Report: Ronda Rousey signed by the WWE to build up Stephanie McMahon

The WWE is working on creating their next mainstream star but it may not be who you think. This new crossover star has little to no in-ring experience but the WWE perhaps is looking to recreate some Attitude Era magic with this superstar.

The two go hand in hand but new reports suggest that big reason why Ronda Rousey was brought into the WWE fold was build up the Stephanie McMahon brand. Wait, what?

In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required and recommended), a new report says Rousey signing with the WWE as a wrestler will help turn McMahon into an even bigger star outside the ring.

“The key to Rousey is more about Stephanie McMahon, which is why they want that super high-profile match (and if they can get [The Rock] Johnson, it makes it even more high-profile). Stephanie McMahon is a big star in wrestling, but she is not a mainstream star at all. It was explained to me that the key in all this goes back to what made Vince McMahon a big star, which was the program with Steve Austin, and what made Steve Austin a breakthrough star past being a pro wrestling top guy, which was hardly an interview at King of the Ring or the WrestleMania match with Bret Hart, as legend has it, but the angle in Fresno with Mike Tyson.

Rousey is a major sports star. The idea that she was the single most searched female athlete in the U.S. on the Internet in 2017, a year she never competed and for the most part laid low in, speaks volumes. The idea for the program is to make Stephanie a star outside of just the pro wrestling world.”

A rising tide lifts all boats?

Exactly what we all predicted when Rousey debuted at the 2018 Royal Rumble. Not for Charlotte, not for Asuka, not for Bliss, not Banks or a Bella twin but the real money is for the former UFC champion is build up that young upstart from the McMahon family tree.

We’ll see how Rousey’s first WrestleMania feud goes but if turning another McMahon into a mainstream celeb is the long term goal, it may not endear the former UFC champion into the hearts of pro wrestling fans.

So if Ronda Rousey helps make Stephanie McMahon a bigger mainstream celebrity it will help the WWE’s women division in the long term? Thoughts?