Ronda Rousey enjoyed a long hiatus from the WWE starting with the 2019 WrestleMania. After waiting for three long years, she finally returned to TV for this year’s Royal Rumble and went on to pick up the win in order to secure a championship match at WrestleMania 38. Recently, the UFC Hall of Famer opened up about her return and how she was shocked by the fan reactions directed toward her.
Ronda Rousey was in conversation with the Wives Of Wrestling podcast about the 2022 Royal Rumble return. The former Raw Women’s Champion was admittedly taken aback by the way the fans cheered for her. Prior to showing up on TV, she talked a lot of trash about the WWE Universe due to her previous on-screen persona. But surprisingly the crowd greeted her with a warm welcome.
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“I guess the feedback I get is a live audience, there’s a lot of times where what you think is coming online and what the live audience is expressing are two opposite things.” Ronda Rousey said. “Case in point, Royal Rumble, I left as a heel and was getting booed out of every stadium, and I was like, ‘okay, so I assumed everyone thought I was still a heel.’”
“And any interviews I gave any time I was talking sh*t on the fans. Like, being in character for in case I come back, and that’s what I assumed I would come back to. When it ended up not being that reaction, I was really, really surprised.” (Quotes courtesy Wrestling Inc)
WWE Universe’s reaction shocked Ronda Rousey
When Ronda Rousey appeared as a surprise at the Royal Rumble, she received a thunderous ovation from the crowd. The fans were more than excited to see her back on TV and hence they got behind her with a big pop. But the superstar was in the dilemma of embracing the pop as she was guarded to enjoy that moment. She does not also believe that a different thought process was stored in them due to the online spoilers.
Ronda Rousey originally debuted at the end of the 2018 Royal Rumble event and her debut was highly criticized since she stole the spotlight from the WWE female roster who was participating in the first-ever Women’s Rumble match. Then, it didn’t take a long time for her to become one of the mainstays of WWE’s women’s division. She eventually proceeded to become the RAW Women’s Champion at SummerSlam 2018 and had a lengthy reign with it until dropping the belt to Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 35.
One of the turning points in Ronda Rousey’s WWE career took place during the 2018 Survivor Series, where she squared off against Charlotte Flair for the first time on short notice. Fans turned on Rousey, for the first time on that night and this made the combat sports legend irate. Eventually, this led to an official heel-turn for her on the Road to WrestleMania 35. But during the latest comeback, WWE again converted her into a babyface figure.
