USA Today is featuring an interview with Paul “Triple H” Levesque talking Ronda Rousey signing with the WWE and her debut at the Royal Rumble PPV this past Sunday night.
Triple H noted that while they were always friendly with Rousey over the years, things really started to get more serious on Rousey’s end in the last year.
“…this year it really escalated. We had not been in contact other than a little text here and there… She called to ask about coming to the Performance Center, if she could come in there and be with a few of her friends for a Bachelorette party. And we had a discussion about it, and during that discussion, boy, it really started to come up that this is something she was not just throwing out there or suggesting – it was something that she really wanted to do. It’s something that she’s really wanted to do the whole time. She was dead serious every time she mentioned it to me. On our end, you hear that a lot, it’s usually just people saying something. She was dead serious the whole time.”
He also spoke in detail about keeping Rousey’s debut at the Rumble a secret.
“It’s harder than you think in this world of social media. As it was coming down to making the decision we wanted to do this, there were a lot of last-minute things. She was in Colombia doing the movie. Trying to get somebody on a flight that is as famous as Ronda is, and as visible as she is – and internationally she’s almost bigger than she is in he U.S. – on a flight, into the country, through customs, clear security, on another flight to Philly, shuttle to a hotel, into the service entry, brought to a bus, hidden in the arena the whole day, and not until right before she walks out there does anybody see her. Very few people knew… there was only a handful at best that knew.”
Triple H also addressed when we can expect to see Rousey back on WWE TV.
“She’ll finish up this movie, and then she’s in. She’ll be at the Performance Center, she’ll be training and working with us every day. And we’ll see where it goes. It is not for lack of desire or motivation, if anything. The two times she has been at the Performance Center training, we’ve had to try to get her to back off because she will train all day and all night if we let her.”