Holly Holm’s knockout victory over Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 shocked the mixed martial arts world, but it didn’t stop there, as one of the most influential figures in professional wrestling was taken aback as well.
According to Simon Head of the Sun, UFC President Dana White revealed on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast that WWE Executive Vice President Paul “Triple H” Levesque texted him after Holm became the new UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
“Even Triple H—your boy Triple H—hit me up last night and said, ‘Wow!'” White said. “He goes, ‘What a show! And what a shocker!’ That’s what Triple H hit me with last night.”
Triple H has expressed his admiration for Rousey in the past, and the feeling is mutual as Rowdy has long been a huge wrestling fan.
That much was clear at WrestleMania 31 when Rousey made a surprising in-ring appearance with The Rock. It resulted in her taking out both Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, and it generated a ton of speculation that she would be involved with WrestleMania 32 in Arlington, Texas.
Per Damon Martin of FoxSports.com, the former world champion made it clear she would like to try her hand as an active competitor in WWE one day:
What I would love to do: I got an Olympic medal, I would want to retire from MMA as one of the greatest of all time, I would love to have the chance to be the boxing world champion, and I would love to have the chance to be a jiu-jitsu world champion. I’d love to have the chance to be the Divas world champion and just be the best of everything at one point.
It is unclear what type of impact Rousey’s loss might have on her WWE aspirations, but she received a six-month medical suspension from the UFC after getting pummeled by Holm, per MixedMartialArts.com (via Elias Cepeda of FoxSports.com), which means she could be available in some capacity for WrestleMania 32 on April 3.
Although White described Rousey’s WrestleMania moment as “one-and-done” previously, per The Fight Network (via Nick Schwartz of For The Win), there is undoubtedly a lot of money to be made by both Rousey and WWE if they are able to do business in the future.
The 28-year-old fighter may no longer be the indestructible force she was presented as, but she still has no shortage of cachet, and Triple H would certainly jump at the chance to get her involved with a big WWE event.
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