MMA Fighter Ronda Rousey is reportedly about to sign up with World Wrestling Entertainment.
Rousey appeared at a WWE event last September and appeared to challenge the WWE’s Charlotte Flair to a match. But now, USA Today is reporting that Rousey’s move to the world of wrestling is “imminent.”
The paper reported that two sources close to Rousey said that the former fighter is set to join the WWE sometime early next year.
This may be a mutual business decision for both Rousey and WWE. As The Comeback notes, WWE is about to enter into a new broadcast rights negotiation phase and having a big name like Rousey joining them just as broadcasters are wrangling over those rights could mean a boost for wrestling.
Speaking of broadcast rights, the UFC recently found its stock falling, not rising. Due to her 48-second beatdown loss to Amanda Nunes early this year, Rousey’s UFC career is likely over. But she is still one of UFC’s biggest names and the end of her career may have figured into the mere $200 million UFC was offered for broadcast rights. That is far from the $450 million UFC had proposed that they should be paid.
But if Rousey does make the jump to the WWE, it shouldn’t be a big surprise. Rousey has promoted herself as a media personality, every bit as much as a UFC fighter. She has launched a furtive acting career in such films as Expendables 3 and Fast 7, appeared in men’s magazines such as Maxim, and hosted Saturday Night Live.
Clearly, Rousey has always intended to take any and every opportunity to keep her name and face before fans in whatever capacity. If she jumps to wrestling, it would just be another chapter in the story of Ronda Rousey the multimedia personality.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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