Ronda Rousey’s First WWE Appearance at the Royal Rumble was Perfect

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Ronda Rousey made her first WWE appearance last night at the Royal Rumble, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

From the badass walk to the ring, to the stare-down among the four women in the ring, Ronda Rousey’s first outing as a WWE superstar didn’t disappoint. “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey – which is fitting since she wore “Rowdy” Roddy Pipers’ jacket, given to her by his son – made a statement as the historic 2018 Royal Rumble faded to black.

As the winner of women’s Royal Rumble, Asuka was contemplating her future opponent in the ring, Rousey made her presence known. Some could argue that Rousey was taking the spotlight away from Asuka’s historic win, however, I’d disagree. The match was over and Asuka had finished celebrating; she was now thinking about which women’s title to go for – Charlotte’s or Alexa’s gold.

But before Asuka could so, Rousey’s music hit. And the crowd was electric. As her name appeared on the titantron, using the same font affiliated with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (continuing her connection with her favourite wrestler), the former UFC megastar walked down to the ring.

What followed were a few awkward looking points to the WrestleMania sign, a stare-down involving all the women in the ring, an attempted handshake which was denied by Asuka and a begrudging handshake with Stephanie McMahon. This came all in the space of under five minutes.

The quick but eventful debut of Rousey on WWE programming was booked to perfection.

If you would have told me before the event started that the women were main eventing the Royal Rumble I’m not sure what I would have believed you. However, given that “Rowdy” was appearing, it should be no surprise that the women were given the platform to feature in the main event.

WWE have been playing down Rousey’s move to the company for months and, as such, it played a major role in a swerving the fans right until the end of the show. With the women appearing last, the fans assumed that the former MMA athlete would be in the Rumble and, to their surprise, she wasn’t.

This is what I loved about the booking of this final segment; it didn’t take away from the great match, nor did it take away from winner. In fact, it added to the prestige and legitimacy of Asuka. Not only that, but it also helped in planting the seeds for a match between the two down the line.

WWE.com

As well as it setting up a match between Asuka and “Rowdy”, it also helped in adding intrigue to who Asuka will choose to face at WrestleMania. Given that Nakamura, the winner of the men’s Royal Rumble, had already chosen to face WWE Champion AJ Styles earlier on in the night, it makes perfect sense to leave fans waiting to see who Asuka challenges, adding to the intrigue.

Moreover, the idea of a women’s Elimination Chamber match has been alluded to for the Raw female talent next month and, as such, leaves the door open to WWE deciding to swerve the fans once more and have ‘The Empress of Tomorrow’ face Charlotte at ‘The Grandest Stage of Them All’ – in order to book a Raw women’s title match for the Chamber event.

Next: What’s Next For Ronda Rousey in WWE?

The debut of Rousey was booking at its finest. The segment produced the potential to set up multiple matches, including one against Stephanie and Triple H which I mentioned last week, and one against Asuka down the line. Additionally, it gained WWE mainstream attention and social media traction (which of course they love), and finally, it established Rousey a major player in the women’s division – all in the space of under five minutes.