When WWE went all in on Survivor Series being RAW vs. SmackDown, the original plan of Four Horsewomen vs. Four Horsewomen match for the November show was officially canceled. However, the concept of an MMA vs. WWE tag match is very much an alive.
A report from the Wrestling Observer claims that the 4-on-4 match featuring Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir vs. Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, and Bayley has been moved to WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans. With WWE dedicating Survivor Series to brand warfare, there was just no room for this cross-promotional showdown. Even more, WWE believes that pushing the match to WrestleMania will allow ample time for the MMA competitors to fine-tune their wrestling skills.
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If this proves to be the case, it’s hard to argue WWE’s logic. By allotting more time for the Rousey and her friends to train, this will not only make for a safer match but a better one, too. The only real bummer here is that the WrestleMania match we thought would happen, Charlotte vs. Ronda Rousey, looks have been postponed. Hey, there’s always SummerSlam, right?
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It will be interesting to see how this story will be facilitated. Rousey has been attached to an abundance of rumors, some of them have proven to be true. It seems like the Royal Rumble may be the best launching point, particularly if there is a first-ever women’s Rumble. WWE would need as many female entrants as possible and using the 4 MMA stars in the battle royal would be all too easy.
Specifically for Rousey, she has been implicated in the potential match at the Royal Ruble show with Stephanie McMahon. The two have a city that dates back to WrestleMania 31 and resuming their country would be simple enough. Whether it’s the Rumble or ‘Mania WWE’ top priority in all of this will be facilitating Rousey into WWE in a manner that will make her star.
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For a brief amount of time, Rousey will unlock several new demographics for WWE. This window of opportunity could make her a behemoth in the wrestling game or a quasi-publicity stunt. Like Mayweather/McGregor, you can pretend to not be interested, but when she steps in the ring you’ll want to see it.
If this does indeed happen, the significance cannot be overstated. WWE thrives off of crossing that cultural lines that exist between competitive fighting and WWE. For some, Mike Tyson’s cameo in WWE in 1998 was the watermark moment that signified that WWE would eventually sink their bitter rival WCW. While WWE doesn’t have a comparable rival in 2017, a proper usage of Ronda Rousey could spell lucrative earnings for the wrestling conglomerate.
