Without a doubt Ronda Rousey has been one of WWE biggest acquisitions in the last 15 years. Yet she has been booked horribly since she made her Raw match debut after WrestleMania. But fear not, every failure can be fixed with a variety of adjustments to Ronda’s character, her matches, and following the natural storyline WWE has hinted at for the last 3 years.
The Setup:
Ronda Rousey is no stranger to WWE as she has made several appearances from 2014 to 2017. Some of these have included being with the Rock at WrestleMania 31 where she threw both Triple H and Stephanie McMahon out of the ring. Ronda once again returned to appear for WWE on July 13, 14, and on September 12, 2017 alongside the Horsewomen of MMA, to support Shayna Baszler at the Mae Young Classic. During this event, the MMA Horsewomen had a face-off with Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Bayley who alongside Sasha Banks are known as the WWE Four Horsewomen. This face-off hinted at a possible feud between the 2 groups, that has yet to take place.
Since Ronda’s victory over the Authority (Triple H and Stephanie McMahon) she has been given a fast track to capture gold with a minor hiccup along the way. This hiccup was Alexa Bliss interrupting her championship match for the Raw Women’s title and cashing in her Money in the Bank contract. This resulted in Ronda’s first feud starting with Alexa Bliss as she chases down the Raw Women’s title and attempts to correct the wrong that she received by being cheated out of it. At SummerSlam and Hell in a Cell Ronda captured and successfully defended respectively the Raw Women’s championship. Following this victory Ronda successfully defended and faced Nikki Bella, Mickie James, Nia Jax, and Natalya. Going into Survivor Series, Ronda was supposed to face Becky Lynch in a champion vs. champion match. Leading up to the match Becky made it clear that she was going to beat Ronda and make her tap. To prove this point Becky along with the SmackDown Women’s locker room invaded Raw. During this invasion Becky attacked Ronda back stage by putting her in the Disarmor before joining the rest of SmackDown to beat down Raw. To further add icing on the cake, when Ronda attempted to help out Raw, Becky used a steel chair on her to continue the attack. During this invasion, with Becky still standing tall, she was injured by Nia Jax and suffered a concussion. This made her unable to compete at Survivor Series and she was replaced by Charlotte Flair. During this match Charlotte disqualified herself when she attacked Ronda with a kendo stick and several steel chairs leaving her beaten in the ring. Despite losing Charlotte on SmackDown, was rewarded with a title opportunity at TLC in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, which was later turned into a triple threat as Asuka was added to the match. During the match, with both Becky and Charlotte fighting for the title on the very top of the ladder, Ronda comes out and pushes them off the ladder allowing Asuka to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
How to Book from Here:
WWE has a perfect opportunity to create one of the hottest and possibly longest feuds for the modern-day era surrounding Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey, and the WWE and MMA Four Horsewomen that would extend till Survivor Series. In order to achieve this, WWE needs to move Ronda Rousey to SmackDown as champion while moving Asuka to Raw. This could be done in a variety of ways including Ronda requesting to the new GM to trade her for Asuka or have Ronda pull a clause in her contract making her a free agent so that she can settle her business on SmackDown. Once on SmackDown, Ronda can no longer be a face as she will not be able to win over the crowd from Charlotte or Becky. To fix that, given that the MMA Four Horsewomen have been teased and three of them are in NXT currently, Shayna Baszler would be called up to back up Ronda and to ensure that she would hold her title. At the Royal Rumble Raw would win the Women’s Royal Rumble leaving an opponent open for Ronda at WrestleMania. Charlotte and Becky would then wrestle the following SmackDown to a tie and upon the ruling it would be announced that they would face Ronda at WrestleMania. Yet a stipulation would be in place for them as both Charlotte and Becky cannot attack or touch one another until then. Leading up to Elimination Chamber Shayna Baszler would cost both Becky and Charlotte single matches. This would prompt both of them to challenge Ronda and Shayna to a tag team match at Elimination Chamber with the stipulation being that if Ronda and Shayna win, Shayna can be ringside at WrestleMania, but if they lose she is banned from the building.
At Elimination Chamber Ronda and Shayna would get the win due to the lack of communication between Becky and Charlotte. While they still could not physically touch each other until WrestleMania they can psychologically impact one another. This would allow Ronda and Shayna to continue to interfere and build momentum going into WrestleMania with a winning streak. At the same time this is occurring, a tournament for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles, would have begun with the idea of it ending at WrestleMania. Ultimately, Bayley and Sasha would win the titles and be crowned the inaugural champions. This would give both Sasha and Bayley the ability to defend their titles on either SmackDown or Raw. Towards the end of WrestleMania, the triple threat would take place where both Becky and Charlotte would at the start of the match take out Shayna. As the match progressed all three women would get equal opportunities to show case their skills and get a pop from the crowd. Eventually Charlotte or Becky would begin to close in on Ronda and Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir would interfere, as there are no DQ in a triple threat, and allow Ronda to get the win. With both Becky and Charlotte still in the ring, Jessamyn and Marina would hit —their finishers and then be joined by Shayna who would stand over their bodies displaying the Four Horsewomen sign.
