When WWE signed Ronda Rousey, it was supposed to be a game-changer. One of the most popular MMA fighters of all time who quite literally changed the face of the industry forever, Rousey's addition to WWE fully shattered any remnants of the “Divas Division” and boldly declared that women in The Fed could be legit brawlers who wouldn't bat an eye while they break their opponent's arm with a Fujiwara armbar.
Making her official in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 in a mixed tag with Kurt Angle against Stephanie McMahon and Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Rousey won the RAW Women's Championship in only her fourth televised match at SummerSlam 2018 in a sub-5 minute squash and worked for the promotion on and off ever since, wrestling 48 matches in 2018, 23 in 2019, and 53 so far in 2022 following her return at the Royal Rumble. Rousey's addition to the company drew new eyes to the in-ring product, as her star power exceeds that of (almost) every member of the roster right now.
But there was a problem with adding Rousey to the roster and pushing her to the moon: she was never a natural in the ring.
Now, with the right opponent, that was never too big of an issue; Rousey worked two very good matches with Charlotte Flair, once in 2018 and again in 2022, that garnered 4.25-star ratings from Dave Meltzer, and her initial match with Angle, McMahon, and Levesque was a true spectacle worthy of a spot on WrestleMania. Still, when Rousey is asked to work with a similarly green performer like Shotzi, her Survivor Series foe, well, it can result in spots like this:
ronda didn’t even sell shotzi’s ddt?? WHAT THE HELL #SurvivorSeries pic.twitter.com/WwtxCwfATW
— sara (@embracethvision) November 27, 2022
Yikes! Whatever the duo were trying to do there, it did not work at all.
Still, just because fans aren't high on “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” and there's a segment who would very much like to see her current championship reign end sooner rather than later – check out the trending topic “#FireRondaRousey” on Twitter – that doesn't mean all of her co-workers feel the same way. Au contraire, some, like Zelina Vega, actually love working with the former MMA legend, as she detailed on the That's Dope podcast.
Ronda Rousey has a fan in WWE's Zelena Vega.
When asked about the rumor that “a former MMA fighter didn't want to work with someone because they were too rough and didn't know what they were doing,” Vega both came to Rousey's defense and put her over in a huge way, as transcribed by Fightful.
“I absolutely love Ronda,” Vega said. “Here's the thing, she wasn't just some bozo off the street who decided to do this on a Tuesday. She was one of the absolute best (in MMA). If she made that career change to go to WWE, that brings in her fans, that mixes our fans with hers, and it's something people don't get to see, usually. ‘I would love to see how she matches up with this person.' The people who get mad that Ronda is there are the people who are upset that they're not getting that opportunity. To me, she's been nothing but sweet, she's been nothing but respectful, she puts in the work, and she's a gamer and I love that. She's super sweet and super cool. When it comes to people who are not stoked that she's there, I give her credit because not only does she get sh*t from fans of UFC, but she always gets shit from wrestling fans, and she says, ‘Screw it, I'm going to do this and have fun doing it.' Ultimately, it's her life and I hate that people get so [angry], ‘I hate that she's there and shitting on the business.' Regardless, she is bringing money. Can you?”
“I've never been in the ring with her in the sense that I've taken any moves from her, so I can't say if she's rough or not,” Vega added. “However, she does have a background in UFC, what's rough to her…and vice versa, I do think that the girls like to match it. Anybody I've seen her in the ring with, if she's done something to them and there might be a little ‘oomph,' they match it. It's tit for tat. I've never been in the ring with her, so I can't say, but I will say, if they have gotten hurt or something has happened, I can't see it being on purpose. I can't see it from Ronda. She's too good of a person, that I've gotten to know, that I don't see her being malicious, I don't see her trying to take sh*t out on people or specifically trying to hurt people for any reason. Everyone has their own personal relationships with people, but I love that she's with us.”
Could Rousey's in-ring style simply not translate well onto television in the same way as, say, IYO SKY's smooth aerial maneuvers? Could a few bad botches overshadow an otherwise fine base-level of performance ability that may not be flashy but brings a “realness” to the in-ring happenings? Or does Rousey simply not have the passion and/or the compatible in-ring ability to be an effective professional wrestler? It's impossible to truly know, but considering she remains WWE champion, the sample size will surely continue to grow.
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