Only a few short days after her match with Elena D'Agostino, Ronda was sitting in a doctor's office, looking at X-Ray scans of her neck. This was the same office that Nikki Bella had sat in when she had needed a miracle to ever wrestle again due to a neck injury. This was the doctor who had managed to work that miracle. While the scans and a lot of the medical terminology she was hearing did not mean much to Ronda, one thing was obvious: There was going to be no miracle for her, even if she had been willing to undergo surgery, which she had already definitely ruled out, with Seth's full support.
Sadly, Seth hadn't been allowed to take time off to come to the appointment with her, so Maggie was sitting beside her instead. Looking over at her friend, Ronda could see that Maggie was possibly taking the news even harder than she was herself.
Maggie glanced back at her and quickly returned her attention to the doctor. She had not done it quickly enough for Ronda not to catch sight of the dampness in her eyes.
The doctor was a tall, lean man in his late fifties, who spoke in a professional, measured manner. Ronda listened for another couple of minutes, until he paused to take a drink of water.
"Bottom line, Doc," she said politely. "What are we saying here? Put it in simple terms for me, please. Am I done?"
A smile appeared on his face. Perhaps he found her style amusing. The smile was tinged with more than a hint of sadness, however. "In simple terms? You can't keep taking bumps on your neck. Doing so would leave you at great risk of serious injury or even paralysis. In some cases, I would suggest surgery to try and repair the damage. I know you're friends with Nikki Bella, so I assume you know about the process she and I went through with her neck?"
Ronda nodded her agreement. "We talked about it in detail one night over a bottle of wine or three."
The doctor chuckled at that, liking the fact that Ronda could crack a joke at a time like this. "And of course you've already had a serious neck injury of your own, requiring major surgery and lengthy rehab. And therein lies the problem. You've had major neck surgery once, and I'm sure you knew when you started out as a wrestler that your neck wouldn't stay the course forever."
Ronda nodded again, already knowing what she was about to hear.
"I'm sorry to say that you've now reached that point, Ronda. As I've shown you on your X-Rays, you have damage again in the same area that was previously operated on. It's for that reason that I have to tell you, I will not be willing to perform the surgery that you would require in order to continue wrestling. There are simply too many risks involved. It would be more likely that I would permanently injure or paralyse you on the operating table than actually help you. And even if the surgery was successful, there would be no guarantee that you could return to the ring."
That had all been expected. What made Ronda start feeling anxious to the point that her stomach started churning was the next thing she had to ask. If this did not go her way, she really would be devastated.
"Doc, I already decided I don't want surgery," Ronda helped him out, with a sigh. "I couldn't do it again, even if you were willing to operate. I've talked it all over at length with my husband, and what I decided was, all I want is one more match. I want to be able to say goodbye to my fans in the right way. Please, please tell me I can have one more match?"
The few seconds it took him to consider his answer seemed like the longest of Ronda's life. She felt Maggie squeezing her hand like a vice. Her friend was feeling every bit of the anxiety herself.
"Well," the doctor said thoughtfully. "Your neck's not at the stage right now where I would have to suggest immediate retirement. With certain restrictions in place and agreed to by all parties, I would be willing to clear you for one more match."
"One more is all I want," Ronda said quickly. "I'll agree to whatever conditions you want to put in place. I don't want to get hurt, of course, but I have to have one more match."
"Very well, Ronda."
He went on to outline the things she wouldn't be allowed to do in her last match. Most of them were high risk spots that she would not have dreamed of attempting anyway, knowing that her neck was in a fragile state.
"I understand, Doc. Like I said, I agree to all of that. Do I have to sign something?"
"That's between you and WWE. What I'll do is forward a copy of these X-Rays along with my analysis of them, and a report of our discussion here today. I will add my recommendation, which is that you are cleared for one match, and one match only. But ultimately, that is WWE's decision."
"I understand," Ronda repeated, with a grateful smile. "What about after retirement? Like, later in life. Will I have problems with my neck?"
"As long as you stop taking impacts on it, you should be fine. There might be some minor pain from time to time, but I don't expect anything serious. Of course, if you do have significant pain at any time, you can come back and see me."
"Thanks, Doc. I'll do that."
"Any further questions I can help you with?"
"No, thank you."
"Okay then," the doctor said, rising to his feet to signal that the consultation was over. "Take care, Ronda. I'm sorry I couldn't give you better news."
"The news you gave me was pretty much what I expected," Ronda said as she also stood, then shook his hand. "All I wanted was a retirement match, so thank you for giving that to me."
