Ronda Rousey hasn’t been seen in WWE since WrestleMania 35, where she dropped the Raw Women’s Championship to Becky Lynch in a rather awkward finish to the main event. Since then, she’s had surgery for an injury from that match, created a bunch of YouTube content, and nearly lost a finger while filming a guest spot on the TV drama 9-1-1. She’s also part of Total Divas Season 9, which premieres next month. What nobody seems to know for certain, however, is whether and when she might be returning to wrestle for WWE. In addition to her recent hand injury, she’s also talked about trying to start a family with her husband, and getting pregnant would certainly impede her return to the ring.
Now an interesting wrinkle has been added to all this speculation, because WWE.com just moved Ronda from the “Current Superstars” section of their roster page to the “Alumni” section. Whereas she previously sat between Roman Reigns and Ruby Riott (it’s alphabetical by first name), she’s now listed between Rob Van Dam and Rosa Mendes.
What’s interesting about this is that WWE.com is not usually in a hurry to move Superstars from Current to Alumni. For example, Nikki Bella is still listed as current, despite talking publicly about being unable to return to WWE for medical reasons. Other “Current Superstars” include Alicia Fox, Big Show, Brie Bella, and Jason Jordan. So moving Ronda to “Alumni” had to be a specific choice about her status, not just part of a general attempt to keep things current.
Does that mean Ronda Rousey is done with WWE, aside from an already-filmed season of Total Divas? It sure looks that way, but the thing about wrestling is that things are sometimes the opposite of how they look, on purpose. Some fans have already begun speculating that this is a mislead building up to Ronda’s return, but that would seem oddly timed considering she just recently had a finger pretty much ripped off. Also moving somebody to “Alumni” on the website would be a new and uncommonly subtle choice for WWE if it is indeed storytelling. Doing that wish Sasha Banks, for example, would have had a huge effect in the build-up to her recent return, but she never left the “Current Superstars” section.
