Ronda Rousey WWE: UFC star SIGNS full-time for WWE after making sensational Royal Rumble appearance
RONDA ROUSEY made her WWE debut at the Royal Rumble 2018 after a signing a full-time contract ands insisted that wrestling "is my life now".
The UFC legend emerged to a thunderous ovation after a memorable arrival at the conclusion of the first-ever women's Rumble match on Sunday.
The 30-year-old superstar appeared to have left WWE fans disappointed after she failed to participate in the historic encounter - but the wrestling company had a huge surprise in store.
Asuka wrote her name into the record books by emerging victorious to win the Rumble and claim a title shot at WrestleMania 34.
But as she stood face-to-face with Raw champ Alexa Bliss and Smackdown's title holder Charlotte Flair deciding which belt to go for, her victory parade was cut short by the shock arrival of Rousey.
And Rowdy, who was wearing the late great Rowdy Roddy Piper's leather jacket - given to her by the WWE icon's son - made her way to the ring as the three superstars in the ring stood open-mouthed.
Rousey offered her hand to congratulate Asuka before the Japanese Rumble winner pulled hers away.
That led to the ex-queen of the octagon pointing towards the WrestleMania 34 sign in an apparent challenge to the threesome before she then shook the hand of WWE chief Stephanie McMahon.
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News then broke moments afterwards that she had in fact signed a full-time professional wrestling contract with WWE.
She told ESPN: "This is my life now. First priority on my timeline for the next several years.
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"This is not a smash-and-grab; this is not a publicity stunt.
"When I first met with Triple H, I told him, 'There are other things I can do with my time that'll make way more money, but I won't enjoy nearly as much.'"
Rousey changed the world of MMA during her career in UFC as she became the women's bantamweight champion - winning five of her first six fights in the first round.
She became a huge pop culture icon, hosting Saturday Night Live and appearing in a variety of TV shows and movies.
Rousey lost the two fights of her career to Holly Holm in 2015 and Amanda Nunes in 2016 before walking away from MMA aged 29.
And she now insists that wrestling professionally has always been something she wanted to do.
Rousey said: "It's funny -- it's kind of like acting, in that it was something I always wanted to do but I never thought was in the cards for me.
"And now that I realise I really do have this opportunity, I feel like my 6-year-old self would totally kick my ass if I didn't take it."
Her switch to wrestling has been a long-time coming and she first appeared on WWE at WrestleMania 31, climbing into the ring with The Rock and hip-tossing Triple H before locking a standing overhook on McMahon and tossing her to the floor.
She joined friends and fellow MMA fighters Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke in being confronted by Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Bayley in a promotional video teasing a future clash as they supported fellow ex-UFC grappler Shayna Baszler.
Rousey is now the latest UFC legend to cross between the worlds of MMA and wrestling.
Brock Lesnar is the most famous example, with the Beast winning the heavyweight crown inside the Octagon and numerous titles in WWE.
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It takes place 48 hours before the Showcase of the Immortals emanates from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, April 8.