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WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED:
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Writer: Nikunj Walia
The Baddest Woman on the planet, Rowdy Ronda Rousey got the wrestling world talking with a shocking return at the 2022 Royal Rumble event entering the namesake match as a surprise entrant en route to winning the match by last eliminating Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair earning a women’s title match against the Queen at Wrestlemania 38 which she lost due to some underhanded Flair tactics by the champion. Flair and Rousey are set to collide once again at Wrestlemania Backlash in an I Quit Match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
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Ronda came back to the squared circle after being away from the company for three years opening doors to possibly some highly intense encounters in the ring with the current regime of the women’s roster in the WWE. Here are the top 5 Ronda Rousey matches that should happen during the Rowdy One’s second tenure in the WWE:
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During Ronda’s first tenure in the WWE, the Australian Brutality Rhea Ripley was displaying a show of dominance back in NXT battling the likes of stars like Toni Storm, Bianca Belair, and also Ronda’s 4 Horsewomen cohort Shayna Baszler defeating her to win her sole NXT Women’s championship.
In an interview with SportBible in 2020, Rhea candidly spoke about wanting to have a showdown with the Rowdy One:
“Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I would love to fight Ronda Rousey. It would be incredible. It's funny because before I made it to NXT, I would watch her on UFC and I'm like, 'This chick's bada*s. She's so cool. Like, I wanna be like her. So, if I could share the ring with her one day, I would probably be the happiest girl ever.”
Ronda responded to Ripley’s desire to face her inside the ring on an episode of After the Bell podcast with Cory Graves during her hiatus:
"I would love to be in a match with her someday. She matches up with everybody so differently and there are so many things that she could really pull out of people that they can't do with anybody else. So, I'm really looking forward to seeing if we ever get that opportunity, but I'd love to get in the ring with her. She's fantastic."
With the Baddest Woman on the planet’s return to the WWE, an encounter between these two dynamic forces would definitely prove to be a show-stealer at any WWE show.
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WWE RAW Superstar Bianca Belair currently sits atop the mountain of the Women’s division with her stupendous victory over Big Time Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania 38 winning the RAW Women’s title in the process. In the span of two years since her main roster call-up, the EST of WWE has proved herself to be one of the top superstars of the company, main eventing Wrestlemania and winning two Women’s championships.
How about @BiancaBelairWWE vs. @RondaRousey one day? 🤔#WWETheBump pic.twitter.com/IsFxX12DIm
— WWE (@WWE) February 2, 2022
In a recent interview with SunSport, Belair opened up about facing one of the most dominant women in combat sports history in Ronda Rousey inside the squared circle:
In WWE the possibilities are endless and no matter what, you’re always going to meet everyone eventually in the ring. I love competition, I crave competition, I don’t run from the competition. [I will take on] Any opportunity to prove I am the EST of WWE... I will say as long as Ronda Rousey is in WWE and I’m in WWE that possibility is on the table and I do think that it will eventually happen in the future. And I can’t wait for it,"
Wrestlemania 38 featured both Belair and Rousey in two highly anticipated Women’s title matches against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair respectively. While the EST of WWE walked away with the title, Ronda fell short in capturing the title against Flair.
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This encounter could become the starting point of their feud with Bianca reminding Ronda of her failure and her triumph on the same night at the Grandest stage of them all leading to a massive showdown between the two top titans of the current WWE roster.
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The landscape of the WWE Smackdown’s Women’s division underwent a drastic change on the April 8, 2022 edition of SmackDown with the main roster call-up of one of the dominant female Superstar in the entire WWE, Raquel Rodriguez formerly known as Raquel Gonzalez.
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The second-generation Spanish Powerhouse went on a warpath during her tenure in NXT winning her first NXT Women’s title against Io Shirai on April 7, 2021, on the first night of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver taking over the women’s division with her impressive 200+ day reign while also capturing the NXT Women’s titles with her longtime partner Dakota Kai on two separate occasions.
