Well, WWE went and did it. They did the deal. They signed Ronda Rousey to a full-time contract, and Rousey popped up at Royal Rumble to ominously point at the WrestleMania sign. The tea leaves have been pointing toward Rousey in WWE for a long time, and now it’s a reality. Granted, at the moment Rousey is “full time” like Brock Lesnar is full time, but WWE will be Rousey’s focus and her main source of income (probably) for the foreseeable future.
And while she learns how to be a full-time pro wrestler at the WWE Performance Center, the company has very, very big plans for her. They want her to make her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34, and they already have some pretty lofty goals for what they’d like that match to be. So while it looks like Rousey will be around for at least the next couple of years, we are lucky to be in the midst of the biggest renaissance in women’s pro wrestling history, and most of the world’s top women are currently under WWE contract.
Rousey will likely get a chance to wrestle a good number of women in WWE, but there are certain members of the roster that she absolutely MUST have matches against before it’s all said and done. We humbly present our top picks for our personal Ronda Rousey WWE dream matches. Let’s get the big and obvious ones out of the way first, shall we?
Stephanie McMahon
Yeah, this one is happening. It’s likely (probably) happening as soon as WrestleMania, as Rousey might get the full “minimize the weaknesses” treatment a few months into her pro wrestling career as part of a mixed tag team match. But regardless, she’s going to wrestle Stephanie McMahon and finally make good on the promise they offered up at WrestleMania 31, when the Rock brought Rousey out of the crowd to armbar and judo McMahon and Triple H into oblivion.
So Stephanie is most assuredly on the docket, and you can feel however you want to feel about that, but how often does WWE set up a story and pay it off three years later? Let’s just enjoy the moment as best we can. (I’m here for it.)
Asuka
This is the other one that’s absolutely, definitely going to happen. Asuka has been undefeated for several years and is the undisputed best wrestler on the planet, and she even uses an armbar as a finisher — sort of like Rousey used to do in MMA. To cap it all off, Rousey crashed Asuka’s biggest moment to date after winning the Rumble, and you know — you KNOW — that Asuka does not suffer any fools lightly, much less undeserving glory hogs (which is almost certainly what she views Rousey as).
Yes, it’s very likely that Asuka has been presented as the most dominant women’s wrestler of all time just so she can have her first loss to the most dominant women’s MMA fighter of all time. But maybe not! Either way, expect Asuka’s first major opponent as Women’s Champion to be against Rowdy Ronda.
The Four Horsewomen vs. The Four Horsewomen
For a hot minute, it sure looked like this was the bout we could definitely lock in for WrestleMania. It didn’t work out (it seems), and it’s possible this will never end up working out, depending on how the pro wrestling careers of Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke end up panning out. But this is still something that could be massive, massive, massive. I think this one will eventually end up happening, but we NEED it. Imagine a month of these two factions running afoul of each other in main event segments. Imagine Bayley being relevant again! Bring on the horses.
Shayna Baszler
On the flip side of the Horsewomen vs. Horsewomen feud that we desperately need, we absolutely need to get this match if Rousey ever breaks bad or they want Baszler to break good. This would be such an easy feud, as Baszler is the one with the innate pro wrestling talent and oozing charisma, but has been overshadowed by her friendship with Rousey. In my mind, this has to be the LAST match Rousey ever has in WWE (or at least on this current contract), as Baszler finally bests her in the squared circle and then they reconcile and embrace as fireworks go off. Yes. Yes, let us do this, please.
Sonya Deville
Not to keep saying “Ronda should fight all the MMA women,” but this would be a very different story than the Baszler story. Deville’s MMA career was short-lived before transitioning into wrestling, and she’s struggling to keep pace with the rest of an extremely crowded set of women’s divisions, despite how crazy-talented she is. Having Deville call out Rousey before Deville is really ready to hang with her, just to make a name for herself, could be this generation’s 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon.
Ruby Riott
With Paige on the shelf, perhaps indefinitely, Riott is the non-Nia Jax woman who can really stake her claim on not looking, sounding, wrestling, or acting like anyone else. Having her go to war with Rousey is tailor-made for the first real showcase the former Heidi Lovelace is capable of and deserves. There will be a steady stream of women looking to call out Rousey and get a piece of her, but Riott just has that ferocity that demands her challenge be answered. (See also: Nikki Cross.)
Nia Jax
In a just world, Nia Jax would be the monster at the end of every WWE Superstar’s book. If WWE wanted to be really nasty, they could play up Rousey’s history of being called out by (and refusing to fight) Cris Cyborg and other women above her weight class. Rousey will be picking on a lot of Superstars who are smaller than her. Sooner or later, it will be time to call her bluff.
Candice LeRae
How perfect would it be for Candice LeRae, who Rousey used to watch wrestle regularly as the only woman booked in PWG in Reseda, to get a major pay-per-view match against her former cheering section? Sometimes things come full circle so wonderfully. Oh, also, Candice is one of the best wrestlers in the world, and needs to be in front of as many eyeballs as possible.
Regardless of who gets the first several cracks at Rousey in WWE, we’re confident that at least a few of these feuds will take place at some point. If they manage to give us ALL of them … well then, WWE, that is some money extremely well spent.
