"If she's returning to UFC, she better learn to box" - Veteran slams Ronda Rousey for not putting enough effort in WWE matches (Exclusive)
WWE Superstar Ronda Rousey has been slammed for not putting enough effort into her matches by wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell.
During her WWE tenure, Rousey has put on some great performances against top names like Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks, receiving widespread praise from viewers. However, she took a break after losing the SmackDown Women's Championship to Charlotte Flair on December 30, 2022.
Things seemingly went downhill when Rousey returned on February 10, 2023. Fans were happy to see her back, but The Rowdy One's performances dipped, and she is yet to regain her lost momentum.
On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk show, veteran manager Dutch Mantell slammed Rousey for her recent in-ring work. He said that the UFC Hall of Famer had used the same moves in her last couple of matches, and her strikes lacked legitimacy.
"If she's returning to UFC, she better learn to box a little bit because I watched her two last matches, they wore her out, they were hitting her from down around LA or someplace. Boom boom, I counted the punches that Amanda Nunes put on her, 16 in a row, and she had Ronda all over the ring, but I see Ronda won her matches." [From 2:15 to 2:44]
Mantell added that if Rousey uses the same moves upon her potential UFC return, her opponents won't let her win.
"She'd take them down and then sugar them, boom. But if she was standing up fighting to her opponents [and they] found out she was, don't let her get you on the mat, they'd figured out her attack, so she didn't win anymore. But anyway, I heard that she had a definite out and might as well go ahead and let her do her dues and could have been, 'If you want to come back, let us know.'" [From 2:44 to 3:12]
You can check out the full episode below:
Ronda Rousey was miscast in WWE, according to Konnan
During an episode of Konnan's Keepin' It 100 podcast, a fan asked: "Where did it all go wrong for Rousey in WWE?" The WCW veteran replied that nothing went wrong for The Rowdy One, but she shouldn't have been cast as a babyface.
"Nothing's really gone wrong with her. She was not a good babyface, okay. And plus, remember when she first came in, she marked out. She was always smiling, and she acted like a mark. And you're supposed to be a celebrity. You should be like, you know, 'I belong here.' But anyway, having said that, she was miscast as a babyface."
Konnan further mentioned that Ronda Rousey is a real-life heel. You can read more about it here.
Rousey and Shayna Baszler are currently embroiled in a heated feud after the latter betrayed her best friend during their tag team championship match against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Only time will tell what WWE has in store for the duo.
What do you think about Ronda Rousey's WWE tenure? Let us know in the comments section below.
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