10 Biggest WWE Missed Opportunities Of 2018

7. The Presentation of Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey is a perfect wrestler. She’s undefeated in the ring. No-one else in the women’s division is on her level. She’s also an ass-kicking warrior who is impervious to pain. Thus, Ronda Rousey is a boring character.

The first mistake the company made was forcing her to be on Raw every week. Say what you will about Brock Lesnar, but it always feels special when the Universal Champion comes around because he’s not over-exposed. The company should’ve taken this route with Rousey.

Another problem is that Ronda Rousey isn’t a relatable character. She’s too perfect. We need to see Rousey struggle in order to get a glimpse of who her character truly is in the face of adversity, well, at least in WWE. Not only that, but Rousey’s promos sound forced and against anything she would actually say.

No offense to the former UFC fighter, but acting isn’t her strength. She should’ve been given leeway to say what she wants without the restrictions of a script. I do know that Rousey doesn’t exactly come across as the most likable person in real life.

This isn’t anything personal against the Raw Women’s Champion as I can’t make judgments on someone I don’t know. However, I am a UFC fan and I did see the Ultimate Fighter season with her and Miesha Tate. At least during that season, I understood Rousey, and more importantly, she felt like a real person.

Rousey on Raw just feels like a robot programmed to smile, say against-type words like gumption, and kick ass. There’s really no depth or dimension to her character, thus it’s hard to invest in her.

Her coming out, smiling and basically no selling the attack from Survivor Series did more harm than good. WWE clearly wants her to be a badass, but even these characters need to fall down sometimes.

An undefeated streak can work, but only for arrogant heel characters, or a monster like Brock Lesnar or Braun Strowman. Rousey is neither and therefore she suffers greatly from any development.

I don’t mean to completely knock Rousey as her matches inside the squared circle continue to be a blast. She’s definitely the MVP of the company and has given women’s wrestling a nice boost. However, wrestling is also about story and character, which is an area of weakness Rousey is going through. Of course, this is no fault of her own.

The best thing for Rousey is to lose to someone who can be the future of the women’s division and finally be given a much needed dimension to a currently bland character.

• lists
• missed opportunities
• 2018
• wwe

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