Highlights

• Ronda Rousey's loss to Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam received a negative reaction from fans, potentially signaling an unsatisfactory ending to her WWE run.
• Rousey's recent Instagram post, in which she mentioned having no reason to stay in the business, added fuel to speculation about her future in WWE.
• There have been ongoing issues with Rousey's WWE career, including criticism of her wrestling style and poor promo work, which may contribute to her decision to retire or potentially make a comeback in the future.

For weeks there have been reports that Ronda Rousey was finishing up her second run with WWE, with a SummerSlam match against Shayna Baszler seen as a fitting goodbye that would see her putting over her best friend. At SummerSlam, Rousey did indeed lose to Baszler in a much maligned match. Fans turned on their MMA rules fight, either sitting quietly and not reacting or chanting "Boring!" If it was indeed Rousey's last match in WWE, it wasn't the perfect ending she may have hoped for.

Ronda Rousey has only increased the intensity of the speculation surrounding her WWE career with an Instagram post today that tagged Shayna and said, "You were the reason I got into this business… Now I got no reason to stay."

This could all be storyline related. It's happened often where a heel has lost a match and thus lost their confidence, only to turn meaner and get it back. Though Rousey played the saddened babyface during her feud with Baszler, it was Shayna who was cheered, while Ronda was booed no matter what she said or did. Normal circumstances would call for Rousey to snap on her former best friend and turn vicious with a rematch at the next PLE. Nothing about Ronda Rousey's runs in WWE has been normal though. For many, the Instagram post feels like confirmation and a goodbye.

RELATED: There Are A Lot Of Possible Reasons Why WWE Fans Hate Ronda Rousey

Will Ronda Rousey Ever Wrestle In WWE Again?

In the mid 2010s, no athlete in America was cooler than Ronda Rousey, who went on a historic UFC undefeated streak. WWE seemed like the next perfect step. There had been an angle with The Rock, alongside Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at a WrestleMania, leading to a WrestleMania match that saw Rousey and Kurt Angle against Stephanie and Triple H. Rousey looked great and fans welcomed her with open arms. Then it started to go wrong. Fans turned on Rousey for being handed everything immediately, and criticized her wrestling style and poor promo work. Becky Lynch was the star they wanted, and Rousey was forced to turn heel.

Rousey left WWE and returned in 2022 with a run that was even worse. Her promo skills and botches were attacked relentlessly. A run as the SmackDown Women's Champion was deemed a failure, and her Women's Tag Team Championship run with Baszler only lasted weeks.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio reported that there were problems between Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler with WWE creative over the type of match they were given at SummerSlam. “Ronda and Shayna wasn’t the best match. There were issues between WWE creative and them as far as how it was gonna go, and you don’t have knockdowns in an MMA fight and do ten counts, or whatever, but it’s like, you have some people stuck in one mentality of combat and others in another, and it kind of, I think that it kind of hurt that.” (h/t WrestlingNews.co)

If that's true, it's not the way WWE or Rousey wants her current run to end. That could make it even more of a sure thing that she'll retire, or the desire to get it right could lead to a third Ronda Rousey run one day. Only time will tell.