"You're welcome, but again, remember I can only make a recommendation. WWE will take their own judgment on it and decide if you get the match or not."
Ronda did not have much concern about that, feeling confident that Hunter would grant her one more match as a chance to say goodbye. There was also one other very important thing she wanted to use the match for, and the boss would like that too. She waited while Maggie said goodbye to the doctor, then they left the office.
"Oh, Ronnie," Maggie said sadly once they were out in the hallway and heading for the exit. "It's all so sudden. This time last week everything was great, now you only have one match left in your career. It's heartbreaking."
Ronda gave her closest friend a reassuring smile, finding some amusement in the fact that it was not the other way around. "Don't be sad about it. I've come to terms with it. Like the man said, it was always going to come to this at some point with my neck being the way it is. I did a hell of a lot with the time I had, right?"
"You sure did," Maggie agreed, managing a smile. "And it's obviously a good thing that he said he wouldn't stop you having the last match you wanted."
"Yeah. If he'd have said no to that, that would have fucked me up. When we get outside I'm going to call Seth, then I'm going to call Hunter. I have to hear him say that he'll give me the match, then I can deal with the retirement. There are plenty of other things I can move on to after I'm done in the ring."
"Are you thinking about doing more movies?"
"Maybe. I'm sure there will be offers in the future. I have something else in mind that Seth and I talked about last night, but I'm not going to say more until we've looked into it, to see if it's actually possible."
Maggie's eyes widened. "Oh, very interesting. Very mysterious."
"I'll tell you about it if it looks like it will work out, I promise."
They walked out into the parking lot. Maggie pointed to a Starbucks across the street. "I'll go and get us some coffee while you make your calls, if you like?"
Ronda smiled. "Great idea. I'll meet you back at the car."
Taking out her phone as they parted ways, Ronda dialed Seth's number. He answered after only a few rings.
"Hey, babe. Tell me it was good news?"
"Hi, honey. It was pretty much the news we expected. My neck is in a pretty bad state. The doc said he wouldn't be willing to risk operating on it as there were too many risks involved because it would be my second major surgery. I explained to him that I had accepted the likelihood of retiring and all I really wanted was one more match."
"What did he say to that?" Seth asked. It was clear in his voice that he had fingers and toes crossed for the right answer, knowing how much it meant to her.
"He said he would recommend that I be cleared for one more match, but only one. He said my neck isn't bad enough to be at the point where he had to insist on immediate retirement. I told him I was fine with one more match, as it was all I wanted. I have to speak to Hunter about it, but I don't think that will be a problem." She heard Seth's sigh of relief as she walked up to her hire car.
"I'm really happy to hear that. I know what it meant to you, and I can totally see why you want to say goodbye to the fans with one more match. I don't doubt that Hunter will give you the match you're hoping for. It'll be great, and it'll be a very fitting way to go out. It will be a very emotional moment for us all."
Now sitting in the car, Ronda leaned back in the drivers seat and sighed. "I know. It still feels weird to hear it put like that, but you're right. I think Maggie's even more upset about it all than I am, honestly."
"Bless her. That doesn't surprise me at all. Did you tell her about the other thing we talked about?"
Ronda smiled. "No. I told her I had something in mind for after my retirement, but I said I couldn't say more until we've looked at it in more detail to see if it's actually possible."
"Have you thought about talking to Hunter about it?"
"I've thought about it," Ronda said, sounding unsure. "I don't know if I should, not yet at least. Maybe after my last match is done, then I'll mention it to him."
Seth chuckled. "I wonder how Steph will take the news. I know you guys get on a lot better now, but I don't know that she's going to be thrilled to hear that you want to invest in WWE and ask them for an executive position."
"Well," Ronda shrugged. "I've saved a lot of the money I've earned over the past few years. I might as well do something with it. And like I said when we talked about it before, I want to try my hand at the business side of things, like Hunter did. Working with the Rousey Foundation has given me a taste for it, and I like it. Plus, I don't want to walk away from the wrestling business. I'm hoping they will give me an on-screen role as well, even though I obviously can't wrestle."
"I'll support you all the way, you know that," Seth said. "Investing is a wise move for us, better than what a lot of people who find themselves with money end up doing with it. So many just piss it away on crap they don't need. I'm sure Hunter and Steph will be pleased about the investment aspect of it, too. Giving you an executive position is a different thing. You don't have any experience with that kind of thing, so I really don't know if Hunter will go for that. Time will tell, I guess."