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While Ronda and Raquel have never crossed paths in the past, fate has brought both dominant athletes to the blue brand of WWE. With Ronda Rousey currently in pursuit of winning her first Smackdown Women’s Championship at Wrestlemania Backlash and Rodriguez ready to start her main roster journey on Smackdown, a match between these two superstars could easily headline a major WWE PPV in a championship match.
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A match between two of the most accomplished members of the MMA’s 4 Horsewomen, Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler would be the perfect combination of storytelling and athleticism in the WWE.
Sharing a lot of history, similar in-ring style, and background both women could engage in an intense feud leading up to delivering one of the most spectacular matches in WWE history
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The Queen of Spades appeared on Renee Paquette’s Oral sessions podcast in Feb 2021 and spoke about the possibility of facing Rowdy Ronda Rousey:
"After The Ultimate Fighter, I was at a stage in my life where the world fell apart... Ronda had flown me out to California... and I went out there and she really helped me. I remember sitting around… we were celebrating something. It’s this big Armenian meal, right? These guys bring out all these platters and we’re drinking and making toasts. I remember toasting: “Ronda? I am going to give you the fight that you deserve, to thank you for what you did for me in my life.”...It’s funny because Ronda and I have talked about, at the time, you’d think it meant MMA. But now, it might mean this (wrestling). That’s a WrestleMania… we’ll have to see.”
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A monster heel like Shayna Baszler had all the potential of becoming a top superstar and presumably Women’s champion on the main roster, but a lack of good creative booking has not led to Shayna reaching her full potential. The feud between these two long-time real-life friends could help in elevating Baszler’s career to the next level while also producing one of the most interesting ready-made stories in the history of WWE.
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One of the biggest and most awaited matches in the history of WWE has to be between Big Time Becks Becky Lynch and The Baddest Woman on the planet Rowdy Ronda Rousey. Their highly acclaimed rivalry began in November 2018 when both women held the Women’s title of their respective brands and were set to battle at Survivor Series, but an unfortunate nose injury to Becky Lynch at the hands of Nia Jax derailed those plans with Charlotte Flair replacing The Man in the match.
Becky Lynch went to win the 2019 Women’s Royal Rumble match later on securing a title opportunity in the process and on the following night on Monday Night RAW chose Ronda Rousey who held the RAW Women’s championship at the time as her opponent for Wrestlemania 35.
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The match yet again didn’t happen as Charlotte Flair was added to the mix with all three women squaring off in the first-ever Women’s Wrestlemania main event with Lynch pinning Rousey’s shoulders to the mat in a botched finish, winning both RAW and Smackdown Women’s Championship. That night also marked the end of Ronda Rousey’s first tenure in the WWE after which she went on a hiatus and also suffered a hand injury in the match.
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After Ronda Rousey made a shocking return to the WWE in January 2022 winning the Royal Rumble match, many fans speculated that she would go after Big Time Becks for the RAW Women’s Championship at Wrestlemania 38 with the rumors going even beyond the roof with their intense faceoff segment during Jan. 31, 2022 edition of RAW.
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Despite WWE teasing this mega showdown right after Ronda’s first night back on WWE programming, they decided to go in a different direction with Ronda selecting Charlotte Flair to battle for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Wrestlemania 38.
Multiple sources have reported that the fight field for this blockbuster match between Rousey and Lynch has been discussed for Wrestlemania 39 in Hollywood at SoFi stadium. Big Time Becks herself has gone on to comment on a possible match with Rousey in a phone interview:
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“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 said in a phone interview. “I think the idea was to give it a little bit of extra time, and hell, let frickin’ Ronda get her feet wet.”
The match has all the ability to headline any Wrestlemania and it looks like the long time wait of the WWE universe to see this dream match may finally culminate under the bright lights of Hollywood with Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey colliding in a one on one showdown.
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