Ronda Rousey Says AEW Debut Was 'A F--k You to' TKO Group Associated with WWE

Ronda Rousey admitted this week that sticking it to WWE and UFC parent company TKO was among the motivating factors behind her surprise appearance at AEW Revolution on March 15.

As part of a vlog that released Wednesday on her YouTube channel, Rousey gave a behind-the-scenes look at her AEW debut and provided some background information on how and why it came to be:

Rousey, who is making her return to MMA on May 16 in a fight against Gina Carano as part of a Most Valuable Promotions card on Netflix, acknowledged that showing up at Revolution was a "little bit of a f--k you" to TKO (beginning at the 2:33 mark of the video).

"It's kind of a cool little bit of a f--k you to the TKO Group, which is kind of funny because WWE is on Netflix," Rousey said. "But I kind of figured it'd be easier to ask for forgiveness instead of permission on this one. Like, I'm promoting your show. It's fine. We didn't advertise it. It's not like we boosted the ratings, so it should be fine."

After winning a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Rousey rose to prominence in the world of MMA, and she became the inaugural UFC women's bantamweight champion in 2013.

Rousey went undefeated in her first six UFC fights and first 12 career fights overall, often winning in quick and dominant fashion, which helped make her one of the biggest stars and draws in UFC history.

However, after back-to-back losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, Rousey transitioned to pro wrestling in 2018, debuting for WWE at the Royal Rumble that year.

Over the course of two different stints with WWE, Rousey was a three-time women's champion, one-time women's tag team champion and one-time Royal Rumble winner, and she was part of the first women's match to ever main event WrestleMania when she faced Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 35.

Rousey departed WWE for the final time in 2023, and she made a surprise appearance shortly thereafter for ROH, which is owned by AEW.

After that, there were constant rumors and speculation about Rousey returning to MMA, and while most assumed it would happen in UFC, Rousey signed with Most Valuable Promotions instead, and then she joined forces with another TKO competitor in AEW.

Rousey said she conceived the idea of showing up in AEW to help Marina Shafir, who is her real-life best friend. Rousey ended up doing precisely that at Revolution, as she confronted Toni Storm after Shafir's loss to Storm.

Fightful Select (h/t Fightful's Jeremy Lambert) reported that Rousey is not believed to have signed a contract with AEW, so there may not be any other immediate plans for her, but the fact that she now has a working relationship with AEW suggests it is possible they could do something together in the future.