Ronda Rousey joining the WWE was one of the worst kept secrets in recent years, and it was one met with many conflicting opinions. Who would she face? What show does she join? Will she be a full timer or just another Brock Lesnar? Why is she even here? Lets not beat around the bush, her acquisition is a HUGE deal for WWE, despite her UFC career going down the pan she is still one of the most recognisable sportswomen in the world and will undoubtedly bring in more of that sweet dolla dolla that makes Vince McMahon sleep easy at night. But what direction should WWE take with her and how can she be booked without alienating the fans and half of the locker room? Let’s take a look at some of the best and most viable booking options…

Four Horsewomen of WWE v Four Horsewomen of MMA

Let’s start off with the one which makes the most sense. At this exact moment in time we know how good Rousey in inside the Octagon of UFC, but we have no idea how well she will be able to adapt to the choreographed, dramatic showmanship which WWE prides itself on. Therefore, putting her in the ring with 7 other women would be the best way to paint over the cracks and hide any flaws she might have early on, as the last thing WWE would want is their biggest signing in years looking stupid and having the crowd shit all over her big moment.

This booking also makes sense because of who would be involved in the match. While the crowd may not be overly invested in the MMA ladies (Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir) seeing four of the WWE’s best female stars compete together for the first time would certainly be a WrestleMania moment and keep the fans interested throughout. There’s no doubting the talent and experience of WWE’s femme fatale’s – Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Bayley – and any one of them would be able to help Ronda look good and like a legitimate badass.

Rousey’s debut in a WWE ring, and even more so her debut at WrestleMania, needs to be treated like the huge deal which it undoubtedly is. Millions of eye’s all over the world will be glued to the event to see what Ronda can bring to the table, so the mainstream appeal of this match makes it the ideal booking for everyone involved and also means that we get to see all of our favourite women involved without necessarily having to have Charlotte defending her title.

4 Horsewomen off WWE minus 1 vs 4 Horsewomen of MMA minus 1

Going for the gold

The next most viable option would be Ronda going after one of the Women’s Championships… but which one? A lot of this comes down to what WWE choose do with Asuka, we’re no closer to finding out who she will be challenging after her historic win at the Royal Rumble and it’s a really tricky one to call. Asuka challenging Alexa Bliss, with the potential of Nia Jax joining to set up a triple threat, would free up Rousey to challenge Charlotte over on SDLive. This would arguably be the best 1 v 1 match available, Charlotte has proven time and time again how ridiculously good she is in the ring and she desperately needs legitimate competition after a few months of not exactly setting the place on fire, and she has really struggled to come even close to her fantastic rivalry with Sasha Banks. She has also improved substantially on the mic, which is the area Rousey will likely struggle the most, so Charlotte should be able to carry the feud in terms of promo’s with ease.

The other potential match up could be Rousey v Asuka, and a lot of people are getting behind this one but there’s one major flaw here… who wins? WWE have built Asuka to be the most invincible force we’ve ever seen, and while the streak has to come to an end eventually can you imagine the backlash if Rousey was the one to break it? It’s going to take a long time for her to settle in and be seen as a legitimate superstar so to have her defeat a fan favourite who made history and happens to have a record breaking undefeated run would do her more harm than anything. At the same time, can you really see Rousey losing at Mania? WWE need to find her someone she can beat with everyone accepting it, or have her involved in a match where she doesn’t win but also finishes the match without being the person to take the loss.

For me that could quite easily come in the form of a fatal 4 way for the RAW Women’s Championship. We still have nearly 2 months until Mania and plenty of opportunities to shoe horn Rousey in to the title picture by having her ambush various superstars. Not only does this get her on TV and help to build the storyline, it also means she doesn’t necessarily need to have a 1 v 1 match in the build up and can save that moment for Mania. Now that we know she is signing her contract during Elimination Chamber, I would have her interfere in the Nia Jax v Asuka match so that Kurt Angle is forced to have all 3 women face Bliss at Mania. Rousey can dominate the match, clean house but be ganged up on by all 3 women and roll out of the ring for a while. Bliss eventually takes the pin from Asuka who wins clean. Everyone is happy. WWE get Rousey bringing in viewers at the biggest event of the year, Nia and Rousey don’t look bad in defeat and Asuka continues the streak and wins the gold. BOOM. Book it. Money.

She pointed 4 times. Each time, Charlotte, Asuka and Bliss all looked up with her. Like, what were they expecting the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time?

Ladies and Gentlemen…

This one might just be wishful thinking on my part but hear me out for a minute. I’ve made no secret of my admiration for Paul Heyman (as seen here), the man can spin gold on the mic and gets us so much more invested into Brock Lesnar’s rivalries than we really ought to be. But with Lesnar likely to leave WWE when he drops the Universal Championship to Roman Reigns at Mania, what is there left for Heyman to do? Joining forces with Rousey, essentially the female Lesnar, has huge potential. I’ve heard Rousey speak at press conferences and seen her act in movies and it’s a little bit … let’s say uninspiring. That’s not a dig at her by any means, not every great superstar has been incredible on the mic and she’s entering a world in which she has no experience at all, but having the incomparable Heyman working as her mouthpiece is best for business. Lesnar has always been horrible on the mic, so WWE did the right thing by pairing him with Heyman and its didn’t exactly do Lesnar any harm now did it?

I can even picture the perfect way for the pairing to be introduced. Rousey enters the ring to sign her contract at Elimination Chamber with Kurt Angle already in the ring. After a little bit of pandering to the crowd and saying how happy she is to be here, Stephanie McMahon comes down to the ring because GOD FORBID she should stay off TV for more than a couple of months. She enters the ring and talks some rubbish about women’s revolutions and making history. Steph comments on what happened at Mania 31 (we’ll get to that later). Rousey goes to sign the contract but hesitates, grabs the mic and says that she isn’t comfortable signing the dotted line without someone there to give it a once over first. She needs her advisor… her trusted accomplice… her advocate.

Regardless of who she faces at Mania, Heyman’s inclusion in the program would make it must see TV. The hype he could generate would certainly get people to rally behind Rousey, in the same way they have with Lesnar, when before they may have been sceptical after the way she was introduced at the Rumble, taking away from Asuka’s win and the horribly awkward interaction which followed.

I miss my headset 🙁

Do you smell what The Rock & Ronda are cooking?

This seems like the least likely of the bunch but its still worth mentioning. The WWE Universe will forever love The Rock, and with good reason, so he would be another prime candidate to get the fans to rally behind Rousey. The whole premise of this one would be as a continuation of the interaction which saw R&R (Rubbish I know but I’m sticking with it) take HHH and Stephanie down a peg or two at Mania 31. These are the McMahon’s we are talking about here so no doubt some day they will be looking for retribution after being humiliated publically.

Frankly I hope this one doesn’t happen, and I struggle to see it coming to fruition regardless of my feelings towards it. The Rock seems to care less and less about WWE now, and in a sense I cant blame him. WWE need The Rock, The Rock does not need WWE. When he first started off in Hollywood it was expected that he would still make the odd appearances and have the odd short term program, such as when he came back to face John Cena. However now that he seems to be in a new movie every other week, what would even be in it for him anymore? It would be a throwaway match that the majority of fans wouldn’t care about, and takes up a slot which more deserving superstars could be utilizing.

So to summarise… it doesn’t need to happen. It would be a waste of a match/slot on the card. Talented superstars would be overlooked. Most fans wouldn’t care. It would only serve to boost Stephanie and Trips humongous ego’s. So… you can almost guarantee it’ll happen then. because WWE that’s why!

Don’t.. Bring. It