Women’s MMA pioneer Ronda Rousey and Ultimate Fighter alumnus Shayna Baszler are no strangers to one another, having come up in the world of mixed martial arts together. But that didn’t stop two of the baddest women on the planet from strapping on the four-ounce gloves for an MMA Rules match at WWE Summerslam this […]
Women’s MMA pioneer Ronda Rousey and Ultimate Fighter alumnus Shayna Baszler are no strangers to one another, having come up in the world of mixed martial arts together. But that didn’t stop two of the baddest women on the planet from strapping on the four-ounce gloves for an MMA Rules match at WWE Summerslam this weekend.
The 36th annual summertime spectacular emanated from Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, and delivered another star-studded event with the biggest names in sports entertainment, including former UFC bantamweight world champion, ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey. Competing in what many speculate to be her final WWE match, Rousey went toe-to-toe with another familiar face from combat sports, ‘The Queen of Spades’ Shayna Baszler.
Most fight fans will remember Baszler from her 2013 stint on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate. Baszler competed as part of Rousey’s team, scoring a win over Colleen Schneider before suffering a second-round submission loss in the quarter-final round to Julianna Pena.
After Baszler exited MMA in 2017 following a lackluster run in Invicta FC and the UFC, she shifted careers and began training to be a professional wrestler. After a run in the indie circuit, Baszler signed with the WWE 2017 as part of the black and gold brand, NXT. ‘The Queen of Spades’ quickly rose through the ranks, eventually capturing the NXT women’s championship before being moved to the main roster where she would meet up with her former teammate and close friend, Ronda Rousey.
Of course, friends in WWE are few and far between. Before long, their love turned to vitriol leading to their clash at Summerslam on August 5.
Check Out Highlights From Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler at WWE Summerslam Below:
WWE star and friend Shayna Baszler recently came to the defense of Ronda Rousey against those who critique her legacy in mixed martial arts (MMA). Baszler was recently a guest on Ryan Satin’s “Out Of Character” podcast and discussed the criticisms Rousey has faced over the years. More so after suffering her first and only…
WWE star and friend Shayna Baszler recently came to the defense of Ronda Rousey against those who critique her legacy in mixed martial arts (MMA).
Baszler was recently a guest on Ryan Satin’s “Out Of Character” podcast and discussed the criticisms Rousey has faced over the years. More so after suffering her first and only losses of her MMA career in 2015 and 2016.
Rousey was first defeated by Holly Holm in 2015, dropping the bantamweight title to the former boxer. She then returned to face the then-title holder Amanda Nunes, who quickly finished Rousey in the first round via TKO.
It was the last fight of Rousey’s MMA career, and she has since gone on to compete in WWE, where she currently reigns as SmackDown women’s champion. Although not having fought since her loss to Nunes, Rousey hasn’t closed the door completely on fighting.
However, many came down on Rousey hard over how she handled the losses, something Baszler takes issue with.
“Here’s the thing, I know Ronda enough to know that she does not spend her time on social media. Anytime she comments is because someone has said, ‘Hey, Ronda, you should comment on this,’ which isn’t often because she’ll still be like, ‘Why? Who cares?’ I get frustrated when it’s a little more selfish than that, I get frustrated if I ever were to speak out. If someone were to say something like, ‘Name the top three women’s fighters of all time.’ If I put Ronda in that list, immediately, they’re like, ‘Nope, she got exposed.’”
“Even now, it’s bothering me in a hypothetical. Just because she lost and you didn’t like her personality, you’re letting it cloud the fact that she changed women’s fighting. There would not be women in the UFC, at least not for a while, if it wasn’t for her.”
“To deny that she did great things, to discredit her just because she had a loss and you didn’t like her personality, I feel like if she had lost and then came on a podcast and been like, ‘I lost,’ and been super humble and not Ronda, not herself, people would say she’s the greatest ever, but because she lost and took it to heart and hated it, people hate her, so they have to discredit everything about it.”
“That’s annoying to me. I can say that I might not enjoy that Amanda Nunes beat Ronda and talked smack about her after, but I can say that Amanda Nunes is one of the best women’s fighters of all time. I can do that. It bothers me that regular fans can’t do that.”
Baszler also competed in MMA under the UFC banner. She ended her career with a record of 15-11 on a four-fight losing skid. Baszler then made the jump to professional wrestling, signing with WWE in 2017.
What do you think about the criticism Ronda Rousey has received in regards to her MMA legacy as of late? Let us know in the comments section below!
Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler might have some backup on the way in WWE. On Monday, WWE reported that former UFC fighter Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir have both reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla. where they will begin training w…
Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler might have some backup on the way in WWE. On Monday, WWE reported that former UFC fighter Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir have both reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla. where they will begin training with hopes of moving into the professional wrestling world. Of course, Duke […]
Former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey sat in the front row Tuesday night to watch friend Shayna Baszler compete in the WWE’s Mae Young Classic. Baszler, who has transitioned from part-time fighter/pro wrestler to full pro wrestler, lost to Kairi Sane in the finals but is still expected to receive a chance in the WWE. […]
Former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey sat in the front row Tuesday night to watch friend Shayna Baszler compete in the WWE’s Mae Young Classic. Baszler, who has transitioned from part-time fighter/pro wrestler to full pro wrestler, lost to Kairi Sane in the finals but is still expected to receive a chance in the WWE. […]
Make no mistake about it, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey’s transition from MMA (mixed-martial arts) to professional wrestling is in full swing. The latest angle involving Rousey came about after Shayna Baszler’s second-round win in the Mae Young Classic tournament, which aired Monday on WWE Network. In the segment, Baszler celebrated with Rousey […]
Make no mistake about it, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey’s transition from MMA (mixed-martial arts) to professional wrestling is in full swing.
