Fans may be pleasantly surprised by a backstage update on a recent segment involving Ronda Rousey.
It’s been well known that WWE runs a tight ship. The company often controls everything about the presentation of its shows.
This goes for promos all the way to facial expressions. If Vince McMahon wants it, he’ll get it on his shows.
In some cases, however, there can be a little bit of leeway. Usually, this is reserved for big stars and Ronda Rousey certainly fits that bill.
Ronda Rousey’s Idea
(via WWE)
During the June 24 episode of WWE SmackDown, Natalya walked out dressed as Ronda Rousey. She also had a baby stroller to mock Rousey as she became a mother last year.
Rousey ended up interrupting Natalya and said the closest she’ll ever come to being a main eventer is by dressing like her. The segment ended with Natalya using the stroller as a shield to get away from Ronda.
Dave Meltzer took to Wrestling Observer Radio to report that the segment was actually Rousey’s idea. Meltzer noted that Ronda wanted to do something outside the box and she was given the green light to do so.
The angle garnered praise for making the feud more personal. Both Ronda and Natalya have traded harsh digs on social media to promote their SmackDown Women’s Title match at Money in the Bank on July 2.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey will defend her title against Natalya at Money in the Bank on July 2.
Natalya earned a shot at the “Baddest Woman on the Planet” a few weeks ago on SmackDown, and the pair aren’t backing down in their build towards WWE’s next Premium Live Event.
Rousey and Natalya’s War of Words
On Twitter, Rousey kicked things off with a tweet referencing Natalya’s sister Jenni, who has an account on OnlyFans.
Speaking about the Neidhart sister’s Youtube channel ‘The Neidharts‘ Rousey described the channel as a “discount onlyfans sister fetish youtube channel” calling it “weird and embarrassing.”
The channel, which began in January 2020 currently boasts over 78,000 subscribers and over 5 million views.
Many of the videos show the incredibly close relationship between the Neidharts, who often share a bed, kiss, or try and expose one another as part of their content.
Natalya fired back with a tweet of her own, saying she would rather make videos with her attractive sister than discussing “conspiracy theories” that are “weird.”
You can check out both tweets below.
It was either do a channel with my hot sister, or bring people to a rock at the back of my farm to cry and talk about conspiracy theories. I chose the sexy sister thing. Cause we might be weird, but we’re not as weird as your hot takes on life. https://t.co/dFHQusIXIHhttps://t.co/6SyWNhL5bU
Natalya didn’t address any conspiracy theories specifically, but Rousey’s name is linked to one in particular.
In December 2012, a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School led to the deaths of 20 children and six staff members in one of the worst mass shootings in the United States of the past decade.
Some have claimed that the shooting was staged, and in 2013, Rousey (then with UFC) shared a video claiming the shooting was not real and called the video “extremely interesting, and must-watch.”
Deleting her first tweet, Rousey followed up saying “Asking questions and doing research is more patriotic than blindly accepting what you’re told,” before later apologizing for promoting the baseless conspiracy theory.
Ronda Rousey has explained her remarks about pro wrestling being fake, saying that its predetermined nature makes the sport a lot less stressful. The former UFC star recently appeared on The Kurt Angle Show. She first claimed that she is not afraid of injuries because they happen in every sport.
Rousey then mentioned how people got offended by her remarks. She explained that it’s not the physicality that makes something real:
“I don’t think pro wrestlers understand how much that it helps because a lot of times I’ll hear people be so offended that like, ‘How dare you call this fake! There’s no fake way to go through a table,’ or ‘This injury is real.’ And I’m like, ‘You guys, it’s not like the physical toll that makes something real.'”
‘It The Anxiety And Uncertainty Of The Result’: Ronda Rousey
(via WWE)
Reflecting on her time in the MMA world, Ronda Rousey claimed that the uncertainty of the result makes the situation real:
“The injuries don’t enter into your mind, It’s the anxiety and uncertainty of the result,” that makes the situation real, as opposed to the predetermined outcome of a pro-wrestling match.”
Ronda then gave an example using Kurt Angle. She asked the Olympic Gold Medallist what he would have done if he hadn’t won the medal. She said that the uncertain outcome is what makes things real for her.
Whatdo you think about Ronda Rousey’s explanation? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
Ronda Rousey has quite the viewpoint of WWE’s locker room.
