As good as Ronda Rousey was in the Octagon, I’ve never really been sold on Ronda Rousey the professional wrestler. I don’t think I’m the only wrestling fan that kind of thinks that she’s more or less a wrestling tourist cashing in on her name value, and using professional wrestling to pad her bank account, because for some reason they’re so willing to give her tons of money. And as good of a MMA fighter she might have been, even to this day she’s still putrid inside the ring.
After reading this story about how WWE heads needed to give her a talking to about cutting promos, most notably the part where she’s the face in this feud with Charlotte Flair, and she needs to act like a heel, especially to the fans, because the formula of wrestling is the timeless tale of good guy versus bad guy, and it doesn’t really work out when a Wrestlemania match is going to be two assholes against each other, it was just another reminder of how much she doesn’t get the wrestling industry from the storytelling perspective either.
Back in 2018, Rousey and Charlotte had a match at Survivor Series, which was pretty decent because Charlotte is basically the greatest female wrestler ever, and Rousey was smart enough to let herself get carried. But the most memorable part of the match was when Charlotte got herself disqualified by abruptly attacking Rousey with a weapon; but despite the fact that at the time, Rousey was built as a heroic face, while Charlotte was toeing the line as a heel, the dastardly actions by Charlotte were met with explosive cheers from the crowd. Throughout the match, Rousey was getting somewhat of a lukewarm reception, but when Charlotte went ballistic on her, the line in the sand was pretty drawn – the fans had turned on Rousey.
The thing is, Rousey being so green to the wrestling industry, had no earthly idea how to handle it. After the match was over, Rousey looked at the crowd with a shocked and appalled look on her face as boos rained down on her. There was actually a moment where the cameras caught her jawing with a fan, claiming that he was no man, and the whole televised walk to the back was awkward and kind of painful to watch.
Today’s wrestling fans don’t like to be told what to do, which is why they’re so apt to turn on wrestlers in such dynamic manners from time to time. And the fans at a Survivor Series, which is a tier-1 event for the WWE, tends to draw more hardcore fans, and these are the ones that tend to understand their power as a collective, and know they can fuck with the talent if they work together, and that’s basically what happened with when they turned on Rousey. And once it’s seen on television, it becomes the truth to all casual fans and before you know it, Rousey is hated by all fans from then on, and next thing you know, she’s jobbing out to Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania to the delight of the fans and then vanishing from the WWE for like, three years.
Well, Rousey is back, and the WWE machine is once again trying to push her as a face. But the aforementioned promo she cut, mostly on the fans, clearly indicates that she hasn’t forgotten how she was treated by the fans three years ago, and combined with all her shoot-not-shoot remarks about how much she hates wrestling fans, it clear her relationship status with the industry is probably best described as, it’s complicated.
What I’m really hoping for is that come Wrestlemania, when Rousey faces Charlotte for the blue Women’s Championship, I hope that the fans turn on her again. Not before, not after, but during the match against Charlotte. Charlotte has been trying to nurture the arrogant heel persona over the last two years and frankly, getting paired against Rousey could be the worst thing to happen to her character, if the smarky fans that show up at Wrestlemania decide to deploy another heel turn on Rousey again.
But I’m all for it, and hope that it happens again. I’m not sold on Rousey the professional wrestler, and I would be over the moon to see the fans go complete dark side on her again, and see how she reacts to it happening at Wrestlemania of all places. It doesn’t change the fact that she’s probably going to win the blet because a big name like Rousey isn’t brought in to job, but I just hope the fans definitely let her know that they recognize someone who respects the business, and they’ll definitely let anyone else know what they think about them.