would it be a full-time thing or a short-term relationship?
"We had discussions and we've talked about a million different things," Triple H said. "The point I've shared before is kind of where we're at with sharing it, but she's interested, we're interested. We've had back and forth conversations. We're busy. She's busy. Getting to the point of being able to sit down and hammer something out has not happened yet. But the interest is clearly there.
Triple H continued, "It's funny because I see people say, 'Oh, if she does sign with them that's taking the place of somebody else who's been trying to do this for years.' She's been training for this for a long time. I saw videos of her, I think, four years ago, doing this kind of on the side, when she was fighting. Still kind of doing the sports entertainment thing on the side. She's been thinking about – and been very serious about – doing this for a long period of time. So, that criticism is kind of unfounded, because, man, if she does this – when that time comes – I think she likes it to the point where it's going to be tough for her to not be all in. But we'll see when we get there. I know people think – because she's not fighting or whatever – she has a very busy schedule. So, us sitting down and doing some things is not the fastest process on the planet."