Ronda Rousey Sends Heartfelt Thank You to Natalya

On Monday we saw the beginning phases of a Ronda Rousey and Natalya partnership. Turns out it's just another case of art imitating life.

Natalya is and was responsible for getting Rousey ready for WWE's big stages. Particularly this winter, Rousey, and Natalya trained in secret together in order to keep Rousey's WWE intentions on the hush.

In an Instagram post on Friday, Rousey thanked Nattie for all of her help.

"rondarousey@natbynature showing me how to do the sharpshooter at @santino_bros - back when I was still training in secret before the Royal Rumble, she took the time to fly out just to help, was trustworthy enough to keep my training a secret, and passed along 3rd generation knowledge and experience I'm still clamoring to collect. Thank you for believing in me when I had been dismissed by so many others🙏🏼" she wrote.

Nattie is regarded as one of the best in-ring technicians in all of WWE not just the Women's division. Her pairing with Rousey is hardly random and WWE knows their Golden Goose in great hands.

Rousey wowed at WrestleMania 34 as she dismembered both Stephanie McMahon and Triple. No one was quite sure how much training she had, so expectations were low. However, we were foolish to doubt the UFC star as she unquestionably had the loudest moments of the show. Flashing a surprisingly large arsenal and a palpable in-ring presence, Rousey's WrestleMania performance was one WWE fans will always remember.

But now it looks like WWE is ready to take the training wheels off and build toward her first 1-on-1 match. While she and Nattie are friendly now, it's only a matter of time until the Queen of Hearts turns on Rousey to set up a match. In the interim expect Rousey and Nattie to work together in a few tag matches as WWE slowly ramps up Rousey's workload.