On the following SmackDown, Charlotte would kick off the show to address Becky Lynch and what happened on Sunday, but before she could finish the Four Horsewomen would come out to attack her. Right in the middle of their attack Becky Lynch would come out with a steel chair forcing the Four Horsewomen to retreat. This would prompt a match between Charlotte and Becky to face Jessamyn and Marina in the main event. That match would end with Becky and Charlotte winning but being attacked by all four MMA Horsewomen after the match. The following week Bayley and Sasha would successfully defend their tag team titles against Mandy Rose, and Sonya Deville, only be attacked by Jessamyn and Marina. Following this, they would issue a challenge at Backlash or Money in the Bank for their titles. Meanwhile, Becky Lynch would challenge Shayna to a Lumber Jill match with both Charlotte and Ronda as Lumber Jills. Shayna would win her match while Sasha and Bayley would win theirs. On the following night of Raw the Riott Squad would pick up a non-title win over Bayley and Sasha, due to interference from the MMA Four Horsewomen. As a result, the Riott Squad at Extreme Rules would be granted a title opportunity for the Women’s tag titles. Meanwhile, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, after each suffering single losses against members of the MMA Four Horsewomen, would challenge two of them to a tag team match at Extreme Rules. This would be accepted by Shayna and Marina. At Extreme Rules Sasha and Bayley, despite interference from both Liv Morgan and Jessamyn, successfully defended their titles. Mandy and Sonya’s match was interrupted by Becky and Charlotte who came out of the crowd to lay out both Shayna and Marina in a similar fashion as they were at WrestleMania a few months back. Before leaving the ring, Sonya Deville and Mandy hug both Becky and Charlotte, thus allowing them to turn face on SmackDown.
Going into SummerSlam Becky Lynch and Charlotte would call out Bayley and Sasha and cut a promo how they all have had their differences with each other. But now they must unite as the WWE Four Horsewomen to face the threat of the MMA Four Horsewomen as they have not been able to stop them on their own. Later that night, after Bayley and Sasha’s match with Alexa Bliss, the Four MMA Horsewomen would attack them. They would be saved only by Becky and Charlotte who would clear the ring. This would officially unite and establish the WWE Four Horsewomen from NXT. On SmackDown, Bayley would challenge Ronda to a championship match while Becky, Sasha, and Charlotte would face Shayna, Marina, and Jassamyn in a 6-women tag match. Ronda would successfully defend her title against Bayley, and the 6-women tag match would end in a double count-out as it would turn into a brawl that would spill across the area. Given that issues are not resolved between these women Becky and Charlotte would face Jessamyn and Marina while Bayley and Sasha would defend their tag team titles at Hell in a Cell against Ronda and Shayna. Jessamyn and Marina would get the victory over Charlotte and Becky, while Bayley would pin Shayna to retain the titles.
This would create slight tension in the Four MMA Horsewomen between Jessamyn and Marina with Ronda and Shayna as they could not get the job done. In response, to this Ronda made it clear that they would need to win the titles at Evolution or they are out of the group. Meanwhile, Charlotte on SmackDown would win a gauntlet match to become the number one contender to challenge Ronda for her title in a ladder match. Leading up to these matches on both RAW and SmackDown, Ronda and Charlotte pick opponents for each other. These happen to be members of their respective Four Horsewomen teams. This puts slight stress on both teams as nobody is refusing to lie down and take an easy loss. Going into the Evolution both Ronda and Charlotte have beaten the three members of their teams. The match would go back and forth with both Charlotte and Ronda showing their athletic and ruthlessness in the ring with Ronda eventually climbing the ladder to claim her title. At the same event Jessamyn and Marina would defeat Sasha and Bayley and bring home the Women’s tag team titles. Becky Lynch would also eliminate herself and Shayna in a battle royal to determine the next number one contender for the Raw or SmackDown Women’s title.
With the Four Horsewomen from WWE and MMA constantly exchanging victories over one another it would be announced that all eight women would meet in a traditional four on four Survivor Series match to end the feud between them. Throughout the match Sasha, Bayley, Becky, and Charlotte will get to show case the very best of NXT and the caliber of wrestlers it can produce. For the Four MMA Horse Women, they will be able to show how wrestling has evolved with the introduction of former UFC fighters into the company. During this match, we will see the improvements Shayna has made, along with the progress of Jessamyn and Marina as they are still new to the business. Once this match is said and done it would provide a launching point for all eight women to be interjected into new storylines. The fans throughout the last 10 months got to know these women and understand the war they had gone through. By booking this feud over the course of 10 months, WWE will not only create a complex story that fans can wrap their head around, but also create emotional ties to these wrestlers which they have failed to do in the last few years.