Rousey is a big star for WWE. She is the reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion.
A lot has been said about Rousey over the years. She was praised for quickly getting a grasp on the wrestling business but rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with her prior disdain for the fans as well as calling the industry “fake.”
Still, Rousey is fully back in the swing of things and is seemingly enjoying herself more these days.
Ronda Rousey’s Explicit Outlook
During an appearance on The Kurt Angle Show, Ronda Rousey shared her wild outlook on the WWE locker room.
“Heyman was telling me if there was like a pitbull in the room and you don’t know about this dog, you know? You don’t know this dog and it could probably kill you, you’re not going to do anything crazy while the pit bull is in the room. You’re going to wait until the pitbull leaves the room and then you get crazy.
“So as far as I know, it’s just sunshine and lollipops in the locker room. It’s a bunch of cupcakes and handjobs. Everyone’s having a great time.”
Rousey has been feuding with Natalya. During a recent episode of SmackDown, Natalya attacked “Rowdy” from behind, which has led to WWE running a storyline injury where Rousey’s Money in the Bank status is in question.
WWE seems to be playing up the possibility that Ronda Rousey could miss Money in the Bank.
The MITB premium live event is looking quite depleted at the moment. First, the show was forced to change venues from Allegiant Stadium to the MGM Grand Garden Arena due to poor ticket sales.
Following her win over Shotzi on the June 10 episode of SmackDown, Ronda Rousey was attacked by Natalya. She was put in a sharpshooter but the commentators put over that Rousey never tapped or quit.
WWE later panned to Kayla Braxton outside of the medical room where Rousey was getting checked out. Braxton said the “injury” is severe enough that there is now the question of whether or not Rousey can make it to Money in the Bank on July 2.
While this is likely a storyline injury, the possibility of Rousey missing MITB could be real. She was taken off the advertising for the premium live event once the show moved to the MGM Grand.
It was reported that WWE feels MITB can thrive without massive superstars due to the gimmick of ladder matches.
Ronda Rousey may be defending the ‘SmackDown Championship’ from now on, following some unique verbiage on last night’s SmackDown.
At WrestleMania Backlash, Rousey captured the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Charlotte Flair in an “I Quit” match.
During this week’s episode of the blue brand, Rousey referred to herself as the ‘SmackDown Champion,’ and issued an open challenge for the ‘SmackDown Championship.’
The term was also used on commentary by Pat McAfee.
This isn’t the first time Rousey has used this term, as in the run-up to WrestleMania 38, the former UFC fighter vowed to become the SmackDown Champion.
“You can call me your new Women’s SmackDown Champion. SmackDown Women’s Champion? Why do we even say ‘women’ in it anyway? You can call me the SmackDown Champion!”
Ronda Rousey
Both Michael Cole and ring announcer Samantha Irvin referred to Rousey as the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
There’s been no confirmation of the new name, as WWE.com refers to the title as the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Who’s next in line?
Rousey defended the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Raquel Rodriguez on this week’s WWE SmackDown.
With Charlotte Flair out of action, for the time being, it remains to be seen who will be next to challenge the Baddest Woman on the Planet.
Last night’s match with Raquel Rodriguez was undoubtedly impressive, but with Rodriguez losing, it’s unlikely she’ll be feuding with Rousey at this time.
Removing Flair, Rodriguez, and current Tag Team Champions Naomi and Sasha Banks leaves five SmackDown Superstars eligible for the Hot Rod.
Natalya, Shayna Baszler, Xia Li, Shotzi, and Aliyah could all be the next opponent for the former UFC fighter.
Booker T Praises Ronda Rousey for her Work With Charlotte Flair (May 2022)
Two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T has nothing but praise for Ronda Rousey and her recent work with Charlotte Flair.
Booker T took to his podcast, “The Hall Of Fame,” to talk about several professional wrestling topics. One of those topics was Rousey’s program with Flair. Rousey recently defeated Flair in an “I Quit” match at WrestleMania Backlash, capturing the SmackDown Live Women’s Championship.
Over the course of Rousey’s feud with Flair, Booker said he can see the growth in Rousey as a performer, adding that he can tell she’s certainly studying her craft.
“Well, I can tell you this, you could tell Ronda’s been studying, you could tell she’s been working on her craft,” Booker T said. “I said it also, having someone like Charlotte in the ring with you, man, that doesn’t hurt at all.
