This past Saturday night at WWE SummerSlam, Shayna Baszler made her long-time friend turned enemy, Ronda Rousey, tap out in their MMA Rules match. The victory is easily the biggest of Baszler’s career but is somewhat tainted by a poor crowd reaction to the bout, along with the focus more largely being on Rousey’s future following the encounter. Heading into the match, it was reported that Rousey had given WWE a “hard out” date and was expected to wrap up with the promotion after SummerSlam. Whether that be for an extended period of time or altogether has not been made clear.
The latest indication of where Rousey stands with the promotion came just now in a post she shared on her Instagram page.
“@qosbaszler you were the reason I got into this business… Now I got no reason to stay,” she wrote.
The impression that Rousey is giving fans is clear: She may never return to the confines of a WWE ring. However, this is pro wrestling, and it can be difficult to discern what is real for what is not. Haus of Wrestling has reached out to WWE for clarification on Rousey’s status and has not heard back as of this writing. If we do receive a response, we will update this post.
For what it is worth, I had a chance to speak with Baszler this past Friday morning as part of the WWE SummerSlam media junket, and when I pressed her about Rousey’s future, she said the following.
“If I know Ronda Rousey, and I do, you’ve never seen the last of Ronda Rousey. So, you know, whether that be next week or next year? Who knows? We’ll see how this goes tomorrow night, and then we’ll go from there.”
With WWE’s impending acquisition by Endeavor, it seems unlikely that Rousey will stay away from WWE forever. Once acquired, WWE will merge with UFC, where Rousey is a Hall of Famer, to form TKO Holdings, a publicly traded company. Once both promotions are under the same umbrella, performers like Rousey and Brock Lesnar seem like natural ambassadors for the new, pun intended, endeavor.
My full interview with Baszler will air as part of tomorrow’s Haus of Wrestling episode, also featuring The Ringer’s Cameron “Ceehawk” Hawkins. It will be released in video form at Noon EST on Premier Streaming Network before hitting the Haus of Wrestling podcast feed.