It’s official — Ronda Rousey is a member of the WWE roster.
Rousey arrived at the Elimination Chamber event to sign her contract and was greeted by Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Kurt Angle.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Hunter officially introduced her as the badest woman on the planet. She walked out wearing a different version of the “Hot Ronda” t-shirt, this time with a black shirt and the word “Rowdy” written across the front.
Rousey got on the mic and addressed the electrified crowd, saying she was speechless. She said she honored to be paying tribute to Roddy Piper, then she was presented with the contract by Triple H. He assured the contract had no special conditions, which Rousey confirmed.
Triple H said by signing the contract she’ll be in a match at WrestleMania, but didn’t say what it was. Rousey went to sign it but noticed Triple H was whispering to Kurt Angle.
Angle revealed what Hunter’s plan was, saying they were doing all of this to eventually manipulate Rousey. Hunter told him to shut up, saying it wasn’t about them.
Stephanie tried to calm Rousey down, only for Angle to say Stephanie had called her a “has been” backstage. Rousey got in her face but was pulled back by Hunter, only for Rousey to stare him down too.
Rousey then spiked Triple H through the table, only for Stephanie to attack her from behind. Rousey quickly turned around and McMahon backed off.
Rousey was interviewed by WWE.com as she entered the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon before the event started.
“Well I think this is probably the first time I’ve walked into an arena smiling,” Rousey said. “So it’s a little different, it’s a lot different. It’s a high-pressure situation, but also not nearly as high-pressure as I’ve dealt with before. I’m just here to have a good time, sign my contract, tell everybody I’m proud to be here and go on to, we’ll see, hopefully Raw tomorrow.”
Rousey first arrived in WWE in the closing moments of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in January, where she stared down Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and Royal Rumble winner Asuka before shaking hands with McMahon at ringside.
ESPN broke the news that she had signed a multi-year contract with the company moments after she appeared in the arena.
“This is my life now,” Rousey said in an interview with ESPN. “First priority on my timeline for the next several years. This is not a smash-and-grab; this is not a publicity stunt,” Rousey said in an exclusive interview with Shelburne. “When I first met with Triple H, I told him, ‘There are other things I can do with my time that’ll make way more money, but I won’t enjoy nearly as much.’”
In the weeks since Rousey did not appear on WWE television, though they did show clips of her training on an episode of Monday Night Raw. Rumors spread mere days after the appearance of her first match being the mixed tag, with Dave Meltzer reporting in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE hopes the match builds up McMahon’s profile in the public consciousness.
WrestleMania 34 takes place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 8.