“Knowing what it means to have a ring general in the ring, and knowing how to work around that ring general is very, very important. That’s one thing that I think Ronda Rousey has done very well since day one.
“Because you’ve got to understand, ever since Ronda came in, almost 10 times out of 10 times, she’s been following.
“In this business, you’ve got to know how to follow very, very well, if you plan on making it to the next level, if you plan on anybody trusting you to help you to make it to that next level. Ronda definitely has done that.”
Rousey initially faced Flair at WrestleMania 38 for the SmackDown Women’s Title. However, Flair came out on top after nailing Rousey with a big boot. Charlotte actually tapped during that match, but the referee was down and didn’t see it.
“The Rowdy One” later demanded a rematch with an “I Quit” stipulation, and wound up taking the title from Flair this past weekend after making Flair yell “I Quit” due to being locked up in an armbar through a steel chair.
Now, Flair is expected to be away from WWE TV for some time, leaving Rousey to rule the blue brand as champion while she’s away. It will be interesting to see who Rousey is paired up with for her first title defense in Flair’s absence.
Charlotte Flair is no longer the WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion as she failed to retain her title against Ronda Rousey in an I Quit Match at the WrestleMania Backlash event in Providence, R.I.
Flair connected with a nasty german suplex early in the match. They had a kendo stick fight on the stage. After brawling into the crowd, Flair wrapped her around a handrail. Flair powerbombed her onto the barricade. Rousey with the armbar while using Flair was hanging upside down from the top rope, but Flair ripped the grip away and Rousey landed hard on the ground. Flair with the Natural Selection on a chair. Rousey locked in the armbar with the chair for the win.
At WrestleMania 38, Flair retained the title, but did so in controversial fashion. Charlotte tapped out to Rousey’s armbar when the referee was down. When Rousey woke up the referee, Flair connected with a big boot to retain the SmackDown Women’s Title.
The following episode of SmackDown, Rousey challenged Charlotte to the “I Quit” match at WrestleMania Backlash and while Flair declined to give in at first, Adam Pearce said later in the show that a decision on the match would be made, which it was officially booked.
Rousey earned the right to become Charlotte’s WrestleMania challenger after winning this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble match, which also marked her return to WWE after having not appeared for the company since WrestleMania 35 in 2019.
Just ahead of the WrestleMania Backlash event, Charlotte is already prepared to accuse Ronda Rousey of cheating.
Charlotte will be defending her WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against Rousey tonight (May 8). The action will be held inside the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
(via WWE)
Charlotte Ready To Take An L?
Appearing on WWE’s The Bump, “The Queen” let it be known that if she can’t successfully retain her gold tonight then it must be due to something nefarious on “Rowdy’s” part (h/t Fightful).
“I have nothing left to prove. I already beat Ronda on the grandest stage. I was the first female to beat her in a singles competition. If she wins or if she has me say I quit, it’s because she cheated.
“I don’t know, it’s hard [to rank my different accomplishments.] They’re also different. I mean, beating Asuka’s streak at WrestleMania 34 was a huge accomplishment. Main eventing WrestleMania 35. But I think beating Ronda just cemented that I’m the top woman here. So every accomplishment has a different feel to it. It was a big one.”
Rousey was indeed pinned by the SmackDown Women’s Champion at WrestleMania 38.
“The Queen” had tapped out to an armbar but the referee never saw it. She hit Rousey with a big boot as she was trying to wake the referee up for the three-count.
Keep it locked on the SEScoops homepage for coverage of WrestleMania Backlash.
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has said he hopes to manage a team of Olympians one day should he one day return to the company.
Angle joined the WWF in 1998 and debuted on TV in late 1999, becoming the first Olympic Gold Medalist to join Vince McMahon’s promotion.
Speaking on his podcast ‘The Kurt Angle Show,’ the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion discussed his idea after saying he missed out on managing American Alpha.
“I’d like to manage the olympians… When Gable Steveson starts his career, he and Chad Gable, that would be the new Team Angle. I would love that.”
Kurt Angle.
Gable competed at the London 2012 Summer Games in the 84kg category but didn’t win a medal.
Steveson captured gold for Team U.S.A at last year’s Summer Games in Tokyo, competing in the 125kg weight class.
