Ronda Rousey faces an uphill challenge as champion

The suspension of Sasha Banks and Naomi is one of the most important topics coming out of WWE recently. Their suspension and the repeated burying on television remind fans that at the end of the day, WWE will go above and beyond to keep the brand first, even if it harms their reputation with fans. Banks’s recent treatment has also impacted Ronda Rousey. The current SmackDown Women’s Champion faces an uphill climb if her current run as champion is going to mean anything to the fans watching around the world.

One of the rumors coming out of the suspension is that WWE was planning to use the tag team champions to elevate the singles champions on both brands. Naomi was to lose to Bianca Belair at Hell in a Cell, and the rumored match between Banks and Rousey was to occur, with Rousey picking up the win.

The idea that Rousey’s return has cut into an opportunity for Banks to shine in the spotlight will never sit well for fans of “The Boss.” Banks has already helped elevate Rousey once. Rousey defeated Banks at Royal Rumble in 2019, widely considered to be the best match of her first run as champion. Banks gave her the rub at a major PPV and it didn’t translate into a huge babyface response.

It’s understandable that she wouldn’t want to do so again, especially if she was promised a substantive run with Naomi as tag champions. If this was the case, Banks saying no and the resulting fallout severely limits the immediate future of Rousey’s time as champion on the blue brand.

Look at the rest of the women’s roster on SmackDown. Even with some talented performers in that group, WWE has greatly failed in building any of them up as credible performers. Perhaps they had something with Raquel Rodriguez. But instead of developing her for a long-term program, that match was given away on television as an open challenge, with Rousey barely pulling out the win. This is the beginning of a story that could be told in the future, but can WWE truly be trusted to tell such a story? That’s the challenge.

Shayna Baszler, Aliyah, Xia Li, and others on the roster need an immediate refresh of sorts if Rousey is going to have a wealth of challengers for her next run as champion. There’s talk of members from Raw and SmackDown to start appearing more frequently on other shows, but it’s tough to see how this would help Rousey’s run. She can’t be put over the likes of women like Asuka, Becky Lynch, or Bianca Belair because fans will have a swift backlash to that action. The same could be said about Alexa Bliss who should not take any losses this early in her return. WWE is in a tough spot.

Ronda Rousey was already staring down a challenge with the WWE Universe. Her act hasn’t worked well since the build to WrestleMania 35. Three years later things are at least the same if not worse. If Rousey is going to have a strong run as champion, it is going to come down to the women around them. WWE must figure out how to build the others on the roster to give the champion the opportunity to build momentum.