Ronda Rousey rumored to face 26-year-old WWE Superstar at WrestleMania 39 - Reports
Ronda Rousey is rumored to face a very popular WWE Superstar at WrestleMania 39.
The Baddest Woman on the Planet captured the SmackDown Women's Championship from Liv Morgan at WWE Extreme Rules. Ronda is scheduled to defend the title tonight against Raquel Rodriguez on the final episode of WWE SmackDown this year. Rodriguez earned the title match by winning a Gauntlet match on last week's edition of the blue brand.
According to a new report from Angel Aramboles of WrestlingNews, plans for a match between Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch have been scrapped for the biggest show of the year. Instead, Ronda is now scheduled to defend the SmackDown Women's Championship against Rhea Ripley.
Ripley is currently part of The Judgment Day faction with Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, and Damian Priest on RAW. There is currently no word on how the promotion will get to the match at WrestleMania as Ripley is on the red brand, but barring injury, the match is unlikely to change before the premium live event.
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WWE legend praises Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler
Ronda Rousey recently recruited Shayna Baszler as her backup on WWE SmackDown.
Rousey and The Queen of Spades have wreaked havoc on SmackDown as of late and have attacked Raquel Rodriguez several times. Ronda is a tall task for any superstar by herself but looks to be unstoppable with Shayna by her side.
Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk show, Mantell praised Ronda and Shayna for not caring about the WWE Universe and just beating people up on a weekly basis.
"I like [Ronda] Rousey and [Shayna] Baszler as a team. They're heels and they act like heels. They don't give a sh** about nobody else. They just talking to themselves. They don't give a crap about the fans, they just go and just beat people up. And they're getting over. I mean, I think they're getting over more now than they were in the past because they were trying to push Ronda as a babyface. That was a big, big mistake."
Mantell added that being a heel is Rousey's "default mode" and said she is very entertaining in her new character.
"I mean, her being a heel is her default mode. [She] goes out there, she wants to slap kids and all this kind of stuff. She's very entertaining too. I like her walk through the ring, because that's when she's telling her story. They're getting over and I liked what they did Miss Raquel [Rodriguez]." [41:06 - 42:12]
Rhea Ripley's odd relationship with Dominik Mysterio has captivated wrestling fans. It will be interesting to see if the 26-year-old has her WrestleMania moment in 2023 against Ronda Rousey.
Would you like to see Rhea Ripley become the SmackDown Women's Champion at WrestleMania 39? Sound off in the comments section below.