In addition to Gable and Steveson, Ronda Rousey is also a former Olympian having won Bronze in the Women’s Judo (70kg) at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.
The Original Team Angle
Benjamin, Angle, and Haas as ‘Team Angle’ in 2003.
Kurt Angle is no stranger to managing young Superstars, as he managed Team Angle in 2003.
Comprising of Angle, Charlie Haas, and Shelton Benjamin, the group came together as part of Kurt’s feud with Brock Lesnar, though they failed to prevent Lesnar from winning the WWE Championship from Angle at WrestleMania 19.
After Kurt took time off to recover from an injury, the team would split upon his return with Haas and Benjamin being redubbed ‘The World’s Greatest Tag Team.’
Ronda Rousey has expressed some controversial opinions about fans in the past. The hate she has received online has caused her to be resentful toward the audience. Though it appears that she has learned her lesson. Ronda now only cares about the reaction she receives from the live audience.
The former Raw women’s champion was a guest on Wives Of Wrestling podcast. She was asked how she goes about receiving feedback on her work. Replying to it, Ronda explained why she doesn’t really need to know what people think:
“I don’t really need to know what people think about my work. It’s kind of like if you go to an art gallery and there’s like the artists there like, ‘I threw this pain at this fucking thing.’ They don’t want to stand there and explain to them what their paint splat means.” said Ronda Rousey, “They don’t care what other people think of their paint splat.
They were feeling a thing and splatter their paint. It’s there for you to make of it what you will. I don’t think really how it’s perceived matters too much. I guess the feedback I get is like a live audience. There’s a lot of times when what you think is coming online and what the live audience is expressing are two opposite things.”
Ronda Rousey then gave the example of her Royal Rumble return earlier this year. She mentioned how the online reaction led her to believe that she would be booed upon her comeback. This made the former UFC star realize that the online world is not a good sample of what people think about her:
“Case in point Royal Rumble, I left as a heel, and was getting booed out of every stadium. I was like, ‘okay.’ That’s what I assumed everyone thought. I was still a heel and any interviews I gave in anytime I was talking shit of the fans being in character for in case I come back. That’s what I assumed I would come back to. When it ended up being not that reaction. I was really, really surprised.
I was almost too guarded to let them make me happy in that moment. You know what I mean? But I don’t know if I would have thought otherwise by looking at comments or anything else. So whatever the live audience is leaving you with is what I’m assuming what people feel like in general because the internet is not a good sample.”
You can watch the Wives Of Wrestling episode featuring Ronda Rousey below:
Rousey made her WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 back in 2018. Since then, she’s held the Raw Women’s Championship, main-evented a WrestleMania and won this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble. Despite these achievements, Rousey says she’s no veteran and is still learning the ropes.
The Baddest Woman on the Planet was a guest on the latest episode of the Wives of Wrestling podcast. The show stars Kim Orton, Giovanna Angle and is hosted by Jon Alba.
Rousey admitted that she struggles with remembering what she’s supposed to do during her matches.
“Remembering it is hard,” said Rousey. “I’m not a seasoned veteran or anything. This past Mania, I was like, ‘I don’t have this down at all.’ We’re about to go out there and I’m like, ‘Uhh, I don’t know all this match yet.'”
Luckily, Rousey is not in the ring alone. She said she relies on “cues” from other people (her opponent, the referee) when she gets lost in a match. She’s worked with some of WWE’s premiere talent, who have helped guide her so far.
“I’m very much dependent on who I’m in there with to make the match itself and guide me when I’m out there,” she continued. “I’m a smoke and mirrors bitch. I’ve only had a year and a half of experience and people forget that a lot. I’ll get thrown in these situations where I need to get reps in and need to know what this is.”
Rousey says she will often turn to her opponents, who have more experience than her, and allow them to guide the matches.
Whether it’s been Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks or Nia Jax, Rousey is grateful that she’s been able to lean on some very talented people.
“It’s really cool learning from every opponent that I have, the different ways they put matches together and the different things they go for and different styles and how I’m able to fit in what their idea is.”
Rousey is currently the #1 contender to the SmackDown Women’s Championship. She came up short against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 38, but they’ll run it back in an “I Quit” match next month at WrestleMania Backlash.
After making her return to WWE earlier this year at the Royal Rumble, former UFC champion Ronda Rousey decided to add the ankle lock to her in-ring repertoire.
