Ronda Rousey Won't Be at Mania After All...

This scene will have to wait to repeat until after Rousey finishes filming Road House
Photo Credit: WWE.com

...and it has nothing to do with Dana White's protestations. The Ultimate Fighting Championship head has been vocal about his top female draw (and arguable top star regardless) appearing for WWE, but as it turns out, she'll be busy when WrestleMania happens on April 3, 2016. She will be in Indonesia filming a gender-swapped remake of the classic Patrick Swayze cult favorite Road House. Oddly enough, the original movie featured Terry Funk.

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest Observer (via With Spandex here) that she will indeed miss the event, which puts a damper on the setup angle from this year's Mania. Of course, this news doesn't necessarily preclude Rousey from appearing for WWE to finish what she and The Rock started. WWE has proven it doesn't really mind taking extended periods of time between signposts in feuds as it proved with the amount of days passing between Brock Lesnar ending The Streak and Undertaker taking his sweet time to get reprisal. With the emphasis placed on this year's SummerSlam, one can imagine that event being a bigger deal going forward, placing Rousey's big in-ring debut at 2016's event possibly.

Regardless, the news puts a severe crimp on WWE's rumored plans for Mania this year. Of course, one cannot blame Rousey, because if given the choice between the lead in a feature film of that magnitude and a wrestling main event, I'd choose the former too. Of course, WWE will have to rely on its current stars to make the biggest Mania ever live up to its billing. Imagine that.