The line between sports and sports entertainment was blurred Sunday night in California.
The biggest night in professional wrestling featured one of sports’ most dynamic talents, as UFC superstar Ronda Rousey was in the house for WrestleMania 31 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Not only was Rousey in attendance, she was a part of the show.
Rousey came into the ring toward the end of the show and starred in a segment alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who returned for the WWE’s big night. The two teamed up to take on the bad guys, “The Authority” — Stephanie McMahon and “Triple H” — in a confrontation in the middle of the ring.
First, Rousey delivered a judo toss to Triple H.
She then put Stephanie in an armbar.
Adding to the moment was this tweet from UFC president Dana White, which came shortly after Rousey’s in-ring performance.
[tweet https://twitter.com/danawhite/status/582359915273945089 align=’center’]
WWE and UFC are, in some ways, rival promotions, so it might have been a little jarring to see Rousey in a WWE ring. However, Rousey’s agent — who also is Johnson’s agent — told MMAFighting.com that the appearance had been in the works for a while and was run by White first.
“I’ve told you many times how I work with (White),” Brad Slater told MMAFighting.com. “I always, always call him and make sure he is OK with anything we ever do in movies, television and otherwise.”
Rousey also spent some time milling around backstage with other WWE talent.
[tweet https://twitter.com/WWE/status/582367615688916992 align=’center’]
It’s unclear if there’s an actual WWE match in the works for Rousey, but you never know.
