WWE

Ronda Rousey and the WWE have been circling each other for months ... but sources close to both sides tell TMZ Sports Ronda has NOT put pen to paper -- not yet, at least.

It's no secret that there's serious interest -- Rousey's teased the move and even appeared in a backstage WWE promo ... and company honchos Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have both gone on record saying they'd love to have her.

But, multiple independent sources from all sides of the deal have told us contract talks have NOT gotten off the ground.

As one source bluntly put it, "[Ronda's team] hasn't begun any negotiations with the WWE."

Doesn't mean they won't hit the negotiation table in the future ... but as far as what's cookin' right now -- no deal.

FYI, we're told Rousey is still working out hard (unclear if she's doing specific wrestling training). She's also shooting for her role in Mark Wahlberg's movie, "Mile 22."

Busy lady.

No, having Brock Lesnar play Ivan Drago's son in "Creed 2" makes no sense ... so says Drago himself, Dolph Lundgren.

Sylvester Stallone was the person who sent the rumor factory into overdrive earlier this week when he posted a photo of Brock fighting Rocky Balboa.

So, when we saw Dolph at The Palm restaurant in Beverly Hills we had to ask if Lesnar's got a job in "Creed 2."

"WWE Tough Enough 3" winner Matt Cappotelli has terminal brain cancer ... but is still doing everything he can to fight the disease 6 months after the painful diagnosis.

Back in June, TMZ Sports reported on Matt's second surgery to remove a brain tumor -- over 10 years after he had one removed ... and had his pro wrestling career cut short.

But this time, 10% of the Grade 4 tumor could not be operated on since it was too close to his brain stem ... which gives Cappotelli 5 more years to live, at best -- doctors told WDRB in Louisville.

But, Matt ain't goin' down without a fight -- staying physically active and wearing a special cap 18 hours a day to keep the cancer at bay.

“Though it seems unfortunate, I want it to be portrayed as a story of hope -- unending hope,” Cappotelli said.

12/11/2017 -- Rich Swann was released from jail on Sunday and his case has been assigned to a judge, PWInsider reports.

The WWE superstar faces up to 5 years in jail for false imprisonment.

Former WWE cruiserweight champ Rich Swann was arrested this weekend for allegedly battering and falsely imprisoning his wife -- who's also a pro wrestler -- and now he's suspended.

According to cops, Swann was driving his newlywed wife, Vannarah Riggs, back home after a match of hers in Florida when they got into an argument in the car, which got heated.

She reportedly exited the vehicle and Swann stopped the car in the middle of traffic to go get her, allegedly grabbing her by the arm and then putting her in a headlock to drag her back as she screamed for help.

Witnesses told police the car was not in park during all this and continued to roll until it hit a telephone pole. Swann denied touching his wife, telling cops she got back in the car on her own.

He was booked for simple battery and false imprisonment, and is reportedly set to be released on his own recognizance Sunday. ProWrestlingSheet broke the story of Swann's arrest.

WWE issued a statement saying they had a zero tolerance policy regarding domestic violence, and that Swann is suspended indefinitely.

Ric Flair is now admitting he had been boozing HARD all day and night in the hours before his medical emergency in August ... and credits his fiancee with saving his life.

"I had been drinking ... shocker, yeah," Flair said on WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Morton's podcast.

"A friend of mine came in town from Dallas and we had been out all day the day before (the emergency) and again in the morning before I flew back."

Hours later, Flair says ... "I got this really sharp pain in my stomach."

Flair says doctors told him his intestine had "broken open ... and that's the last thing I remember."

Flair had previously said that decades of heavy drinking led to the medical emergency -- but we had no idea he was on a binge earlier that day.

The pro wrestling legend was put into a medically induced coma while doctors scrambled to save his life. Flair says he doesn't remember a single thing from the 11 days he was on life support ... "I just dreamt."

After he woke up, Flair says he was in such bad shape physically that he couldn't walk or twist the top off a Gatorade bottle ... and went to physical therapy to work on his motor skills.

Now, Flair is pretty much back to his old self -- and thanks his fiancee, Wendy, for being by his side throughout the entire ordeal.

Pro wrestling legend Kevin Nash says his knee is finally fixed after surgery -- but you wouldn't know it looking at this GNARLY photo of the aftermath.

Nash just revealed that he went under the knife to replace a bum knee that's been bothering him for 33 years -- and what's left of it looks like something straight outta the "Saw" movies.

We counted 24 staples ... plus severe bulging that made us question if it was actually a knee.

The craziest part -- Big Daddy Cool says it was an "amazing process," and he's pumped to "let it heal and start training" at age 58.

Maybe take it easy for a few days??

Wanna participate in a women's pro wrestling match in Abu Dhabi? Better trade out the skimpy spandex for a non-skin-baring costume ... just like Sasha Banks.

The pro wrestling superstar just threw down in WWE's very first women's match in the United Arab Emirates ... squaring up against women's champ Alexa Bliss.

But in order to get the green light, the women had to make extreme costume adjustments to meet the Muslim nation's strict laws on female attire. They did, and the show went off without a hitch.

Triple H hailed the match as an historic moment for the WWE -- and Banks got emotional ... saying, "I started crying because of how huge this is. It's bigger than me."

Banks added, "I want to empower women and let them know that their dreams are endless and they can achieve anything."

John Cena is great at pretty much everything -- wrestling, acting, being the nicest guy on the planet, etc. -- but there's one thing the WWE superstar is NOT good at ... and TMZ Sports has proof.

Cena visited the Sydney Thunder professional cricket team in Australia recently ... but the dude didn't just observe the team's training, he threw on a jersey and swung the bat a bit!!