"If Hunter could do it, I can do it," Ronda said, with determination.
"You're not screwing Stephanie," Seth pointed out, laughing.
"How do you know?" Ronda asked coyly.
"Hey now! First Daga, now Steph? I really need to get my hands on some video of this."
"Shut up, asshole," Ronda chuckled. They moved on to talking about Seth's plans for the day for a couple of minutes, then Ronda made her excuses to end the call, saying that she needed to call Hunter and pass on what the doctor had said.
Maggie arrived and got into the car with two cups of coffee just as Ronda was waiting for Hunter to answer his cell phone.
"Ronda, hi. How did it go?" It sounded like the boss was on speaker phone in his car, judging by the background noise.
"Hey, Hunter. Not too bad. At least, it was what I expected to hear. My neck isn't in great shape, and the doc said he wouldn't operate on it because of the risks involved after my previous surgery. Again, I expected that. All I really wanted was to be able to have one more match, so that I can say goodbye, you know?"
"I'm sorry it wasn't better news." He sounded like he was speaking with a heavy heart, but trying not to show it. "What did he say about the idea of one more match?"
"He said he would make a recommendation that I be cleared for one more match, but the decision would ultimately be made by WWE. That's why I'm calling, to ask you to please give me one more match."
Hunter didn't consider it for long. "We'll look over the reports, but I don't see there being a problem with giving you the match, if that's the recommendation. It would be good if we could do it at Summerslam. Do you think you'd be able to do that? What I mean is, have you been having any more pain in your neck?"
"No. It had worn off within twenty four hours or so, and it's felt okay since. I'm definitely up for appearing at Summerslam. What I'd like to do, if I can pitch you an idea, is come to Smackdown next week and tell everyone what the deal is, that I have to retire because of my neck, and I only have one match left in me."
"I'll stop you there, Ronda," Hunter said. "I've just had an idea. Tell me what you think of it. You come to Smackdown, like you just said, and you say that in your final match, you're going for the Women's title at Summerslam. You say that you have no intention of retiring without holding the Women's title. Then we have you and Daga go at it one last time."
Ronda nodded her appreciation, although he obviously could not see it. "Yes, I'd like that. It's close to what I was going to pitch to you. Hunter, I want to put Daga over. She's put me over twice now. It's only right that I return the favour, and I should probably go out on a loss anyway, right?"
She heard a hearty chuckle on the other end of the phone. "Sorry, I thought I was talking to Ronda Rousey. Who is this?"
"Very funny, Hunter," Ronda said dryly. "I'm serious. I want to do this for Daga. She's the future, we all know that. She's such a fucking awesome heel, and if she beats me in my last match, the sky really is the limit for her. That's how it should be, in my opinion. What do they call it? Passing the torch?"
"Yeah," Hunter said, now sounding more serious. "You've come a long way, Ronda, you know that?"
Ronda was genuinely touched by Hunter acknowledging how much effort she had put in to dealing with her mental health issues and improving her attitude to work and to her colleagues. "Thank you. I've tried, as you know. So can we do what we've just talked about, for Summerslam?"
"Subject to us looking over the reports and confirming that the recommendation from the doctor matches what you've told me, yes. I'll let you tell Daga yourself Tuesday night. I think it will mean more to her if it comes from you."
"Thank you, Hunter." Ronda unexpectedly felt herself welling up. "Not just for this, but for everything. You've always stood by me, even when many would have cut their losses and let me go. All of this happened because of you, and there's no way I can ever thank you enough for that."
"You're welcome," Hunter said, then quickly added, "I've got to go, okay? I'll see you Tuesday."
After he hung up, she was left with the distinct impression that he had gotten off the phone because he was feeling emotional himself, and he had not wanted her to hear it in his voice.
"That sounded like it went well?" Maggie asked from the passenger seat, a hopeful smile on her face.
Ronda returned the smile, then took a first sip from her coffee cup. "Yep. Looks like I'm retiring at Summerslam."
"I'd better talk to Seth about getting something setup for your farewell on the Smackdown after, then. You know they'll give you one."
"Don't even think about it," Ronda warned her. "I've seen those things before. I don't want to end up crying on TV."
"Try and stop us, Ronnie."
"I mean it," Ronda said firmly. "Don't you dare."
"Okay, okay. You win," Maggie said innocently.
Ronda eyed her suspiciously as she started the car. "I guess I'd better start thinking about what to say on Smackdown next week. Shit, that's going to be tough. The fans aren't going to see this coming."