Triple H is speaking out on getting Ronda Rousey into the WWE.
Speaking to USA Today, Triple H recalled the first time he talked to Rousey. They first met when she and Stephanie McMahon competed in an Ice Bucket Challenge in LA. From there, they continued to text one another until this past year, when Rousey wanted to come to the Performance Center for a Bachelorette party.
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 didn't think that there was any pressure to sign her, explained. The deal worked out organically, came together well, and went from there. He knew she wanted this as she continued to train and even showed him training footage.
She’s been training this whole time, specifically for WWE. She’s been training intensely this whole time, and I knew that and I knew what her intent was, but we had yet to sit down and have that deep conversation about it. Once we did, the timing just worked out. Once we did, it went extremely quick from there.
She was sending me bits and pieces of training footage along the way, so I knew she was serious. It was just a matter of getting time to sit and talk. Once we did it was really quick, and it was a thing like ‘hey, I’m ready to go now if you want me to do something right away.’ So that changed our thinking, and we went from there.
He also recalled the night where paparazzi caught both him and Ronda Rousey at a restaurant. He liked it because it fueled speculation as to where the talks may have been going. He compared it to throwing a surprise birthday party for a kid.
The dinner thing in LA, people made such a huge deal out of it…. I was in LA for a totally different reason. Was coming back, I had a series of meetings and my last meeting ended close to LAX. I was taking a red-eye, and I had a couple of hours. I just reached out and said ‘hey if you’re free, I’m going to be there, we can have dinner and chat and catch up on some stuff and see if we can get closer.’
We were able to make it happen, that’s all it was. I got a private room, and right before we were about to leave the restaurant people came in and said ‘wow there’s a ton of paparazzi and film crews outside.’ So we all tried to go out different doors and I three-quarters made it out unscathed before they caught a distant shot of me getting in a car. But it was all good, speculation creates things. It’s funny, people try to say ‘oh they lied to us,’ or something… we’re trying to create excitement and surprise you! Go with it.
As for where she'll go from here, Triple H reiterates that she's in here for the long haul. Once she finishes filming her movie in Columbia, She'll report to the Performance Center.
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.
It isn't known when Ronda Rousey will make her in ring debut for the WWE. One thing is clear, however -- she'll be at WrestleMania.
