Ronda Rousey addresses Tony Khan’s AEW open-door invitation
Though the door is open for an AEW return if she wants it, Ronda Rousey doesn’t have any plans to get back into professional wrestling.
Rousey, in the middle of promoting her MMA comeback fight, showed up at AEW Revolution in Los Angeles this March for an angle where she helped out her friend Marina Shafir. On a media call last week, Khan was asked about Rousey’s AEW status and said he would welcome her back any time. Rousey addressed that open-door invitation during an appearance on Up & Adams, saying she had a great time at Revolution but isn’t intending for wrestling to be part of her future.
“No, that life of being on the road is probably more time consuming than doing training camp at home,” Rousey said. “I had a great time, but it just happened to be in town and my best friend was there, you know what I mean?”
Rousey had two separate in-ring runs with WWE before stepping away from the company in August 2023. She did work a few tag team matches with Shafir outside of WWE after that, including a November 2023 bout for Khan in Ring of Honor. Shafir, who was one of the Four Horsewomen of MMA with Rousey, is a member of the AEW women’s division and part of the Death Riders.
For Rousey, the appearance at Revolution was an opportunity to hype up her MMA return, give a “f*** you” to TKO, and have fun with Shafir. Rousey described the AEW environment as being like a “less restrictive, more adult version of WWE.”
No plans for another MMA return either —
Rousey’s quick victory over Gina Carano headlined Netflix’s first-ever live MMA card on May 16. With this always intended to be a one-off comeback, Rousey reiterated in the Up & Adams interview that she is retired, even with Holly Holm open to a rematch of their 2015 fight. Rousey did tell Up & Adams that she is a different fighter now and would “clean [Holm’s] clock” if they matched up again.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.