Rousey already had a signature submission of her own with the armbar, a submission that helped her climb to the top of the UFC mountain several years ago. However, upon returning to WWE, while still using the armbar, Rousey has also been using the ankle lock more. The ankle lock, of course, was the signature move of WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle.
Angle was alongside Rousey during her WWE debut at WrestleMania 34. Angle and Rousey teamed up to defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team match. Speaking in a vlog on her YouTube channel, chronicling her road to this year’s WrestleMania, Rousey explained why she decided to start using Angle’s ankle lock more.
Rousey noted that Angle is like a mentor to her, and has been her hero since she was a child. Now, she uses the move inside the ring as a homage to the Olympic gold medalist.
“I just really wanna be able to put over Kurt as the whole reason that I’m doing the ankle lock, and it’s a way to pay homage to him,” said Rousey (via WrestleZone). “And that’s all I really care about getting out because he was my first mentor in this business, and I never really got to honor him outside of our tag.
“I mean people compare us all the time because we were athletes outside of WWE and then came to it. As an Olympian, he has been like my hero since I was a little kid, so I love that he gave me the blessing to use the ankle lock.”
Ronda Rousey may have come up short against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 38 for the SmackDown Live Women’s Championship earlier this month, but she’ll get her rematch against “The Queen” at WrestleMania Backlash in an “I Quit” match.
WWE has announced that their WWE London and France shows will have three huge matches during their European tour.
WWE will hold a show from the Utilita Arena on Thursday, April 28 in Newcastle, England; The O2 Arena from London, England on Friday, April 29; the Accor Arena from Paris, France on Saturday, April 30; and finally the QUARTERBACK Immobilien Arena in Leipzig, Germany on Sunday, May 1.
Also advertised for those shows are WWE Intercontinental Champion Ricochet, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Naomi, Gunther, and Bobby Lashley. Matches for the Newcastle and Leipzig events are expected to be announced soon.
It should also be noted that the SmackDown Live taping on Friday, April 22 from the MVP Arena in Albany, New York has a special start time of 6:30pm ET. This hints that the show will be a double taping, meaning the April 29 episode of SmackDown Live will be pre-taped while WWE is running their show in London.
Currently advertised for the Albany, New York show on April 22 are Reigns, McIntyre, Ricochet, Banks and Naomi, The Usos, RK-Bro, Rousey, RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, and Rhea Ripley. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.
Ronda Rousey is demanding an “I Quit” match against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania Backlash.
The Baddest Woman on the Planet made a surprise WWE return in January at the Royal Rumble. She won the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble and went on to challenge Flair for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. She came up short and The Queen retained.
Rousey made her first WWE TV appearance since WrestleMania at Friday’s edition of Smackdown on Fox. Rousey came to the ring and told the WWE Universe that she won’t make any excuses for her loss at WrestleMania. However, she won’t be satisfied until she dethrones Charlotte Flair as the new Raw Women’s Champion.
Rousey demanded a rematch against Charlotte Flair at the next WWE premium live event, WrestleMania Backlash. She wants it to be an “I Quit” match.
Flair appeared on the big screen and denied Rousey’s demand. She told told Rousey, “Get to the back of the line, bitch.”
Later in the show, Adam Pearce said the rematch between Rousey and Flair is in the works. WWE confirmed the match on Saturday.
The WrestleMania Backlash 2022 premium live event takes place Sunday, May 8th and streams live on Peacock and the WWE Network.
Ronda Rousey is a pioneer of women’s MMA after leaving a legacy as a UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion and UFC Hall of Famer. However, current Women’s Bantamweight Champion Julianna Pena isn’t impressed by the legacy Rousey left behind in MMA.
Pena took aim at Rousey on The MMA Hour and issued an open challenge for Rousey to try to finish up her MMA career on a better note after dropping her last two fights and ending her UFC career in 2016.
“Ronda is so old news, right? I think that what’s incredible about her is that she opened up the door and was destroying people in 10 seconds, and became a star because she was demolishing people in the first round, and that’s great — but she got knocked out twice and never came back. So how legit is she?
“She had to go to pro wrestling. And I get that and I think that that’s great. But as a fighter and somebody who is competitive, I know that — deep down — it probably truly bothers her, the fact that she went away off of two knockout losses and never came back to make her name good. If it really truly does bother her and if it gets under her skin at the end of the day to know that, you know, her legacy is kind of ruined by the fact that she never came back and never got back on the horse, then I would like to invite her to please come back — and if she would like to come back, I would welcome her with open arms.”
