A Brief History Of The WWE Women’s Revolution (Part 2)

The Rowdy Revolution: Ronda Rousey

Credit: WWE.com

Many Pro Wrestling fans might not realize the significance of Ronda Rousey on the WWE Women’s Revolution. On the surface, Rousey has been officially with WWE for less than a year.

However WWE had been courting her to work with the company for a several years, not just because of her success in the UFC brand of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), but because she truly transcended the sport by becoming a mainstream sensation.

For the UFC alone Rousey opened doors to multiple appearances on massively watched US shows such as The View, Jimmy Kimmel Live, CBS This Morning, The Tonight Show, Good Morning America,The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Rousey would be the magazine cover feature for issues of ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Men’s Fitness, Maxim, Self  and more, and was highly in demand for appearances on international Television and in literature.

Rousey was just as in-demand from Hollywood who wanted her to make cameos or have small but heavily publicized roles in action blockbusters such as The Fast and The Furious franchise.

No other woman in WWE at the time of Rousey’s UFC peak could do the same. Less than a handful of the active men on the WWE roster could either, with megastar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson mostly retired from in-ring competition, and John Cena not quite breaking through in the same way.

This level of promotional and PR exposure for a strong role model for women was something WWE desperately coveted, as it would benefit their attempt at a cleaner, more family friendly reputation which would in turn improve their stock value and keep their shareholders happy.

A more direct benefit in having Rousey as part of WWE was her track record when it came to revenue for the UFC. For a several years both the UFC and WWE had a very similar business model: Pay Per View buys, online subscriptions, live gate receipts, ancillary licensing and merchandise sales.

In January 2014, MMA Payout detailed the impact Rousey had on the UFC over the previous 12 months, including how her first appearance for the promotion at UFC 157 in 2013 garnered them the most number of PPV buys in High Defintion for that entire year.

Rousey’s appearance as a coach on ‘The Ultimate Fighter‘ (TUF) television show with arch rival Miesha Tate drew one of the best series ratings for the UFC in quite some time. It was also through the TUF  show that a long lasting friendship with Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke was forged; Marina Shafir was a Judoka Rousey already knew and had picked for her staff on the show.

Rousey’s fight with Tate at UFC 168 in December 2013 – a co-headline slot under Chris Weidman Vs Anderson Silva II – pushed the PPV buy rate north of 1.1 million, making it the most successful event since July 2010 (UFC 116, headlined by then UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar against challenger Shane Carwin).

Competitively Rousey was just as dominant as she was commercially, and her success was something even WWE ‘Divas’ could not ignore. On Saturday February 28th, 2015 – the very same week of the #GiveDivasAChance episode of RAW – Ronda Rousey was the main event of UFC 184, where she obliterated the previously unbeaten Cat Zingano in 14 seconds.

The event reportedly did a strong 600,000 PPV buys, a rate UFC was more than happy with in absence of another Pay Per View star. More importantly perhaps it garnered the adulation and support of women in WWE who saw in Rousey something they themselves wanted: a position at the top of a card, to be as respected as the men for the work they put in, and to be similarly compensated.

https://twitter.com/NatbyNature/status/571899356401553408

Ronda Rousey was not just a success for herself and the UFC; her success paved the way for other women in the UFC too. Rousey helped usher in the first Women’s division after UFC President Dana White had infamously stated women would ‘never’ be a part of the promotion. From 2013 to 2018 the UFC has since introduced 3 more Women’s weight classes.

Even UFC Event Reporters such as Megan Olivi give credit to Rousey for opportunities that came her way because of Rousey being a trail blazer.

Rousey was a game changer for women directly and indirectly in combat sports and entertainment, even down to the grass-roots levels where she has inspired many women young and old to take up martial arts and physical fitness. In Rousey WWE saw a possible future for their own women, even if their agenda to do so was financially driven.

If Rousey could draw incredible amounts of money and widespread press attention as a headline attraction, on top of being a role model and icon many women around the world looked up to, maybe it was time for WWE to begin pushing for their own Women’s Revolution.

In the final part of this series, a look at two women who put on match of the year contenders, the official beginning of the WWE Women’s Revolution, and some of the significant milestones accomplished in the time since that lead to the WWE Evolution event.