Ronda Rousey's WWE Year in Review: Full Breakdown and Grade for Rookie Year

Ronda Rousey made her official WWE debut at The Royal Rumble on January 28, which means almost the entirety of 2018 was her rookie year as a pro wrestler.

The first time the former UFC megastar appeared in a WWE ring was at WrestleMania 31 in a segment with The Rock, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.

Rowdy Ronda's love of pro wrestling has been discussed for a long time, so seeing her take down The Game and The Billion-Dollar Princess was a lot of fun.

At the time, Rousey was the most talked about person in sports. Her run as the UFC bantamweight champion saw her become one of the biggest draws in the company and her losses and retirement were covered just as much as her rise to the top.

Hollywood seemed like the next logical step for Rousey after appearing in installments of The Expendables and the Fast and Furious franchises, but pro wrestling became her main focus.

Let's take a look at how Rousey did during her first year as a WWE Superstar.

Grading Her Pay-Per-View Performances

Her first official match didn't take place until WrestleMania 34 when she teamed up with Kurt Angle to battle Triple H and Stephanie in a mixed tag team bout.

The contest was met with a lot of praise thanks to Rousey adapting her MMA style so well for professional wrestling. She had been training before this point, but for her first performance in the ring, she exceeded all expectations.

Former Bleacher Report writer Ryan Dilbert gave the match an A-minus grade and highlighted the layout of the match as being the key to its success. This wasn't a clinic, but it was entertaining and that's all that matters.

Her next bout took place at Money in the Bank. Once again, Dilbert awarded the match an A-minus and indicated it would have received an even higher grade had it not been interrupted by Alexa Bliss cashing in her Money in the Bank contract to become the Raw women's champion.

After a few appearances on Raw to further their feud, Rousey challenged Bliss for the title at SummerSlam. Rowdy Ronda picked up a decisive win by squashing The Goddess.

Bleacher Report's Erik Beaston gave the match an A, noting how booking Rousey so strong against Bliss this early in her career helped put the former MMA star on the right track. 

Beaston was slightly more critical of their rematch at Hell in a Cell, giving the bout a B and pointing out Rousey had improved in the ring but failed to deliver the same dominant performance against someone she defeated so easily the first time around. 

Teaming with The Bella Twins seemed to hurt Rousey's momentum a bit as their six-woman tag match at Super Show-Down only received a B-minus from Beaston, but things picked back up when Rowdy Ronda defeated Nikki Bella at Evolution to earn a B. 

Things only got better from there as Rousey represented Raw against SmackDown's Charlotte Flair at Survivor Series to earn her first A-plus of the year.

The final pay-per-view of 2018 saw Rousey reignite her feud with Jax at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. Their chemistry had improved and they earned an A with a physical contest.

The Raw women's champion put the belt on the line one more time when she took on Natalya on the Christmas Eve edition of Raw. Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge awarded the bout an A-minus and complimented Rousey on the way she handles each opponent differently to create interesting performances. 

Room For Improvement

Nobody goes into the pro wrestling business and immediately knows how to do everything well. Some people are great in the ring while needing a lot of work on promo skills, and some are the exact opposite.

Rousey took to the physical part of wrestling like a fish to water, but delivering a promo seemed to be the one thing she struggled with at first.

It took a little while before she found her voice and started feeling comfortable talking in front of the WWE Universe. 

Her past couple of promos are still clearly rehearsed ahead of time, but the content and delivery of those speeches have improved quite a bit since she first joined the company.

Final Grade: A

Rousey had an obvious advantage over most debuting Superstars due to her fame as the most successful woman in UFC history, but she earned the respect of the WWE Universe through hard work and dedication.

Unlike Brock Lesnar, Rousey feels like a real member of the roster despite her part-time status. She appears on at least a few episodes of Raw each month and has been a regular fixture at PPVs for the past several months.

Her matches have continued to improve and her mic skills are developing at a fast rate. Not only did Rousey have a fantastic rookie year, but it may go down as one of the greatest first years in WWE history.