Ronda Rousey's WWE Debut at the 2018 Royal Rumble Sets Twitter Ablaze

Ronda Rousey made her long-awaited WWE debut at the 2018 Royal Rumble on Sunday night, and her appearance sent Twitter into a frenzy.

Rousey didn't even utter a word upon arriving after Asuka won the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match. The act of pointing to the WrestleMania sign and shaking Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon's hand was enough to show the intentions of the former UFC women's bantamweight champion.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne shared this interesting detail from her debut:

While Rousey's debut will be one of the biggest moments of 2018 in WWE, not everybody was necessarily onboard with the idea—at least under these circumstances:

"

The fact they didn't let Rousey speak or do a single spot tells you a lot about how her training is progressing.

— JE Snowden (@JESnowden) January 29, 2018"

In particular, the timing of Rousey's debut irked some. WWE had rightfully emphasized the importance of the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match. However, Rousey—not the Rumble winner Asuka—will be what many fans will be talking about coming out of the show.

"

So Asuka has been undefeated since coming to WWE, had a historic 500+ day Women’s title reign, and has just won the First women’s royal rumble match

Only for Ronda Rousey to come in and steal her moment #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/EEkF1sGqKv

— OMG its Khairy  (@ComedianKhairy) January 29, 2018"

Rousey's move from UFC to WWE has obviously been in the works for some time. Shelburne reported she has signed a full-time contract with WWE, and ESPN's Darren Rovell reported she filed for three trademarks for the phrase "Rowdy Ronda Rousey." The nickname "Rowdy" is an homage to Rowdy Roddy Piper.

Rovell also noted how WWE wasted little time selling the shirt Rousey was wearing Sunday night:

The pipeline from UFC to WWE continues as well. The Royal Rumble featured another former UFC champion on the card, Brock Lesnar, though Lesnar, of course, starred in WWE before he transitioned to mixed martial arts.

Regardless, ESPN's Arash Markazi highlighted how UFC has lost its biggest money-makers to WWE:

The obvious question is how WWE intends to use Rousey when she actually steps inside the ring. Asuka should have first shot at the champion of her choosing by virtue of winning the Rumble, but that may not be the case given the unique situation.

Asuka may ultimately get her title shot while Rousey simultaneously receives a major match on the WrestleMania 34 card. Markazi spoke to SmackDown Live women's champion Charlotte Flair, who expressed her desire to wrestle Rousey.

"I hope that's the main event of WrestleMania," Flair said. "That's my dream. I hope we can make it happen. She really opened the doors for a lot of women. Having that opportunity would be huge."

In that scenario, Asuka would wrestle the match she was always going to get against Alexa Bliss, and WWE can get the added bonus of having Rousey at the biggest show of the year.