Rousey left the MMA world following back-to-back knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. Pena believes Rousey is the joke of the MMA world.
“That’s what I’m saying, she’s kind of a joke in the MMA world now, because she’s a — what is the word? — sellout,” Pena said of Rousey. “Like, a little bit of a sellout there. I mean, I guess I understand, right? It’s like, pro wrestling is fake, you get paid millions of dollars, I get it. But for me, for real s***, for like the ‘you’re the real, real deal,’ I would say that that’s in the UFC. And if she ever wants any of that real smoke, I’m ready.”
Pena still considers herself a fan of Rousey who helped put female athletes on the map in the UFC and was impressed with Rousey’s outing against SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair despite her coming up short to win the title.
“I thought she had a great [WrestleMania] match,” Pena said. “I thought she was very good, yes. And this is just from girl to girl as a fan — I’m a fan and I think that she’s great and I’m happy for her, and I think that it’s awesome what she’s doing in the WWE — but as a fan, she either needs to be more comfortable in her own skin or needs to figure out a different attire, because every move that she does, there becomes a wardrobe fix. You know what I mean?
“Wear something that you’re comfortable with. Wear something that you love and that you’re not going to have to constantly be yanking at your clothes the entire match. You didn’t see Charlotte Flair one time touch anything that she was wearing, it was just all about the match. But Ronda’s constantly pulling. So wear something that you’re comfortable in so that you don’t have to do that, because it just takes away a little bit.”
Rousey did tap out Flair in the match, but the referee was knocked down and didn’t see it. Moments later, Flair connected with a big boot for the win. A rematch is expected to happen in the near future.
Charlotte Flair retained her SmackDown Women’s Title against Ronda Rousey in one of the top matches featured on the WWE WrestleMania Saturday card.
Leading up to the show, it was believed this match was the main event, but it was reported days before that Steve Austin’s match against Kevin Owens was going to close it out and that’s what happened.
Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline.com noted that Rousey was “furious” about losing the main event spot. He said that she walked out of the American Airlines Center where SmackDown and the Hall Of Fame were held this past Friday night after learning the news.
Rousey addressed the report with the following message via Twitter:
“I don’t know where these ‘reports’ come from but it was an absolute honor to perform under Steve Austin at Wrestlemania in Texas-I wasn’t a hall of fame because I have a six month old baby I had to put to sleep early. People are literally creating drama out of thin air.”
Rousey was the heavy betting favorite to win the match. Due to the finish of their match where Rousey had tapped out Flair, but the referee was down and then Flair hit a big boot for the win, it’s believed that a rematch will be booked soon.
Ronda Rousey was under the impression that she will be main eventing the night 1 of WrestleMania 38 and the Rowdy one wasn’t happy when she was told otherwise.
Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer provided some update on the former Raw women’s champion during his WrestleMania review.
According to the wrestling journalist, Rousey was under the impression that she would be going last at the PPV on Saturday. She even said so during her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The former UFC star was ‘furious’ when she found out that it won’t be the case on Friday night. After getting the news, she walked out of the tapings before the Hall Of Fame ceremony took place.
Though ‘cooler heads’ prevailed and Ronda showed up at WrestleMania to do her job, where she lost her singles match to Charlotte Flair.
The ending of this bout saw the referee getting knocked out from an accidental blow. Ronda Rousey caught Flair in an armbar and she tapped but the referee was down.
The SmackDown star broke the hold and went to wake up the referee. The distraction allowed The Queen to hit Rousey with a big boot to the head. She then pinned the former champion to win the match.
Ronda Rousey stepped up to challenge WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair for the title and did not become the new champion.
They wrestled in the main event of the WWE WrestleMania 38 event in Dallas, Texas at AT&T Stadium. The match started off with Rousey going full throttle, but Flair eventually beat her down for a few minutes. They went back and forth by trading submission holds from armbars to ankle locks to kneebars to figure eights.
The finish saw a referee bump then Rousey locked in the armbar and Flair tapped, but the referee didn’t see it. Flair with a big boot to Rousey as Rousey got the referee up for the win.
