Ronda Rousey Challenges Charlotte Flair to Title Match at WWE WrestleMania 38

Ronda Rousey announced Friday night on SmackDown she will face Charlotte Flair for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 38 in April.

Flair and Sonya Deville came out to the ring to start the closing segment.

Deville told Flair that she heard Rousey had chosen to face Raw women's champion Becky Lynch at WrestleMania.

That led to Flair cutting a promo in which she said Rousey chose the "undercard" and that No. 1 doesn't talk about No. 2. Flair then said she would choose Sasha Banks as her WrestleMania opponent.

Cue Rousey coming down to the ring:

She then cut a promo and told Flair that she owes her an "ass-beating" and that'd she'd see the champ at WrestleMania:

Rousey then went after Flair, but Deville jumped in. Deville went for a sleeper hold that Rousey held off and reversed into a Samoan Drop. SmackDown then faded to black as Rousey put Deville in an armbar with a horrified Flair watching from outside the ring.

Rousey returned to WWE programming at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Saturday, marking her first on-screen appearance since WrestleMania 35 in April 2019.

Ronda won the women's Royal Rumble match to earn the right to challenge for a championship at WrestleMania 38.

On Monday Night Raw, Rousey appeared and sounded poised to make her decision between Raw women's champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. But instead, Rousey said she would officially announce her WrestleMania plans on this Friday's episode of SmackDown.

Rousey dropped the Raw Women's Championship to Becky Lynch in a historic Triple Threat main event that also included Charlotte Flair. During that match, the former UFC star suffered a broken hand that required surgery.

After The Show of Shows, the 35-year-old also posted a photo of herself and her husband, Travis Browne, on Instagram with the hashtag #impregnationvacation, which led to speculation she was taking time off to start a family.

Rousey and Browne then had their first child together, a daughter named La'akea Makalapuaokalanipo Browne, on Sept. 27, 2021.

Rousey's rookie year in WWE was arguably the most impressive of all time. It started with a tag team victory alongside Kurt Angle over Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34 and culminated with her being part of the first women's main event in the history of the marquee show a year later.

In between, she became Raw Women's champion in one of her first matches and retained it successfully against the likes of Charlotte and Sasha Banks. She even main-evented the first all-women's WWE pay-per-view Evolution in October 2018, beating Nikki Bella.

Despite the fact Rousey seemed to pick up wrestling quickly following a standout career in the UFC, a section of the WWE fanbase didn't fully embrace her.

With the WWE Universe firmly behind Lynch entering WrestleMania 35, Rousey turned heel, and it can be argued she did much of her best work from a character and promo perspective after becoming a villain.

The great thing about her from WWE's standpoint is that she can be used in myriad ways. She has shown she can thrive as a heel, and she can also be deployed as a babyface since her crossover popularity allows her to appeal to a large audience, including those who may not be wrestling fans.

The WWE women's division did appear to lack some star power and focus during her absence, but if Rousey is back for the long haul, then the spotlight will be back on women's wrestling.

Given her status as one of WWE's biggest stars, there is no question she will be in one of the top matches at WrestleMania 38, and that should go a long way toward adding some intrigue to WWE programming.

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