Cena's biggest challenge came against a young female bowler (basically like a baseball pitcher) ... and the results are absolutely hilarious.

Check out the clip (even though you can't see him).

Don't rule out a Hulk Hogan-WWE reunion -- so says Hulk's son, Nick, who told us his 64-year-old dad is totally in good enough shape to "beat somebody's ass."

Nick couldn't tell us whether anything was officially in the works, but hinted the Hulkster would be game for a comeback under 1 condition.

"It's not the wrestling that's taxing on him, it's the traveling," Nick told TMZ Sports. "He just doesn't wanna stay on the road all the time."

Basically, don't expect Hulk to hit the mats for WWE full time ... but a part-time gig could make sense for the legend.

FYI, we talked to Brooke Hogan a couple months ago -- and she also made it clear that pops can still throw down.

Pro wrestling legend Kamala is on life support after undergoing emergency surgery at an Oxford, Mississippi hospital on Sunday ... according to social media posts from his friends and family.

Kamala's stepdaughter says doctors didn't think he would make it out of surgery alive ... but he managed to pull through and is now "showing signs of improvement," reports ProWrestlingSheet.

Kamala -- real name James Harris -- was a mainstay for the WWF in the '80s and '90s ... feuding with Hall of Fame superstars like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Harris fell on hard times after leaving the pro wrestling scene. Both of his legs were amputated below the knees between 2011-2012 due to complications from diabetes ... and in 2014, he revealed that he and his wife were scraping by on his disability checks.

Brock Lesnar's good and all ... but he ain't an MVP WWE superstar like, say, THE MIZ -- this according to The Miz.

Here's the deal ... we got Miz chillin' in the Big Apple, and asked him to pick the winner of this weekend's "Survivor Series" main event -- Lesnar vs. A.J. Styles.

Miz went with Brock 'cause they wrestle on the same show -- "Monday Night Raw" -- but made 1 thing very clear ...

"He is on Raw ... I am the whole show."

Video evidence says otherwise, but hey -- Miz gonna Miz.

Ric Flair's management company says the wrestling legend is lying through his teeth in his lawsuit -- claiming allegations they stole his "30 for 30" money are "blatant lies."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Flair sued Legacy Talent claiming they hid a fortune in payments he was supposed to get from several projects -- including $25k for the recent ESPN documentary on his life.

But Legacy says Flair's allegations are "baseless and defamatory" -- and they're respectfully BLASTING the guy in a statement to TMZ Sports.

"Ric Flair has always been known to be dramatic and looking desperately for the spotlight. That's fine as a wrestler but it is despicable when he blatantly lies," Legacy says.

"As anyone who read [the Ric Flair Grantland article] knows, Ric has always left a trail of destruction in his wake whether it be from his ex wives, the IRS, creditors, or from his former business partners and friends... the debris is everywhere.

"Our client wishes Flair nothing but the best and is sad that things have come to this after over a decade of hard work and incredible results for their client."

As for the explanation for the finances ... Legacy says:

David Otunga will no longer be a part of WWE's coverage of 'Survivor Series' on Sunday ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Otunga is a regular as a host/commentator for WWE events and he was scheduled to work the pay-per-view event Sunday ... one of the biggest WWE events of the year.

But sources close to Otunga tell us he wants to focus on the intense child custody fight with Jennifer Hudson ... and decided to pull out of 'Survivor Series' coverage.

As we previously reported, Hudson has declared legal war on Otunga -- accusing him of domestic abuse -- and making a play to have majority custody of their 8-year-old son.

Ric Flair claims he was supposed to pocket $25,000 for the ESPN "30 for 30" special on his life -- but his manager stole the money ... and now he's out for legal justice.

Nature Boy is suing Legacy Talent and Entertainment -- the management company he used from 2009 until October 2017.

Flair says he had a feeling something fishy was going down behind the scenes so he hired a lawyer to investigate his finances ... and realized he was missing huge amounts of cash.

Among the missing money ... Flair says he learned Legacy Talent had received $25,000 from First Row Films, the production company behind Flair's "30 for 30" special. Flair claims he was never informed of the payment nor was given his cut.

He also noticed a $12,000 royalty advance from Jake's Fireworks -- a company he signed an endorsement deal with earlier this year.

Flair says he reached out to Legacy to find out why he never got the money and was told they were using the funds to pay legal bills. Flair is calling BS, saying he never authorized Legacy to do that.

Steven Tyler's banged an astronomical amount of groupies over the years -- but even he's calling B.S. on Ric Flair's claim that he got 10,000 chicks to ride "Space Mountain."

We got the Aerosmith legend leaving LAX ... and you can tell he thought The Nature Boy's number was comical -- joking he had him beat before comparing him to rockstar Gene Simmons (who says he slept with 5,000 chicks himself).

But Tyler hit Naitch with a low blow before he rode off into the night, telling TMZ Sports how he really feels -- "that guy's full of sh*t."

As for Steven's number ... sorry, guys -- he was "too busy getting high" to count.

Ronda Rousey would be a "force to be reckoned with" in the WWE and Vince McMahon needs to sign her ASAP ... so says wrestling legend Torrie Wilson.

There have been rumblings that Rousey could join WWE soon (though it hasn't happened yet) and Wilson says it's the ultimate no-brainer.

"She's a badass," Wilson told TMZ Sports outside of Catch LA ... right before listing off several legit reasons why she would be an instant superstar in the squared circle.

By the way, Wilson looks AMAZING (did we mention she's a fitness-aholic?) ... so, check out some of the pics below ... which prove working out really does do a body good!