Ronda Rousey attends WWE shows, gets involved in angle with friend Shayna Baszler

Could another high-profile WWE appearance be next for former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey?

Ronda Rousey is no stranger to pro wrestling. The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion has been a fan of sports entertainment for a long time, and made a high-profile appearance at WrestleMania 31 along with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, taking out Triple H (WWE Executive VP Paul Levesque) and Stephanie McMahon.

Now, she has come back near a wrestling ring. But it was in a much dimmer spotlight this time.

Rousey is close friends with former UFC fighter Shayna Baszler, who moved onto pro wrestling after her release from the promotion. Baszler was one of the 32 competitors in the Mae Young Classic, a WWE-developed women’s tournament designed to showcase the best independent talent in the world. So Rousey showed up to cheer on her friend along with fellow Four Horsewomen Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir.

Triple H even tweeted about it, making the most of a superstar attending one of their shows:

Just a heads up - the rest of this post spoils the tournament up to the finals, which will take place live. The first few rounds won’t be aired in any form until September, so you know what you’re getting into if you continue to read this.

That was the first day of the tournament, and not much happened - Baszler won her first-round match with Rousey ringside supporting her. But things got a bit more interesting on day two.

For those of you that don’t follow pro wrestling, I’ll give you a little history lesson. Back in the day, the legendary Ric Flair was a member of the Four Horsemen - probably the best stable in wrestling history. As fans of the sport, Rousey and her friends dubbed themselves the Four Horsewomen as a homage of sorts. But they’re not the only Four Horsewomen.

Flair’s daughter Charlotte currently wrestles for WWE, and while she was in their developmental territory NXT, the pro wrestling promotion tried to dub her and three fellow wrestlers - Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Becky Lynch - as the Four Horsewomen. It was more than a homage - it was a way to use Charlotte’s father’s popularity as a catalyst for her own career.

So, fast forward to day two of the tournament. Rousey, Shafir, and Duke are ringside once again for Baszler’s match. On the other side of the walkway in the crowd, there just happened to be three WWE wrestlers - Charlotte, Bayley, and Lynch (Banks couldn’t make it due to other commitments). After Baszler won her match, she taunted the WWE Four Horsewomen with the traditional Four Horsemen salute - holding four fingers in the air. This led Rousey, Shafir, and Duke to do the same, and the ladies all had a bit of a staredown over it.

Here’s some (admittedly bad) video of it (via Cageside Seats):

Baszler went on to make the finals of the tournament, where she will meet Japanese star Kairi Sane (known as Kairi Hojo in Japan) on September 12th.

I won’t say that they’re booking Baszler so strong because they’re still trying to woo Rousey for sure, but it certainly can’t hurt. Don’t be surprised if you see all the same ladies (and Sasha) show up at the finals as well, to go forward with a real angle that could see Ronda on one of the WWE’s flagship shows.

Rousey (12-2, 6-2 UFC) was one of the biggest stars in the history of the UFC before two straight losses derailed her career. She hasn’t confirmed her retirement from the Octagon, but all signs are pointing in that direction.