5 Reasons WWE Shouldn't Sign Ronda Rousey
Stephanie McMahon recently spoke to TMZ about being interested in signing Ronda Rousey to the WWE. Here are five reasons why this shouldn’t be happening.
Ronda Rousey is a big name in the world of MMA and is perhaps one of the most celebrated female athletes ever to step into the octagon. The former UFC Bantamweight champion remained undefeated in her first six fights in the UFC. Including her Strikeforce record, she held an undefeated streak for 12 fights before finally losing to Holly Holm at UFC 193. Equally impressive is the fact that she won 11 of her 12 fights in the first round itself.
Rousey recently went on to comment that she is “wrapping up” her MMA career. As big as that news was to the fans, there was an even bigger news awaiting everybody. We noted earlier that WWE is clearly interested in signing Ronda Rousey. Stephanie McMahon spoke to TMZ about her interest in signing Rousey to the WWE. To quote McMahon from the video:
“I certainly hope so. I gotta get her back. She put me in that armbar.”
McMahon then told the TMZ cameraman, “I’m certainly going to try”.
Nothing has been confirmed yet, though. WWE and Rousey still have to get into talks and finally agree on a deal. As exciting as the entire ordeal sounds, there are clearly some downsides to this idea. Let’s look at why this might simply be a good idea on paper alone and not work as well as the WWE would hope.
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5. Booking Challenges
As noted Rousey is one badass fighter. She is a legitimately tough athlete and one of the most dominant women ever to step into the octagon. In the likely event of Rousey making the transition to the squared circle, WWE will be puzzled with booking options for her. That is only the first hurdle on the way for the company.
The present women’s division on Raw and SmackDown are filled with incredibly talented athletes. The four horsewomen lead the division with some great matches. Most recently, Sasha Banks and Charlotte tore the house down at Hell in a Cell. WWE is in the midst of an actual Women’s revolution right now. However, when Rousey steps into all this, everything changes as she would be like Brock Lesnar of the men’s division.
WWE would have to dig deep to find some credible challengers for Rousey. Now this is in no ways establishing that women like Banks or Bayley aren’t good wrestlers. They are great performers and exceptional athletes, but would they realistically be able to stand up to someone like Ronda Rousey and make it look believable? Someone like Nia Jax would make a good opponent for her in the future. However, Jax is still pretty raw as a wrestler at this point.
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4. The Landscape of the Women’s Division
Ronda Rousey signing with the WWE is the equivalent of Lesnar returning to WWE after his stint in the UFC. This is really a big deal if it actually happens. The women’s division would have someone with the star power and credibility similar to that of Brock Lesnar. When Lesnar returned to the WWE, Michael Cole said: “the entire landscape of the WWE has changed”. If Rousey signs with them, the entire landscape of the women’s division would change.
To be frank, there is no one on the roster that can come close to her level of badassery. Once again, all the women on the roster are gifted athletes. Given the time to tell a story in the ring, most of them can create a stellar match. But when Rousey steps into the ring, none of that would matter because she would be the main event. She has the ability and the drawing power to do that. Her name is enough to get people to pay attention. Charlotte and Banks might still find their place on the top of the division. But what about the others?
Having Rousey in the women’s division might steal someone else’s spotlight. There are a lot of up and coming performers on the women’s division on both Raw and SmackDown. Despite being recent call-ups Carmella and Alexa Bliss made a name for themselves because WWE continued to showcase them. With the spotlight shining as brightly as it would on Ronda Rousey, other women would have an even tougher time to break through the glass ceiling. Think of people like Emma, Dana Brooke and anyone from the NXT. Imagine Rousey makes her debut and a few weeks later Asuka moves to the main roster. Now all the sudden, Asuka’s main roster call-up wouldn’t have the electricity that it should have had.
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3. Her History as a Credible MMA Fighter
Rousey is 12-1 in professional fights if we consider her Strikeforce fights as well. That record alone is proof of her badassery in the octagon. Out of her 12 wins, 11 of those came in the very first round, including a win by submission in mere 54 seconds. Think about that for a moment. How would the WWE creative come up with a scenario where a person like that would get beaten?