Rousey earned this title bout and became Charlotte’s WrestleMania challenger after winning this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble match, which also marked her return to WWE after having not appeared for the company since WrestleMania 35 in 2019 where she lost to Becky Lynch in a triple threat match with the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Titles on the line.
Rousey teamed with Naomi to defeat Charlotte & Sonya Deville in a tag team match at Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia in February. The match had a stipulation where Rousey had to wrestle with her arm tied behind her back.
Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey stepping in the ring together for a singles match is something fans have wanted to see for quite some time. It won’t be this year, as Lynch will be busy defending her WWE Raw Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair on night one of WrestleMania 38. On the same night, Rousey is challenging WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
Lynch and Rousey were going to face each other in a champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series 2018. The much-anticipated match didn’t take place, unfortunately, due to Lynch pulling out because she sustained an injury. Lynch got a broken nose and concussion during the Raw invasion angle on Raw. Lynch was then replaced with Flair, who faced Rousey, the Raw Women’s Champion at the time, in a non-title match.
WWE is going to southwestern Los Angeles in Inglewood, California at the SoFi Stadium for WrestleMania 39. Lynch said that the match between her and Rousey has been discussed for next year’s WrestleMania.
“I think the idea was, let’s give it even more of a build and possibly do this in Hollywood [at WrestleMania 39] of all places,” Lynch told The New York Post. “I think the idea was to give it a little bit of extra time, and hell, let frickin’ Ronda get her feet wet.”
Since Lynch is involved in a storyline of her own with Belair, she wasn’t surprised that this is what WWE went with. “Big Time Becks” added that the company likely thought Hollywood would be the best place for the much-anticipated match to take place.
“We had to tell this story with Bianca, too,” Lynch said. “So was I surprised? No, not entirely, not really. I think they thought of Hollywood as maybe being the spot for where this match would go down.”
Although the Survivor Series match didn’t take place, Lynch did face Rousey in the ring at the “Grandest Stage Of Them All” with Flair in a triple-threat match in the main event of WrestleMania 35 to make history. Lynch said that her “The Man” character got her to the top and she hasn’t looked back since then.
“My talent, my skill, my ability to communicate has gotten me to the top,” Lynch said. “So I don’t care what your name is, you’re behind me right now. It was that attitude that started this whole thing and then obviously we were supposed to have that Survivor Series match and my face got busted open and we never had that one-on-one match. So maybe, we’ll have it next year. Maybe something else will happen. I’m not worried. I am the name right now.”
Charlotte Flair is going to face Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 38’s night one in the main event. Flair will defend her WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against the UFC women’s bantamweight champion on April 2.
Rousey has garnered criticism from vocal WWE fans. When Ronda made her WWE debut in 2018 she made a meteoric rise to the top of the women’s division. Rousey was able to get a WrestleMania match within 6 months of her debut. She won the Raw Women’s Championship and it wasn’t even an entire year since she debuted. Fans felt like she took the spotlight away from other well-deserving candidates, like 2018 Royal Rumble winner Asuka. She has since become the target of trolls on social media, and was named the “most abused athlete on Twitter”.
Flair talked about her opponent and upcoming match with Rousey in an interview with SHAK Wrestling for CBS Sports, where she also mentioned the hate Rousey gets from fans. Flair defended her rival, stating that it’s not as easy as the keyboard warriors think to do what Rousey did in such a short time and it warrants respect.
“I didn’t know fans saw her in the wrong way. What percentage of people really say that,” Flair said. “If I listen to what people said about me, oof, I wouldn’t be here today. First of all, I’m facing Ronda next week. Don’t take this as I’m going to bat for her. I’m just saying, you can’t knock someone who did something in one year that takes many years and years and years to learn or to grasp. And she did a pretty damn good job in one year. It’s just easier to be negative.”
Flair also defended Rousey in another interview where she said that Rousey helps bring more attention to WWE and she welcomes such collaborations. “Sometimes people get critical of outside talent coming in, but she wants to be a part of what we’ve done here, that should make you feel good, and she does bring more eyeballs to people who aren’t necessarily familiar with the product, like Total Divas.” said Flair.
Ronda Rousey has opened up to the fact that she started resenting WWE fans for the hate she gets. She candidly expressed how she struggled with the adversarial relationship with her critics.
