RONDA ROUSEY: A Lost Experiment In WWE
If you ever watched the first Tough Enough, Triple H talked about respecting the business, his love for the business and the struggles you face. In many ways that is how people often were seen as being worth the investment and being worth the investment.
They should have shown that to Ronda Rousey to prepare her for what she would expect. If they did, maybe things would have been different.
Right now, we are close to a reported “Hard Out” by Rousey as she is in the middle of her feud with Shayna Baszler and as many will either cheer the fact that Rousey is leaving the WWE (possibly for good) it is only fair to ask the big question – was this a failed experiment that was doomed from the beginning?
Let’s start off with her initial signing with the WWE. She was fresh off two devastating back-to-back losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes that ended her MMA career. Movie roles and TV roles had dried up and the WWE was viewed as her safety net financially as well as mentally for her.
And the first year seven months were as good as anyone could expect as she did what she knew how to do; throw herself into training and working as hard as she could. After a fantastic WrestleMania 34 debut as she teamed with Kurt Angle to beat Triple H & Stephanie McMahon, Rousey was given the Bill Goldberg push.
She dominated every match nearly, racking up submission wins, mauling women left and right and winning the world title at SummerSlam. Fans at first loved seeing her and she took to wrestling as fast as Kurt Angle had in terms of technical aspects. It looked like a match made in happen.
However, things turned when her evolution stopped, and it wasn’t all her fault. Creative made the decision to have her as the smiling babyface which she never felt comfortable as. Those who know her have always said she has been more of a natural heel and cocky villain.
Also, comparisons to Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle were unfair as both men spent time in either OVW or had some Independent wrestling matches to train them. Rousey unlike the other two men also hated the criticism that came her way from fans and media and didn’t know how to handle it.
After three years away from the sport, she returned and while once again at first fans were excited it turned again quickly as she never evolved. Her promos have always been lacking and she is not the greatest talker in an industry where it is expected now.
In many ways you can blame the WWE for not doing a better job of preparing or working with Ronda. Brad Shepherd and Bill Apter both stated that Paul Heyman would have been great as her “voice”. And the way that not just Brock Lesnar but Bad Bunny and Logan Paul have been booked shows that WWE knows how to manage “celebrity” wrestlers.
Who knows if this is the end of the Ronda Rousey experience for good but no matter what, there will always be the dreaded question we ask at the end of the day with Ronda.
What if? What if WWE had done things much differently and gave her a better chance to succeed.
Unfortunately, we may never know.