It might be a while before ‘full-time’ Ronda Rousey shows up on Raw or SmackDown

WWE teased a Ronda Rousey appearance on Raw last night (Jan. 29) after her surprise debut at Royal Rumble the night before. She wasn’t there.

We probably should have known. A USA Today interview with Triple H from earlier in the day told us she wouldn’t be.

Rousey left Philadelphia to return to Colombia where she’s shooting the movie Mile 22 with Mark Wahlberg. According to the man who signed her, she has to finish that - and then get back to training for her new “full-time” job as a professional wrestler - before she’ll be back on our screens:

“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.”

Without a producer’s credit, I haven’t been able to learn exactly when Mile 22 wraps filming in Bogota and Atlanta, or how long Ronda will be needed. Even absent that information, it doesn’t sound like we should expect to see her on Raw or SmackDown in the near future, since she has to finish work on the movie then hit The PC for more training. And Trips doesn’t even sound positive he knows how long it will take before they feel comfortable putting her in a ring in front of 10,000+ fans.

Rousey talked about WrestleMania 34 after her appearance Sunday night in Philly, and rumors point to WWE having a few sets of plans for a match with her there.

But maybe don’t count on seeing much of her between now and April 8.