Before becoming a multi-time Women’s Champion in WWE, Ronda Rousey was already a huge fan of pro wrestling and like many other fans, she was “starstruck” the first time she met a former World Champion.
Following a hugely successful MMA career, Ronda Rousey entered the world of pro wrestling in 2017, signing with WWE. Her first match took place at WrestleMania 34 where she teamed with Kurt Angle to defeat Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, making McMahon tap to the Armbar.
From there, Rousey quickly entered the title picture and defeated Nia Jax to capture the Raw Women’s Championship for the first time. She successfully held the title for 231 days, defeating the likes of Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, and Bayley.
She was finally defeated at WrestleMania 35 where Becky Lynch overcame both Rousey and Charlotte Flair to become both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion. In the aftermath of the loss, Rousey disappeared from WWE TV for almost two years before resurfacing at the 2022 Royal Rumble and winning the bout to secure her place at WrestleMania 38.
There, she was defeated by Flair, who was by then the SmackDown Women’s Champion. However, weeks later the Baddest Woman On The Planet forced The Queen to submit in an I Quit match. Her reign only lasted 55 days, however, as Liv Morgan cashed in her Money In The Bank contract to capture the title that July.
Rousey feuded with Liv Morgan for several months before finally regaining the gold at Extreme Rules in October 2022.
Ronda Rousey was “a dork” when she met CM Punk
Before all of her WWE accolades, though, Rousey was a fan and at SummerSlam 2014 got the opportunity to meet many of the company’s superstars in that capacity.
In an interview that has recently resurfaced from the time on Karyn Bryant’s MMA HEAT, Rousey admitted she had been “starstruck” by meeting one star in particular, former WWE and AEW World Champion CM Punk.
“I was totally a dork and starstrucked too. I wasn’t like Harrison Ford dorky starstrucked but I was like right under that a little bit because first I didn’t really recognize like, I was like [speechless]. I didn’t have anything to say except for like…
“I think the first thing I said to him was ‘I love you’, which is terrible and not smooth. It’s not smooth at all. But whatever, he was super cool.”
H/T to Essentially Sports for the above transcription.