Ronda Rousey will be stepping into the biggest match of her short wrestling career this Sunday. The ‘Rowdy’ Superstar will face Alexa Bliss for the RAW Women’s Championship. Rousey is currently tipped as the odds on favourite to win the bout (1/5 at the time of writing). The question now has to be is this all too soon?
Rousey’s mainstream appeal is unquestionable. The former UFC Champion arguably catapulted Women’s MMA into the main event and gave the division a viable ‘killer’ who remained dominant for a lengthy period of time. Rousey herself has stated her love for pro wrestling and has been appearing for WWE in cameo parts since Wrestlemania 31 with The Rock, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
Rookie Year
Still, to give the top Women’s Championship to a Superstar who is less than a year into her career is a gamble. Rousey has been more than serviceable as a performer thus far, with a show-stealing Wrestlemania performance and excellent work against Nia Jax at Money In The Bank and Alicia Fox on Monday Night RAW. To be a champion at the top of the pile and to represent a division however is a very different proposition.
If you have ability then tenure shouldn’t be factor, Kurt Angle achieved a huge amount in his rookie year and has gone on to become one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots. Comparing Ronda to Kurt is bold but she has the pedigree; a premiere athlete with a passion and clear understanding of the business with huge upside potential.
Marketing Power
Still, this will be Ronda’s fourth match on WWE programming. With WWE’s renewed focus on Women’s wrestling and their upcoming Evolution PPV they could easily go with Ronda as the Champion OR Alexa Bliss could retain. A poster featuring Ronda Rousey holding the Women’s Title on a billboard in Manhattan sounds like marketing gold but would this be accepted by the fans or yet another rejection of WWE’s booking policies?
A potential difference maker may be the result of the Universal Title match. If Brock Lesnar retains then would you want two top “part-time” Champions? Whilst Ronda is touted as a full-time star she won’t be appearing on every single RAW. You have to also consider what two UFC affiliated Superstars as the top Champions also looks like to the casual consumer, would this make the rest of the roster seem weak? Likely not, but it’s worth considering.
Is it too soon for Ronda to take the belt? I’m leaning more towards saying no. This would actually be the perfect time to have Rousey win the big one and head into Evolution as the top star of the RAW brand. Marketing potential, star power and mainstream appeal are too great for WWE to ignore and Ronda Rousey is the biggest star that they have right now. It doesn’t hurt that she is pretty damn good in the ring too.
Do you think that it’s too soon for Ronda to win the belt? Let us know in the comments
