How did Ronda Rousey get the “Rowdy” nickname?
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Ronda Rousey is an Olympic medallist who had win the Bronze medal in judo at 2008 Summer Olympics. She became the first American women to achieve this feat. But this is just one in Rousey’s long list of accomplishments. Post winning at the Olympics, she started pursuing a career in mixed martial arts.
Rousey kicked off her career in MMA with King of the Cage, and soon moved to Strikeforce. It was bought by UFC, where Rousey went on to win the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion – she was the inaugural female champ. But when she kicked off her career in MMA, she needed a nickname and the first idea that popped up in her mind was “Rowdy”.
Wrestling fans might be aware that “Rowdy” was the moniker used by WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper. He was known for his work on WWE and WCW. Piper was often considered to be the greatest heel wrestler in the entire industry. Ronda Rousey had been a huge fan of Rowdy Roddy Piper since childhood and felt that she could use but didn’t want to steal the name.
“When I first started doing MMA I was trying to think of a fight name and of course the first thing that everybody thought of was like Rowdy Ronda Rousey. And it’s like I know, but it’s like Rowdy Roddy Piper already has that and I don’t want to steal it,” Ronda Rousey stated during an interview with ESPN. But surprisingly, Rousey received the greenlight from Piper himself, in exchange of the promise that she would do complete justice to the name.
“He was like, ‘Sure kid, no problem. Better do the name proud’,” added Rousey. She was able to do complete justice to the name and had a dominant record of 12 wins from 14 bouts in her MMA career. Similarly, she continued her dominance when she became a professional wrestler and moved to WWE.
Ronda Rousey’s WWE run
Sadly, Roddy Piper never got a chance to see Ronda Rousey perform on WWE and carry the “Rowdy” legacy forward. While Rousey debuted on WWE in 2018, Piper had passed away in 2015. Rousey made her first appearance for the company at the 2018 Royal Rumble. Debuting at Wrestlemania 34, she went on to win the Raw Women’s Championship at Summerslam.
Ronda Rousey had some memorable feuds against the likes of Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax. She, along with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair main evented Wrestlemania 35 in a Winner Takes All match. Lynch emerged victorious in the bout, and that was the last time Rousey was seen on WWE.
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Sanchit Chandalia
(1378 Articles Published)