“Everyone was booing me out of the stadium,” Rousey recalled. “I was just like, man, fuck these people, I can’t wait to go home. When I left WWE, I had been getting booed out of the stadium, like, every day for months. Do I stay true to myself and tell them to go fuck themselves?”
Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair would go at it in the ring at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, April 2.
Despite reports going around that indicate Kevin Owens and Stone Cold Steve Austin are slated for the main event of WrestleMania 38, Ronda Rousey has indicated that she will be main eventing one of the two nights for the event this weekend.
We already know that Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar will main event night number two. The question revolves around who will be in the final slot for night number one.
Originally, it was assumed that either Flair/Rousey or Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair would main event night one. Last year, a male match headlined one night and a female match the other. However, the reports about Owens/Austin had seemingly put those assumptions to rest.
But then Rousey appeared on the Ellen show on Tuesday and addressed this weekend’s WrestleMania 38 show.
“I’m going to be in the main event for the second time. I was part of the first main event with women, this is the third. It’s becoming almost something that doesn’t even need to be mentioned anymore, which is the goal,” Rousey said. (h/t Fightful)
This could be semantics as the Austin/Owens segment is not an advertised “match.” Will Rousey and Flair be the final official match on the card, and then perhaps we see the KO Show segment come out and close the show? We’ll have to wait and see. Under that scenario, we’d observe Flair/Rousey to be the final actual match on the night one card.
Here are the cards for both nights of WrestleMania 38 this weekend as things stand right now:
Night One
WWE RAW Women’s Championship Match Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair
The Miz and Logan Paul vs. Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio
Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match The Usos (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship Match Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
Seth Rollins vs. An Opponent of Vince McMahon’s Choosing
KO Show Featuring Stone Cold Steve Austin
Night Two
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match Queen Zelina and Carmella (c) vs. Sasha Banks and Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan vs. Natalya and Shayna Baszler
Anything Goes Match Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn
Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory
WWE RAW Tag Team Championship Match RK-Bro (c) vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy
Edge vs. AJ Styles
Bobby Lashley vs. Omos
WWE Championship vs. WWE Universal Championship – Winner Take All Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns (c)
As you prepare for WrestleMania, be sure to 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.
Alexa Bliss has poured cold water on a recent rumor involving her and Ronda Rousey.
A Twitter user caught wind of a rumor that claimed Bliss badmouthed Rousey behind her back in a group chat with other WWE talent. The rumor also claimed that Bliss took issue with Rousey for not being safe inside the ring.
Alexa Bliss Dismisses Rumor
Alexa Bliss took aim at the rumor and said she’s not even in a group chat outside of one for her bridal party.
This is quite comical & not true . I’m only in one group chat & it’s with my bridal party ? … #keeptryingtrolls
— Lexi (Kaufman) Cabrera (@AlexaBliss_WWE) March 27, 2022
“This is quite comical & not true. I’m only in one group chat & it’s with my bridal party. #keeptryingtrolls.”
In the past, Bliss has heaped praise on Ronda Rousey. Back in 2018, she appeared on the Cheap Seats Podcast and gushed over Rousey’s ability to fit in the wrestling industry so quickly (h/t Wrestling Inc).
“I am absolutely impressed, Bliss said. “She does really well at her facial expressions, which I appreciate because I am really big on facial expressions. It is really easy to appreciate the fact that you know she has been hit before, and you know that pain, you have that emotional connection to her one way or another when you watch her perform. I was very impressed with her match against Nia Jax, and also her match at WrestleMania with Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, it was just awesome. I am very proud of her and it’ll be fun to see where things go with that.”
Ronda Rousey recently suffered an injury, but fear not, because it won’t impact her role at WrestleMania 38.
The “Baddest Woman on the Planet” is set for a marquee match against SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
During a live stream on her Facebook page earlier this week, Rousey revealed that she tore her labial frenulum.
“Oh, I’m totally fantastic, fine,” said Rousey. “I tore my labial frenulum apparently, which is that little piece of skin that connects your lip to your jaw or whatever, my top jaw. I’m like so sick and not feeling good right now. Sorry guys if I sound like crap. I’ve literally sounded like this all day.”
Rousey noted that it’s difficult flying around the country with her young daughter, Po. She added, “I’m sore, I’m sick, I’m tired.”
WrestleMania 38 takes place next weekend from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Ronda Rousey’s match against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania Saturday, the same night as Stone Cold Steve Austin’s special appearance on the KO Show.