The latest angle involving Rousey came about after Shayna Baszler’s second-round win in the Mae Young Classic tournament, which aired Monday on WWE Network. In the segment, Baszler celebrated with Rousey and MMA teammates Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. This led to a heated exchange with WWE stars Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Bailey, who were seated in the front row across the aisle for the match.
WWE shared this video after the episode had aired of Rousey, Duke, and Shafir praising Baszler. Ultimately, this led to Flair, Lynch, and Bailey walking up and having a tense face-off. Rousey drops her bag as though she’s ready for a fight and is the only one to direct words at the three WWE stars.
“You name the time, you name the place. … Oh, not today? We’re waiting to hear from you.”
Years ago, Rousey, Duke, and Shafir were dubbed MMA’s Four Horsewomen years ago as an homage to the classic Ric Flair-led pro wrestling stable that started in 1985 and lasted through the late ’90s. On the flip side, Flair, Lynch, Bayley, and Sasha Banks also came to be known as the Four Horsewomen of pro wrestling as they rose up the ranks from NXT to the WWE main roster.
There has been speculation for years that WWE was trying to work out a deal for Rousey to work a match. Whether that be a singles match against Flair or a four-on-four match. Rousey has made it clear that she loves pro wrestling and has even reportedly started training for it. Her most notable appearance for the sports entertainment company came back at WrestleMania 31 back in 2015 during a segment that involved The Rock, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon. Now that she is no longer competing in MMA, a match in WWE could happen.
It looks like Ronda Rousey could potentially be returning to the ring, although not for a MMA fight. According to a report from Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting, Rousey appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) tapings at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, last Thursday and Friday to support her longtime friend and training partner, […]
It looks like Ronda Rousey could potentially be returning to the ring, although not for a MMA fight.
According to a report from Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting, Rousey appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) tapings at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, last Thursday and Friday to support her longtime friend and training partner, former UFC bantamweight Shayna Baszler.
Things started out calm enough in Thursday evening according to the report, as Baszler won her opening-round match in the Mae Young Classic, a 32-woman tournament. But from that point, the fostering of a feud began, as Rousey sat ringside with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, the other two members of “Rowdy” and Baszler’s oft-publicized “Four Horsewomen” group.
Of course, the group name stems from the ultra-popular “Four Horsemen” stable of the 1980s consisting of legendary champion Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and several other members. Rousey and her stablemates used their version, but apparently never trademarked it, as WWE soon marketed a stable of women wrestlers including Flair’s daughter Charlotte Flair, whose real name is Ashley Fliehr, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Becky Lynch as their own version of the “Four Horsewomen.”
So although Rousey and her “Four Horsewomen” group’s role was unclear, it became clear after Baszler won her second-round tournament match over Mia Kim with a MMA-inspired choke and flaunted a four-finger “Four Horsewomen” taunt directed at Flair, Lynch, and Bayley (Banks was in Australia working on a promotional tour for WWE). Both groups of women got into a bit of a smack-talking match, although it remains to be seen just how far this angle will proceed.
Meltzer said a WWE official called it, “foreshadowing in essence, just in case.”
The bit will reportedly not air until this September, but Rousey’s love of and history with pro-wrestling has been well documented. During the height of her popularity, she appeared alongside mega-famous actor and former WWE champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to mix it up with WWE executives and personalities Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at 2015’s WrestleMania, and the WWE has made no effort to hide their infatuation with Rousey, who herself is a longtime professional wrestling fanatic.
The Vince McMahon-owned pro-wrestling juggernaut reportedly wanted Rousey to wrestle Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania in 2016, something that never came to fruition after she lost her long-held UFC title in a shocking knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. Now that Rousey appears to be done with the UFC for the time being, an opportunity for her to appear in her beloved pro-wrestling, where she would engage in scripted physical activity rather than get punched by the most dangerous 135-pound female fighters on the planet, could be an obvious choice for her next career move post-UFC.
Baszler has been involved with pro-wrestling for quite some time, having trained with several of the WWE’s female wrestlers during the time following her retirement from MMA, and has supposedly been seeking employment with the WWE for quite some time. She was also trained in both pro-wrestling in addition to catch wrestling by former UFC champion Josh Barnett.
Although it was thought that she had not been signed to the promotion, Baszler has now been booked to be one of the performers at the forefront of the Mae Young Classic, where she will wrestle Japan’s Kaire Sane in the finals on September 12, a date during which the storyline involving Rousey is expected to continue.
So nothing is set, but it appears Rousey’s next trip to a ring could potentially be in the WWE. Do you like that direction for her career, or would it better to give MMA and the UFC one last shot?
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