Crossovers between the UFC and WWE aren’t exactly breaking news. Over the years, fighters have bounced between the cage and the ring—Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, and even a few surprise cameos here and there.
Lesnar was the first to make the transition. A former NCAA Division I champion, Lesnar made his WWE debut on an episode of RAW in 2002. He would go on to achieve great things in business before moving on to UFC in 2007 and winning a world title in just his fourth match- that too against Randy Corture.
He would eventually return to the squared circle on a RAW after Wrestlemania, feuding with John Cena in 2012. He has since remained with the company, only making one trip to the Dana-White led promotion to headline UFC 200 vs. Mark Hunt.
Rousey, on the other hand, joined the WWE in 2018 after a highly successful career in the UFC. She would go on to win multiple world titles and main event WrestleMania- and become one of the first three women (Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair) to do so. She quit down the promotion after a loss to Shayna Baszler in 2023.
WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H has now claimed that the door is still wide open for both their returns. And not just that. More crossovers are a real possibility with both promotions under the same TKO umbrella.
On a podcast with Andew Schulz to promote Wrestlemania 41, he discussed the same saying, “You might! You know, it’s one of those things that just depends on who is an entertainer.”
“So, there’s always a possibility. Look at Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, there’s always that possibility. We’re always wide open to it”, he noted.
Over the years, the line between the UFC Octagon and the WWE ring has become increasingly blurred, with several athletes making successful transitions between the two arenas.
Michael Chandler has been seen enjoying a few episodes of RAW, LIVE from within the crowd, while former WWE women’s champion Rhea Ripley was present at last weekend’s UFC 314 to cheer on her compatriot, Alexander Volkanovski, in a successful title fight.
However, as entertaining as the possibilities of a real crossover are, it seems the WWE chapter in Rousey’s book has been closed forever.
‘Ronda couldn’t wrestle’: former WWE champ
Rousey’s journey through WWE was as headline-grabbing as her UFC career, but her reflections on it have been far less glowing. Despite achieving major milestones—like winning the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships and headlining WrestleMania—Rousey didn’t hold back when discussing her time behind the scenes.
In her memoir Our Fight, she described WWE as an “absolute s*** show” and criticized the company for what she perceived as a chaotic backstage environment.
She expressed frustration over feeling creatively stifled and claimed the organization tried to “hold [her] hostage with [her] own career.” Rousey made it clear she has no intention of returning, stating, “I don’t need anything from them, and I don’t intend on going back.”
While she did praise individuals like Paul Heyman for their support, Rousey’s overall experience in WWE left her disillusioned.
Conversely, some of her peers from her time in the WWE, like Becky Lynch (Rebecca Quin) have claimed that her tenure in the promotion was poorly managed by the powers that be.
In a conversation with Ariel Helwani, the former WWE champ said, “She was a star, and she should’ve been handled differently in terms of… she had such a great outing (Wrestlemania 34) that everybody thought ‘Oh, she can wrestle.’
“I mean this with respect, but she couldn’t wrestle“, sighed Lynch.
However, Lynch maintains that Rousey should have had more help during her time in the WWE, noting that she didn’t find it surprising that the former UFC champion had some negative experiences in the promotion.
