Even with a week and a half of distance, many still cannot believe that AEW Revolution featured an appearance from Ronda Rousey, who confronted “Timeless” Toni Storm and left with long-time friend Marina Shafir after Shafir laid Storm out with a sucker punch. And even though Rousey’s appearance was reportedly a one-off for now, and any potential Storm-Rousey plans are impossible due to Storm being forced out of action, many are still curious about how this all came together.
On Wednesday, Rousey answered those questions herself, posting a six and a half minute YouTube vlog detailing her Revolution appearance. Rousey revealed that she had previously asked Shafir about getting involved during one of Shafir’s matches, both to help out her friend and to promote her upcoming fight against Gina Carano on Netflix. Revolution became an option after Shafir told Rousey she was wrestling her first PPV singles match against Storm at the event.
As footage was shown of Rousey interacting with people backstage, including Kenny Omega and Dax Harwood, the former UFC star admitted that she did find it weird that AEW kept her arrival secretive, revealing they wheeled her into the arena in a wheelchair covered in a tarp. Still, Rousey found the experience a good one, calling AEW “a less restrictive, more adult version of WWE.” Perhaps most importantly, Rousey also admitted the appearance was motivated, in part, to stick it to UFC and TKO, whom she had a falling out with during early negotiations for the Carano fight.
“It’s kind of a cool, little bit of a ‘f**k you’ to the TKO group,” Rousey said. “Which is kind of funny because…WWE is on Netflix. But I kind of figured it would 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 of it. So it should be fine.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Ronda Rousey” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
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