Ronda Rousey takes on wrestling, but is she doing it to work herself back into the ring?

Tom Gatto

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Ronda Rousey takes on wrestling, but is she doing it to work herself back into the ring? image

A portion of the pro wrestling world thinks Ronda Rousey's recent negative comments are a work by a heel, but if they are, then Ronda is selling them as hard as she used to work in the Octagon.

On Thursday, Rousey coined the term "fake fights for fun" and ripped "ungrateful" fans during a "Wild Ride!" podcast appearance with Steve-O — just seconds after she gushed about wrestling.

MORE: SN Q&A with Becky Lynch

"I love WWE. I have had such a great time. I love all the girls in the locker room, like, 'Hell yeah,' like, running out there, to having, like, fake fights for fun is just the best thing," she said. "I love choreography. I love acting. I love theater. I love live theater. It's one of the last forms of live theater. And it's so fun."

On the other hand (foot?), she doesn't want to wrestle full time because of the toll it takes on her body (she says WWE discovered she had a fracture in her back) and because she's really happy with her life as a farmer. Oh, and because of the fans she hates.

All of that looked and sounded genuine.

On Saturday, she raised the heat — and maybe set the stage for a showdown in the ring — by tweeting that the health risks wrestlers face pale in comparison to the risks "real" fighters take.

Some of the girls swung back after that. 

Alex Bliss pointed out that her concussions weren't made up.

Bliss has worked extensively with Rousey (and reportedly been injured by her), so is this the restart of a program or real animosity? It's wrestling, so who knows? Could be both.

Lana pointed out the physical toll, too.

Rousey nemesis Becky Lynch got in on the action, basically calling Rousey soft.

Heck of a promo, there, champ.

After seeing this from Nia Jax, who's coming off surgery on both knees and who's buds with Bliss, the verdict could go either way, but it smells like the start of a build that involves real hate.

Oh, and we have ex-MMA fighter Shayna Baszler coming to Ronda's defense — after Lynch defeated Baszler at WrestleMania 36 to retain her "Raw" women's belt. 

While Rousey appeared to be shooting straight with Steve-O, the stuff Saturday came out the weekend before WWE is going live again with its televised events, beginning with Monday's "Raw."

Some air time (and fighting time) ahead for Rousey, hashtag kayfabekiller? It's wrestling. Probably. Maybe. Who knows? WWE wouldn't mind if you tuned in to find out.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.