Serena Williams vs Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 35?

Recently, a prominent WWE official has mentioned that the company is interested in bringing in one of the sports world’s biggest stars, Serena Williams. What implications could this have for WrestleMania 35 and WWE’s current cross-sport superstar, Ronda Rousey?

According to a report by Yahoo Finance’s Reggie Wade, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon recently made some interesting remarks about a certain Grand Slam winner at Web Summit 2018 in Lisbon.

"When asked about current WWE superstar and current Raw Women’s champion Ronda Rousey and what other high profile female athlete she would like to bring into the company McMahon answered: Serena Williams.“I actually happened to be on the same flight as her husband yesterday, but Serena Williams – I mean, the door is open, Serena, I love Serena,” she said."

That’s pretty bold of McMahon to essentially offer Serena Williams, one of the biggest global sports stars, a spot in WWE at a public conference.

Now, before you start thinking this was purely a publicity move though, remember WWE’s history with cross-promotional stars. This is the same company that brought in Ronda Rousey from UFC, had Rob Gronkowski eliminate a then future world champion from a battle royal at WrestleMania 33, and even booked Jersey Shore’s Snooki into a tag match at WrestleMania 27.

It’s fair to say that there might actually be something more to Stephanie McMahon’s offer than just a publicity stunt.

Wade goes on in his article to speculate what that something more may be. Specifically, whether McMahon may be looking to make a blockbuster match between Serena Williams and Ronda Rousey.

"Her [Williams’] power and dominance have been one of her trademarks on the tennis court, and apparently McMahon believes that could translate to the wrestling ring. A possible Ronda Rousey vs. Serena Williams would likely be the most covered and talked-about women’s wrestling match of all time, but only time will tell if that will ever happen."

There’s absolutely no doubt a Williams versus Rousey match would be the main event of any WWE show, even a show as big as WrestleMania 35.

Before we start aiming for the stars with dream WrestleMania main events however, let’s take a moment to remember the potential situation WWE could be dealing with if they pursue Williams.

Williams is still currently tennis’ biggest star. On top of competing for Grand Slam wins, Williams will have the opportunity for loads of other promotional mediums to pursue. Wrestling, unfortunately, might be far down that list of potentials given its inherent injury risk and massive time commitment.

While sadly those factors likely rule out any Serena Williams dream matches for WWE at this point, that’s not to say she may not make an in-ring appearance at a show like WrestleMania 35 if she decides to take McMahon up on her recent statements.

I could easily envision a scenario where Williams inserts herself into a promo or post-match segment at WrestleMania, akin to Ronda Rousey’s initial WWE appearance with The Rock at WrestleMania 31.

Williams could easily hop over the barricade to face-off with any number of WWE stars, from Rousey herself to Sasha Banks, Charlotte, or even Becky Lynch. Could you imagine how great a Lynch versus Williams confrontation could be if the Smackdown Women’s champion begins to declare herself the biggest female star in all of sports, evoking the ire of the tennis legend?

No matter who she confronted in the squared circle, undoubtedly any such in-ring appearance by Williams would surely be the most talked about segment coming out of WrestleMania. McMahon’s recent comments certainly makes for an interesting development to consider as we rapidly head towards WWE’s biggest show of the year.