Ronda Rousey is opening up about her surprise AEW appearance.
And it turns out her presence at Revolution meant far more than just supporting Marina Shafir.
In a new YouTube vlog, Rousey pulled back the curtain on her experience leading up to the pay-per-view, while also praising Shafir’s evolution from MMA into the pro wrestling world.
“Marina is my best friend in the whole wide world and we grew up doing judo together as little kids. We both quit judo and started doing MMA and then we both quit MMA and started doing pro wrestling,” Rousey said. “She’s absolutely crushing it and I’m so proud of her. I’m so happy that everybody’s finally starting to take notice of how incredibly special she is.”
Rousey also revealed that AEW went to great lengths to keep her involvement under wraps prior to the show.
“I was brought into the arena in a very unique — I thought this was going to be much more chill like whatever kind of day, but they’re acting like it’s freaking Royal Rumble super secret whatever,” she said. “But they had me jump into a wheelchair and throw a tarp over me and wheel me in here.”
It wasn’t just a cameo.
It was an experience she clearly found refreshing.
Comparing the environment to WWE, Rousey described AEW as a more relaxed and less restrictive atmosphere, while also noting the uniqueness of it being her first true AEW pay-per-view experience.
“I mean, it’s a little bit weird, but also familiar, but also it’s like AEW, so it’s nice. It’s a little bit more laidback. But actually, this is my first, I think, full-on AEW show because I only did Ring of Honor before,” Rousey said. “Like, I think I’ve been at the shows, but never really performing them. And Ring of Honor was kind of like a pre-taped, that was a smaller crowd. So, I’ve never been to an AEW pay-per-view, so I don’t really know what to expect so much, but I’m thinking a less restrictive, more adult version of WWE, which sounds like a good time.”
She then went a step further, taking a playful jab at TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of both WWE and UFC.
“Those are all very good descriptions, I felt. So, yeah. And it’s kind of a cool little bit of a, like little bit of a ‘f*ck you’ to the TKO group, which is kind of funny because WWE is on Netflix, 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 of it, so it should be fine.”
The appearance comes amid Rousey’s return to combat sports, as she prepares for her first MMA fight in nearly a decade.
Rousey is set to face Gina Carano in a bout scheduled to stream live on Netflix on May 16, marking a major moment in her fighting career comeback.
