Ronda Rousey didn’t spend long in the world of WWE, but one of her biggest rivals has praised the impact she made in the squared circle.
‘The Baddest Woman on the Planet’ stepped into the world of professional wrestling in 2018, having dominated in the UFC with a record-setting championship reign in the years building up to her debut at WrestleMania 34.
After partnering with Kurt Angle against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in a mixed tag team match on the biggest stage, Rousey soon settled into an unstoppable WWE singles run.
She squashed Alexa Bliss in a four-minute match to win the RAW Women’s Championship at SummerSlam, before fending off contenders including Nikki Bella, Mickie James, Nia Jax, Natalya and Sasha Banks in the months that followed.
Rousey was then set to face Becky Lynch at Survivor Series in November 2018, in what was branded as a champion vs champion match across Raw and SmackDown.
Lynch, however, was legitimately injured during an invasion angle leading up to the event, and the dominating star took on Charlotte Flair instead.
At the time, Rousey, Lynch and Flair were three of the hottest names in professional wrestling, and their popularity continued to grow into 2019 to set up a blockbuster match at WrestleMania 35.
In what was the final show to be held as a one-night event, the trio made history, and main-evented in a huge ‘winner takes all’ triple threat match for the Raw and SmackDown women’s titles.
They became the first three women to close a WrestleMania event, and fans were treated to a 21-minute classic that ended with Lynch lifting the belts in front of nearly 70,000 people at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Much of the storyline building up to ‘Mania was centred around the disdain that each woman felt for one-another that blurred the lines of reality, and it culminated in an unforgettable bout on the biggest stage.
Despite the clear animosity, Rousey’s great rival Flair has recently suggested that the women’s roster would not have had the spotlight seven years ago without her.
“We would not have not main-evented WrestleMania had it not been for Ronda. Hands down,” Charlotte told NFL legend Julian Edelman on the Games with Names podcast.
Rousey, Lynch and Flair battled in the closing match of WrestleMania 35WWE Lynch was victorious in the main event bout in front of 70,000WWE“Her star power, her credibility, her outside influence, the audience that she brought. Kudos to her.
“I know that, you know, someone said in her book that ‘she couldn’t wrestle’ but at the end of the day, it really didn’t matter.”
“She was Ronda, and she didn’t need to. She had such an aura to her and really did figure it out.”
Charlotte went on to offer Rousey her sincere thanks, admitting that the UFC star ‘caught on’ to what they were trying to do very quickly.
The second generation star said: “I thank her for what she did for us, because, she didn’t have to come wrestle.
“She’d already done it all and it was real.
Flair has praised Rousey for her short-lived WWE stintWWE“So she just added that legitimacy to what we were trying to do that we didn’t have and she caught on.”
Rousey went on hiatus following WrestleMania 35, and wasn’t seen in WWE for nearly three years before returning at the Royal Rumble in 2022.
She stuck around for another 18 months or so, and had two runs with the SmackDown Women’s Championship — regularly clashing with Flair — as well as a short stint as Women’s Tag Team Champions alongside Shayna Baszler.
Rousey stepped away from professional wrestling come October 2023, and has since criticized her time in WWE.
The 38-year-old described the company as an ‘absolute s***show’ behind-the-scenes, and insisted she has no intention on returning.
While she didn’t stick around for long, and has been highly critical of WWE since departing, there’s no doubt that Rousey helped elevate the talent around her during her time in the squared circle.
And for that, a veteran like Flair will always be thankful.
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