Ronda Rousey Indicates WWE and Pro Wrestling Career is Over

Ronda Rousey is done with wrestling—and this time, she sounds like she means it.

Nearly two years since her last WWE match, the former UFC megastar made it clear on The Lapsed Fan podcast that pro wrestling is firmly in her rearview mirror. When asked directly if fans should stop expecting a comeback, Rousey didn’t hesitate.

“Pretty much, I’d say so,” she said. “I got into WWE because I wanted to be able to wrestle with my girls, you know, the Four Horsewomen and be able to wrestle with my friends. And they kind of dangled that carrot for my whole run and never let it happen.”

The Four Horsewomen—Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir—had long been teased as a faction in WWE, but the storyline never materialized. Rousey explained that during her second stint, she made it clear she wouldn’t stick around unless she could finally tag with Baszler.

“And then the second run, they kept dangling it. And then by the end, I was like, I’m fcking leaving unless I can wrestle with Shayna [Baszler]. And that’s how I was able to do it at all.”*

Rousey’s WWE journey started with a high-profile debut at WrestleMania 34 in 2018 and included two title reigns. But it ended at SummerSlam 2023 in a match against Baszler, which she described as her final chapter. She later wrestled three non-WWE matches just so she could share the ring with Marina Shafir.

Since stepping away, Rousey has poured her energy into her family and her creative passions. She welcomed her second daughter with husband Travis Browne in early 2025 and has shifted her focus toward writing. Looking back, Rousey said the biggest reason she walked away was the constant frustration of not being allowed to reach her full potential in WWE.

“That’s what made me have to step away, because it got to the point where I’m just like, they’re never going to allow me to make it as good as it can be, and, like, meeting them halfway in this range of mediocrity is like crushing my soul. So I can’t continue to do that. So I’m going to go fcking be awesome and doing other things.”*

She added that her time in WWE wasn’t wasted—it was more like a learning experience that she can now apply to her new creative outlets.

“I’ll take everything that I learned from pro wrestling and apply it elsewhere into my other passions, you know, in comics and fight choreography and in film and screenwriting and all of these things. If anything, it was like I was doing like a sabbatical. When you go off and you study something for years and come back and utilize what you learned, that was my wrestling sabbatical.”

For Rousey, WWE may be over, but the lessons she picked up in the ring are fueling her future in entertainment, storytelling, and family life.