WWE Raw: Let’s go crazy for Dana Brooke’s title opportunity

On the Mar. 18 episode of WWE Raw, Dana Brooke will face Ronda Rousey for the brand’s Women’s Championship, and it comes on the heels of the best promo of her career.

Quietly, Dana Brooke has been one of WWE Raw‘s most improved wrestlers over the past couple of years. After joining the main roster as Charlotte Flair’s protege – and was often the subject of Charlotte’s most brutal heel behavior – Brooke has come into her own as a true singles competitor, dazzling the WWE Universe at the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble.

An elite athlete whose professional bodybuilding career has helped earn her even more respect from WWE fans, Brooke is finally getting an opportunity at the Raw Women’s Championship on tonight’s loaded episode in Chicago. It will be her first main roster title opportunity and her first televised title opportunity in her career.

Though Ronda Rousey will certainly walk away victorious and may just “squash” Brooke in the process, I have a feeling Brooke will briefly surprise Ronda and the fans who have still been sleeping on her marked improvements.

Brooke, of course, was Rousey’s first opponent in WWE – not Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Rousey defeated Brooke in a Raw dark match to punctuate her dangerousness to the rest of the women’s locker room, and it was a moment that flew under-the-radar.

This televised match against Rousey, however, has received more attention, and much of that credit goes to Brooke for her impassioned tweets, which followed up an even more stirring promo on last week’s episode of Raw in Pittsburgh.

Fans have been speculating about Brooke’s future in WWE, with some wondering if she could head back to NXT, so the Cleveland native will head into Chicago tonight with, in her own words, nothing to lose.

Even as Brooke’s in-ring athleticism has started to receive some praise – her combination of strength and acrobatics is among the best on Raw – her character work remains under-appreciated. Whether it was running at top speed from the SmackDown Live locker room in a hilarious moment, cowering to The Queen, crunching the numbers for Titus Worldwide, or wearing her heart on her sleeve in front of the WWE Universe in Pittsburgh last week, Brooke has worn many hats in WWE, fulfilling all of those roles with the dedication of a wrestler whose top goal is to bring the audience joy.

Regardless of what happens, that same commitment to giving the audience her all will be evident in tonight’s well-earned title opportunity against Rousey. To some, it’s a throw-away match on the road to WrestleMania, with Ronda scheduled to take on Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.

But for those who have watched Brooke scratch and claw on the main roster since 2016, it’s a symbol of something bigger. Whether the match gets 10 minutes or three, Brooke will give it her all, sell over-the-top for Rousey, and show the confidence of a woman with nothing to lose – and everything to prove.

So get excited for Brooke vs. Rousey for the Raw Women’s Championship, because it’s an opportunity to see a hard-working, chronically under-utilized wrestler in Dana Brooke, who gives it her all whenever she’s out there. Like last week’s promo, this could be a great moment in the making.