The psyche of Ronda Rousey’s probably been analyzed more than her fight game. Responding to her two UFC losses with disappearing acts will lead to discussion and hot takes. After not handling questions about the end of her run in mixed martials art very well while at ESPN last week while doing press for WrestleMania, how Rousey handles adversity became a topic all over again.
How would WWE address a couple interview moments which generated a lot of embarrassing press for their newest big star?
Make it part of the story, of course. Take it away, Stephanie McMahon...
“You are going to lose at WrestleMania. In the record books, your very first match in WWE is going to be a loss - to me. And we all know, the world knows, how you handle losses.”
In actuality, this weakness of Ronda’s - the kryptonite to the otherwise superhuman version of the character WWE and Rousey herself put forward - was already established before her awkward exhanges with Mike Golic and Max Kellerman. In a video which aired on Raw last month, Ronda spoke about the aftermath of her loss to Amanda Nunes for the first time. It was a controlled interview that let the former UFC bantamweight champ choose her words carefully. And even if the opening segment of the April 2 Raw was live, Rousey still knew the shot was coming.
She may not have stood tall to end the segment, or even cleanly delivered her badass response about making sure she only took Steph’s non-check signing arm in their tag match on Sunday, April 8, but Rowdy knows she’ll get an ending other than wondering if God hates her.
First, she can fire off some cool Instagram posts which re-deliver a version of her flubbed line, and throw some personal trash talk back at the Billion Dollar Princess:
Then, at the Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday, she’s not likely to take a third straight loss... or even if WWE has a longer story in mind which would involve McMahon and Triple H picking up a win over Rousey and Kurt Angle, she won’t be scripted to lose via knockout, or to leave the ring without putting a serious hurting on Steph.
It’s interesting The ‘E opted to address Ronda’s post-defeat image in her first angle, but it shouldn’t be surprising. This is what wrestling’s always done, taking real issues and using them to promote not-real fights. And especially in the so-called ‘Reality’ Era, the way they deal with their stars actual weaknesses is by making them kayfabe obstacles they can overcome.
All that’s why on the WrestleMania 34 ‘go home’, their last appearance before Rowdy’s first official pro wrestling match, yes, Stephanie McMahon called Ronda Rousey out for being a bad loser.