Stephanie McMahon Joins Announce Team for Women’s Royal Rumble

The Women’s Royal Rumble just got its first official wrench thrown into the match: Stephanie McMahon will be ringside.

The RAW Commissioner let the world know via Twitter that she will be a guest commentator for the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble. However, given that this is WWE, and that she is a McMahon, something tells us Stephanie won’t stay idle long.

“Announcing the first-ever women’s #RoyalRumble match was one of my all-time favorite moments in @WWE… And now I’m proud to share that I’ll be joining the Announce team for this historic match this Sunday! #RumbleForAll.”

It won’t take long for fans to start connecting the dots between this story and the one brewing about Ronda Rousey. Stephanie and the former UFC Champion have unfinished business thanks to WrestleMania 31’s armbar, and common sentiment has Stephanie being Rousey,s first ever WWE opponent, provided she makes it to the company.

For several months now, WWE and Rousey have played coy in their attempts to throw fans off their scent. However, Triple H had a transparent quite, or at least the most forthcoming quote we’ve seen, by telling the WWE Universe to “Stay tuned.”

So if we can take a whack at it, Rousey makes her WWE debut at the Rumble, Steph costs her dearly in the match, and the two agree to settle their differences at WrestleMania 34. While that’s nothing more than good old-fashioned reckless speculation, there may be a hint of validity in there somewhere.

Rousey began actually in-ring training a few months ago and that was after she was incessantly implicated in WWE rumors this summer. Even more, Rousey actually was involved in a backstage segment with Charlotte Fair, Becky Lynch and Bayley has she issued an imminent challenge bu saying “You name the time, you name the place.”

Originally it appeared that Rousey and the Four Horsewomen of MMA would take on Flair and the Four Horsewomen of WWE at Survivor Series. That concept was put on ice, though, and is still believed to be set for WrestleMania. However, there are also rumors that imply Rousey may be destined to face Stephanie McMahon or Charlotte Flair at the at the April 8th New Orleans mega show.

Barring something unforeseen, Ronda Rousey will be a WWE Superstar. For Vince McMahon and CO., this is nothing less than a coup. In the same way Brock Lesnar legitimized the men’s wrestling, Rousey will add an undeniable element of reality to the women’s division. But perhaps Rousey’s most marketable attribute is her star power. As much as NXT stars like Asuka or Ruby Riott can be hyped up, Rousey joining WWE will immediately penetrate pop culture. For WWE, access to new fans, even if temporary, is a near priceless opportunity.

We will keep you updated as this story develops, but anticipate the next chapter to center around Rousey finally showing up on WWE cameras.