In a bit of shocker late yesterday, it was confirmed that UFC Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey will be competing at the upcoming WWE Pay Per View “Extreme Rules” on April 26 in Chicago, per WrestleZone.com.
Even more shocking than that announcement is the fact that CM Punk, who has been away from the WWE for 14 months in a heated dispute which led to him being fired then signing with the UFC, will actually accompany Ronda to the ring.
Rousey is easily the most popular MMA competitor in the world, and this is a huge score for the WWE. Combine that with the fact that CM Punk was the most popular WWE entertainer before he left, and this has blockbuster written all over it!
Dana White had this to say when reached for comment by Yahoo Sports:
Ronda called me up and told me, ‘Dana I’ve got this offer to do WrestleMania. They want me in the ring with The Rock.’ Of course I gave her my blessing – she’s a huge fan, and I’ve got nothing but respect for Vince McMahon as a businessman.”
“Then she calls me back the next day and says, ‘Dana everyone loved it. It did so well they want me to have a match at their PPV in Chicago.’ It’s at this point I had to take a step back and think about it. It’s obviously great promotion for everyone involved. On the other, is this promotion that we necessarily want as a legitimate fighting organization?”
“At the end of the day I gave my blessing because Ronda is Ronda. But I have to get something out of this as well, and Ronda’s next fight isn’t until August if we can get the dates ironed out. So I called Vince I said ‘I’ll give you Ronda, but you have to let Punk go down there with her. Play it up as a story – whatever – but I need to start generating some buzz around this guy’s first fight.’ So that’s what we’re doing. WWE gets Rousey and Punk for one night, and we get to sell wrestling fans on coming over and checking out what we do.”
As for Punk, the term “never say never” rings true here, as just last week he told reporters he would never return to WWE.
Stay tuned fans, as this just got very good!
Happy April Fools Day!