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Ronda Rousey Can Still Succeed in WWE, Despite UFC 207 Loss

By Brandon Carney

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Ronda Rousey’s legacy took a big hit at UFC 207, but she still has a lucrative WWE career ahead of her if she chooses to pursue it.

Ronda Rousey’s name has been tied to WWE for a long time. Ever since her appearance at WrestleMania 31 that saw her take down Stephanie McMahon while the Rock punked out Triple H, fans have wondered if and when she would make the jump to WWE from UFC. That talk was amplified when Rousey lost her first fight ever to Holly Holm in November of 2015. And it has been amplified even more now that Rousey has taken her second consecutive loss, this time to  Amanda Nunes, at UFC 207. Many have speculated that her UFC career may be over, so WWE may be a logical next step.

But now that her aura has been all but diminished, it’s fair to wonder if she would even have a place in WWE now. Aside from being a monster of a man, the reason Brock Lesnar feels like such a threat in the ring is because of his success in UFC that was only marred by diverticulitis. He dominated in a legitimate combat sport and could have continued to do so if not for an illness, so he has that legacy at the core of his character.

Rousey is a different story. Her career looks to have come to an end due to her simply not having what it takes anymore. She has no momentum heading into a potential WWE career, and ESPN anchor and former WWE superstar/personality Jonathan Coachman acknowledged as much with a few tweets he sent out shortly after the fight’s conclusion.

We’re not in the business of deciding if things will or won’t happen. After all, Coachman is likely more of an authority on the subject than we are. All we can do is speculate on how things would go if Rousey did end up in WWE at some point. And despite Coach saying WWE would never bring in a broken star and rebuild her, Rousey could have a successful career ahead of her anyway. Why? Because she’s not entirely broken.

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Let’s be clear, Rousey is not in a good place right now as far as her brand is concerned. She has fallen off considerably from the dominant threat she was perceived to be just over a year ago. But that doesn’t discount everything she did in her career prior to the Holm fight. And in WWE, she can survive on that. With some clever booking they can highlight the good points of Rousey’s career and make her seem like an enormous threat in the women’s division.

Of course they will have to acknowledge her shortcomings as well, but they can easily do this and make it seem like merely a footnote in her once illustrious UFC career. Imagine Rousey going toe-to-toe with Charlotte and Charlotte bringing up Rousey’s last two fights, calling her washed up, and dishing out whatever other insults she can come up with. All it would take to have Rousey feel like a threat is to mention the fact that she has 12 wins to her credit in UFC, which is 12 more than any other woman on WWE’s roster. They could also have her mention that she is now entirely focused on WWE and pursuing the Women’s Championship, followed by Charlotte looking scared out of her mind.

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Obviously that is just one hypothetical situation, but it serves to illustrate that these two losses don’t entirely diminish Rousey’s stardom. She is still a more legitimate fighter than anyone on WWE’s roster, male or female, not named Brock Lesnar. In time she will be able to overcome her currently damaged reputation and have a very solid pro-wrestling career if she and WWE decide to go that direction.

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