Tonight, WWE airs the Mae Young Classic final on the WWE Network at 10 E/T. They’re doing their best to make it a spectacle as the tournament’s championship round will be preceded by a red carpet starting at 6 E/T.
While the finale between Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler is bound to be electric, the fight’s subplot may steal the show.
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Advertised for both the red carpet event and the Mae Young Classic final is Ronda Rousey. While she’s certainly a fan and friend of WWE’s, tonight may prove to be strictly business for Rousey.
The current sentiment is that WWE and Rousey have already come to terms with her as a WWE Superstar, and all that’s left is finding the proper way to facilitate her into a story. Tonight should be a benchmark moment for both parties.
That said, what does WWE have up their sleeve for Rousey? At this moment, there are 3 rumors that are bigger and more credible than the rest. In short, 2018 could be a very big year for Ronda Rousey…
Surivivor Series
In a stroke of genius, WWEย managed to couple tensions between Team Rousey and Team Flair with tonight’sย Mae Young Classic final – 2 bird, 1 stone.ย
In the last installment of the tournament, Rousey,ย Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafirย got into a disputeย with Charlotte, Bayley, and Becky Lynch, effectively introducing the concept of a big fight to the WWE Universe.
According to Dave Meltzer of theย Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a second and more volatile interaction will take placeย tonight, live on the WWEย Network. This is expected to be the jump off point for a Survivor Series match between the MMA and WWE Superstars.
This one’s happening, folks; it’s just a matter of who stars to the violenceย tonight.ย
Probability:ย 5/5
Royal Rumble
Once the dust from Survivor Series clears, we’ll all want to know what’s next for Ronda Rousey. The logical presumptionย would be that she tries her hand at singles competition. However, pitting her against world class performers would put Rousey’s undeveloped wrestling ability on full display.
Luckily, WWEย may have a contingency plan.ย
According to Metro, WWEย is planning for Ronda Rouseyย to meet Stephanieย McMahon at the 2018ย Royal Rumble in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Naturally, this is a match the Rouseyย would dominate.
A match with Stephanieย seems inevitable. The two already have well-documentedย historyย from WrestleManiaย 31’s altercation. Keeping Rousey’sย wrestling warts protected will be a top priority for WWE, as will be making her look invincible.ย
We can already hear Steph’sย arm-bar inducedย screams…
Probability: 4/5
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WrestleMania 34
While Stephanie McMahon’s name has also been implicated for a WrestleManiaย 34 showdownย with Rousey, there’s been one name that has been attachedย to Rousey since early July: Charlotte Flair.
WWEย has hardly been shy about a Flair/Rouseyย super fight as they’ve actually released polls on the matter. Charlotte Flair herself even addressedย the possibility of a Rousey match in an interview this summer. It feels like this is most certainly happening.ย
The only thing that could deter this would be an injury or the chance that Rouseyย is actually bad at wrestling. Now the biggest question remains would WWEย be bold enough to make it for a Women’s Championship?
Probability:ย 4/5
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