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IS WWE ALREADY MISUSING THE STAR POWER OF RONDA ROUSEY?

Earlier this year, the WWE announced that former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey would be signing a WWE Raw contract after appearing at Royal Rumble 2018 on January 28 to point to the WrestleMania sign and increase the hype around her arrival. She was scheduled to appear on episodes of Monday Night Raw in the running to her hotly anticipated bout alongside Kurt Angle against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34. Her debut was kicked back to the WrestleMania 34 matchup, in which she was praised by critics and fans for the seamless performance that saw her eventually win by submission over Stephanie McMahon. Since then, Rousey has appeared at the WWE Money in the Bank 2018, which didn’t go the way that many would have hoped for the rising pro-wrestling star. Much of Rousey’s existing star power was built on an aura of mystique and fighters’ inability to stop her aggression in the octagon, but it seems that the WWE has chosen to quell her raw skill, at least for the time being.

Sheer star power

Ronda Rousey is a UFC Hall of Famer, having become the promotion’s first-ever Women’s UFC Champion, ruling the bantamweight division from 2012-2015. In her 12-2-0 career as a professional mixed martial artist, she dazzled fight fans with her aggressive and clinical offense, obliterating all who stood in her path. She was a huge star that collected many one million pay-per-view buys. Even after she recorded her first loss to Holly Holm on November 14, 2015, the bout with Amanda Nunes on December 30, 2016 became one of the best-selling combat sport pay-per-view events ever, according to Business Insider. Her back-to-back losses and eventual departure led to the division being blown wide open with her conqueror, Nunes, still ruling the division while the likes of Cat Zingano and Marion Reneau fight in closely contested matches to close in on Nunes. Zingano and Reneau fight on July 14, 2018, at UFC Fight Night: Dos Santos vs. Ivanov, in which the terrifying 16-1-1 Ivanov is at +120 to win with the sports betting site Betway, as of June 29. It’s because of fighters like Rousey and her entertaining style that there’s huge interest in the women’s bantamweight division these days, and a large audience will tune in to see if Zingano or Reneau are up for challenging for Rousey’s former crown. As detailed by Forbes, it was Rousey’s unstoppable nature as she steamrolled through the UFC division that made her so popular among fans. For a long time, she was deemed to be unbeatable and expected to achieve early wins in each fight. This is the way that the WWE should have gone about bringing Rousey into their events. After a comprehensive performance at WrestleMania 34, that looked to be the way that they were going, but the antics of Money in the Bank 2018 seem to have derailed that theory.

A slip on the road to stardom?

After Ronda Rousey proved her ability to adapt to pro-wrestling from her time in the octagon – which was built on a background of wrestling – at WrestleMania 34, it was expected that she’d continue her ascendancy to the top by obliterating all who stood in her path. She certainly has the pedigree to come out on top against almost all who could stand in the ring with her, especially Nia Jax. During the Money in the Bank 2018 bout, Rousey displayed her pro-wrestling skills of selling Jax’s offense like a ragdoll to make the audience believe that Jax was on the verge of defeating her, per USA Today. But, Rousey rallied and looked to come out on top before Alexa Bliss came in to finish off Rousey and Jax with a briefcase. Rousey sought revenge and put Bliss through a table the next night, receiving a 30-day suspension. So, not only was Rousey’s chances of winning over more fans against Jax waved away, but now she’ll supposedly be kept out of upcoming pay-per-view events. Despite her two losses in the UFC, Rousey still boasts a ‘World’s Most Dangerous Woman’ persona which the WWE initially looked to capitalize on by seeing her topple all other women in the promotion. But, following the actions that resulted in a suspension, the WWE appears to be taking a different approach, one which will make her feared by others in a way that portraits her as a strong wrestler in the ring as well as an enforcer on the outside – making her the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Woman’ anywhere she goes.

The WWE could have easily capitalized on the reputation that Ronda Rousey developed in the octagon as a fighter, but they clearly want to go another way with her in pro-wrestling, which should result in some surprising events while she wins over the WWE fan base.

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