WWE Reportedly Signed Ronda Rousey To Make Stephanie McMahon A Star Outside Of Wrestling

WWE is working on creating their next mainstream star and it’s Stephanie McMahon.

The biggest reason WWE signed Rousey as a wrestler was to help turn Stephanie into a star outside of the ring, according to a report by Dave Meltzer in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

While Stephanie is obviously among WWE’s biggest names, she is not a mainstream star at all, or even a mid-level star. Both she and WWE recognize that and want to change it.

Meltzer also noted that Rousey’s financial value to WWE is secondary.

Here is what Meltzer wrote regarding all this.

“As far as Rousey goes, the key item not really talked about is the goals and a major reason why she is there from a company standpoint. All the different questions about her value to the company financially I’m told are secondary.

“The key to Rousey is more about Stephanie McMahon, which is why they want that super high-profile match (and if they can get 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.”