Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey began her WWE career with a win. In this picture, MMA fighter Rousey appears on the red carpet of the WWE Mae Young Classic in Las Vegas, Sept. 12, 2017. Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for WWE

Ronda Rousey made her much awaited in-ring wrestling debut at WrestleMania 34 on Sunday when she partnered fellow Olympic medal winner Kurt Angle to take on the team comprising of Stephanie McMahon and Paul 'Triple H' Levesque, who are WWE’s chief brand officer and executive vice-president of talent and creative respectively.

The buildup to the match had been reaching a crescendo in recent weeks with both teams trying to get the upper hand going into the tag team clash at WrestleMania, WWE’s flagship pay-per-view. The buildup involved Rousey putting Triple H through a table and then suffering the same fate at the hands of his wife Stephanie during the contract signing.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion did not disappoint and true to her words in the buildup, she made Stephanie tap out when she locked her in her famous armbar after a tough battle between both teams. She also put her famous submission move on Triple H, but he was saved from having to tap out by his wife.

Rousey was delighted to begin her career with a win on the grandest stage in WWE and immediately thanked Angle and the WWE Universe for an unforgettable night. The former UFC star also opened up about her exit from MMA franchise following back-to-back losses to Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm.

The 31-year-old California native was reluctant to talk about her UFC exit thus far, but after her successful debut at WrestleMania, she seemed to be grateful for her losses to Nunes and Holm as she believes those defeats and her eventual exit from UFC led her to fulfilling a lifelong dream of taking part in WWE.

It was me versus the world in an individual sport," Rousey said, as quoted on ESPN. "I thought I would never say this, but I'm so happy I lost those fights [to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes] because it led me here. This is so worth it.”

“Everything really does happen for a reason. I'm just so grateful. I thought I never would be [grateful] for [the losses], but time is a great teacher. I'm just really, really glad I gave it time instead of giving up and feeling it was the end of the world,” she added.

Rousey’s WWE debut was arguably one of the most anticipated events in recent WWE history and the American received plaudits from current and former wrestling superstars and her former colleagues in the UFC.

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