Ronda Rousey is currently a babyface on WWE television, but that hasn’t stopped wrestling and sports fans from directing negativity toward her on social media.
According to this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, an independent study of abuse on women’s athletes noted that Rousey is the most abused female athlete on Twitter. This distinction was based on her receiving the highest percentage tweets classified as negative.
Becky Lynch was also on the list, coming in at third place. However, Lynch is currently portraying a heel on WWE television and plays into that role on her social media as well, so some of that makes sense. Lynch actually received a higher total number of negative tweets, but Rousey’s percentage was higher.
The study looked at the overall abuse that names such as Sha’Carri Richardson, Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, Megan Rapinoe, Claressa Shields, Emma Raducanu, Paiage Spiranac and Serena Williams have received on Twitter. The study was done in conjunction with International Women’s Day. In terms of negativity percentage, Biles came in second place behind Rousey and just ahead of Lynch.
Rousey made her return to WWE at the Royal Rumble event in St. Louis back in January, winning the Rumble match to earn a championship opportunity at WrestleMania. She will face Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 38 in Arlington, Texas.
Check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