We have to compare Rousey signing with the WWE to Brock Lesnar’s return to the WWE. When Lesnar returned to the WWE, he would often be booked as an unstoppable force of nature. He did take a loss to Cena upon his return. However, during his second run with the company, Brock has remained practically unstoppable. He took down Cena in a way that no one ever did before that. He defeated the Undertaker at Wrestlemania and ended the greatest streak in sports entertainment.
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Whenever Lesnar took a loss, it was either to a name as big as his own or under questionable circumstances. When he lost the WWE title at Wrestlemania 31, Roman Reigns was the one who took the pin. WWE has always protected Lesnar. Can it do the same with Rousey? When Lesnar went down for a few minutes during his triple threat match against Cena and Rollins, it was as a result of a Phoenix splash from Seth. Would anyone in the women’s division be able to pull off anything similar in a match? women’s division lacks the depth and the moves to pull off something like that. Rousey would find it hard to maintain the aura she had in UFC.
Once again, in no ways is this establishing that women’s division can’t replicate something that the men can. Even with the Women’s revolution, even with Women main eventing a PPV, men are simply the majority in the WWE. There are more stars and multiple storylines there. Protecting Rousey’s credibility the way WWE did for Lesnar would be a major challenge. On the flip side, if WWE doesn’t protect her well enough, the WWE universe will witness her star power drop gradually as the losses pile up.
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2. WWE’s Grueling Schedule
To say WWE has a grueling schedule would be an understatement. Between house shows and TV taping and other promotional works, the life of a WWE wrestler is pretty much on the road at least 300 days in a year. To be able to cope up with that schedule one has to be extremely committed and passionate about being a professional wrestler.
Does Ronda Rousey have what it takes to be a full-time wrestler? She is conditioned to be a fighter regardless. However, is she conditioned to travel around the country and overseas and shake off the wear and tear and tell a story in the ring? A lot of the pro wrestlers do this because of their love for what they do. One has to wonder whether Rousey shares the same emotions? If she is in it for the money and the fame, a full-time schedule would wear her down in no time.
Everything previously noted would get multiplied if you are holding a title in the WWE. John Cena has been the face of the WWE for well over a decade. The Cenation leader has balanced his duties outside the ring pretty well. Would Rousey be able to cope with the sudden rise in public appearances? If Rousey makes it to the WWE, there is no doubt she would eventually be booked as the Women’s champion. The title holders in the WWE represent the WWE brand and it would be a tough task for her to balance that with her acting career. Rousey did star in multiple movies and TV shows including Fast and Furious 7. Between a promising acting career and the grueling WWE career, which would she stick to eventually?
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1. Another Part-Timer to Steal the Spotlight?
If one would factor in all the variables we covered so far, the odds of Rousey signing a part-time deal with the WWE are quite big. While this might seem like a win-win for both parties, let me reiterate my question; at what cost to the women’s division? If Rousey signing to the WWE takes the spotlight away from someone who has worked hard for it then it is practically useless to the WWE universe as a whole.
The WWE has its fair share of part-timers in the men’s division. Most recently, Goldberg came back from a 12-year hiatus and took down Rusev of all people. WWE has a habit of feeding some of their best workers to part-timers who would get treated as a big deal. Someone like Nia Jax would be in immediate danger if Rousey joins the WWE. She is being built as an unstoppable wrecking ball in the women’s division on Raw. However, if Rousey signs with the WWE and is drafted to Raw, expect her to go through Jax, depriving her off all the momentum she has created for herself.
To make it worse, if Rousey, as a part-timers hold the WWE Women’s title it would be really bad for business in the long run. When Lesnar had the title, it would be rarely featured on Raw or SmackDown. Any title would lose its credibility when it is not showcased on WWE TV. Now one can argue that despite being a part-timer, Lesnar is massively over with the WWE universe. Regardless, when Lesnar ended the Undertaker’s streak nobody was happy that it happened.
Rousey would be better off doing a one-time appearance for the WWE to provide some sort of continuity to what happened at Wrestlemania 31. Would you eventually want to see Ronda Rousey as a full-time performer in the WWE?
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