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WWE Hot Take: Ronda Rousey's NSFW Rant Pushes Her Closer to Brock Lesnar Status
March 9, 2019
Ronda Rousey was always destined for the Brock Lesnar role.
Not a bad thing—this is the necessary evolution of the character given the events happening around Rousey and the WWE as a whole.
Rousey being the next Lesnar was always viewed as a negative. She exceeded all expectations, putting on superb matches right out of the gate and helping uplift the entire women's division alongside her.
But now she is cornered, and the only way out is the Lesnar role. She started embracing it on the March 4 edition of Raw, going on an expletive-filled rant on her vlog series (warning: NSFW language):
Perfection, truly.
This is all part of the angle. Rousey isn't calling out her co-workers and directly targeting the WWE Universe itself with expletives and getting away with it. That's not how this works, no matter how big the Superstar may be.
Call this a natural evolution of the blurring lines between real and fake. Rousey can go on a rant on a social platform of her choosing and garner more attention. This way, it isn't confined to WWE programming—one Google search shows how widespread this rant went because, if we're being honest, not everyone who doesn't follow the company closely won't know it's part of an angle. And for the hardcore fans, any and every tweet or video matters because it can have on-screen ramifications.
And Rousey executed it perfectly. Her saying WWE will put up with it and go along with whatever she says will keep the air of unpredictability and believability to what she does each week ahead of WrestleMania.
Rousey going this route had to happen. Since the start of February, it has been very, very apparent Rousey would only survive as a heel. Thanks to the meteoric rise of Becky Lynch, Rousey's aw-shucks promos and heartfelt stuff got her exposed on the mic and booed while in the ring with Lynch. Her reacting by turning into a villain wasn't just natural—it was required so crowds wouldn't derail the programming for the two months and change before WrestleMania arrived.
Looking at it another way, this is how WWE can keep this feud fresh for so long before the match happens. So goes the problems of having not one, but two pay-per-views sandwiched between the Royal Rumble and 'Mania itself.
While WWE has botched the shoving-in of Charlotte Flair into what could end up as a Triple Threat, Rousey going bad has at least compensated for some of the downright bizarre storytelling. And it's quite bizarre—Lynch won the Royal Rumble but that doesn't matter, so now she has to fight her way back into the 'Mania match while Rousey laid down her belt, got it back and...yes, it's mostly a mess.
Rousey as the villain entertains, feels more natural and will make the payoff even better. Lynch looks like the obvious winner of the title at 'Mania. Her doing it over a good guy Rousey before they hug it out to close the show is boring. Her overcoming Rousey, who trashes fans and appears to want out of WWE and its "fake-sport" status? Brilliant.
Anyway, speculation has run rampant lately that Rousey won't be a full-time performer much longer. Lynch coming in and forcing her into a villainous role is perfect. She can easily shift into the Lesnar role and come back whenever she so pleases, serving as a final big-bad of sorts for the entire women's roster at the company's biggest events.
Like Lesnar, her taking a loss and disappearing for a few months or more before returning wouldn't hurt at all. The sheer aura of her presence returning is something WWE can employ brilliantly to keep the superb women's division riding high for a long time.
Rousey embracing the role of a part-timer who believes she's bigger than the company and sport but comes back to make that point while swimming in a Brink's truck worth of McMahon cash is the perfect foil. It was going to take some legwork to get her there thanks to the sappy, friendly character booking for so long. But the last month or so has done the heavy lifting for Rousey and WWE.
All both parties have to do now is run with it. Rousey is the next Lesnar, and that is in no way a bad development for anyone.