Ronda Rousey made her long awaited and heavily rumored debut with WWE on Sunday night at the Royal Rumble. She came out with a Roddy Piper inspired titantron, t-shirt, and jacket.
Did you notice that jacket was a little bit familiar?
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That’s because the jacket Rousey was wearing was actually Piper’s. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne confirmed what looked to be the case to any long time wrestling fan who was watching with a keen eye.
The jacket Ronda Rousey is wearing at the @WWE Royal Rumble was Rowdy Roddy Piper’s jacket. His son gave it to her beforehand.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 29, 2018
Rousey grew up a huge fan of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and received permission from the man himself to market herself as “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey. During her UFC career, she was often introduced with that that name.
BREAKING NEWS: Former @ufc Women’s Bantamweight Champion @RondaRousey makes her presence felt following Women’s #RoyalRumble Match! https://t.co/LIvlJKZ2kp
— WWE (@WWE) January 29, 2018
As Rousey transitions to her now full-time WWE career, it’s not all that surprising to see her pattern her career off of one of her idols, though the extent to which her look was modeled after Piper’s may have been. Either way, it’s pretty cool to see someone like Rousey modeling her look after one of the all time greats of professional wrestling. A couple years after his death, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper continues to live on.
