Ronda Rousey \u2013 What\u2019s working and what isn\u2019t<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Her technical ability. There is absolutely no doubt that Rousey\u2019s MMA, UFC and Judo background gives her a potential arsenal of dynamic and possibly infinite depth. Can you imagine some of things that are stored in her memory that she has yet to show us? Judo is a momentum based, softer styled grappling art but coupled with the brute of MMA and the showmanship associated with the WWE style of wrestling, there are sequences and groundbreaking adaptions buried in her that she doesn\u2019t even know are there yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not\nworking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The traditional tried and tested methods of a successful WWE superstar don\u2019t fit with how Rousey operates. Traditionally a superstar has a handful of strong signature moves or sequences, an \u2018almost\u2019 finisher, an actual finisher and possibly a submission. Rousey makes us question if it is in fact, time for a change to the old methods? Do superstars, need to stick to their move sets in order to maintain their character or is there room for movement? <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a danger that a lack of a solid\nmove set gives the perception of being unable to find a rhythm, a style that\nsuits or anything stronger than a one trick pony. A move looks good once, but\nit doesn\u2019t look good again. Could this damage the longevity of a character if a\nsuperstar is not displaying a solid foundation? <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a possibility, and I think this could be one of the reasons Rousey is getting unwelcome heat, is because her vast move set, makes her look like a show-off. She unintentionally comes across as arrogant because of her ability rather than the multi-faceted performer she is. So you have to ask yourself, is she way ahead of her time? Is it possible WWE fans are not ready for someone to break the mould like that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The Baddest Woman on the Planet\u2019 I\nabsolutely love this line. The branding writes itself. The merchandise writes itself.\nThe character writes itself. It\u2019s simple, it\u2019s to the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not\nworking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Are they ever going to let her be the \u2018Baddest Woman on the Planet\u2019? This character has the potential to be a true heel but whilst she walks down the ramp grinning from ear to ear and high-fiving the crowd, it makes it harder and harder to believe. The last thing the WWE Universe expects of their women\u2019s champion, aka, The Baddest Woman on the Planet, is her crying and complaining on her personal website about the WWE schedule and the tolls of being on the road. And one final, personal bug bear, is he referring to an Uchi Mata as a \u2018pretty\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the moment the WWE women\u2019s division needs a solid heel, a bad to the bone character who they love to hate. There\u2019s a gap in the roster that Rousey has the ability to fill. Nia Jax will never be able to fill it because she\u2019s too green and Becky Lynch is so far over, she\u2019s tipped the boat upside down. Rousey can fill this gap. She is on the verge of generating heat but not because of her effective heel work. People are growing tired of her lack of direction and shallow character. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not working\nper se but nice and wholesome<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Her relationship with Rowdy Roddy Piper was\npure and lovely and she fights hard to do him proud and honor his memory. But\nis it time for a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not\nworking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there a way the \u2018Rowdy\u2019 brand can be modernized, twisted and brought into the new era in a way that still honors his memory but gives it to Rousey, so she has an identity of her own? The fact she carries it on one hand is a wonderful testament to one of the most adored characters in WWE history, but does the fact she doesn\u2019t have a brand of her own, make her seem lost? Is she incapable of carrying her own brand, her own merch, her own gimmick? What would Piper say to her if he was here now? Would he say it\u2019s time to move on, to grow into her own persona? Who knows, I like to think he would have encouraged her growth as a performer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s not to say her having the \u2018Rowdy\u2019 brand wasn\u2019t the right thing to do. It gave her an established platform, allowing her to step into a WWE ring, fight and go at it but at the same time, giving the fans a brand they could identify with. But we\u2019re over a year in, perhaps it\u2019s time for a change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rousey is on an undeniable winning streak. She\nembraces competition from all corners of the current women\u2019s roster. Her decision\nto challenge Sasha Banks showed us a glimmer of her intuitiveness to her\naudience, who for a while have felt Banks had fallen off the radar. She has\nstrong peripheral vision to the capability of talent around her and is in the\nfortunate position of being able to pick and chose her opponents with little to\nno story build up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not\nworking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At some point she\u2019s going to need to carry a believable story line and some point, she is going to have to lose. Becky Lynch is carrying the current story-line into Wrestlemania and although it doesn\u2019t need a massive amount of input from Charlotte or Rousey, you do question if Rousey could have carried such a meaningful story-line on her own?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are moments during some of her recent\nmatches (Ruby Riott) where you can feel her visible frustration, especially when\nshe doesn\u2019t feel like she\u2019s being given adequate competition. That\u2019s not to say\nRiott isn\u2019t adequate competition, but it\u2019s because Rousey style is so \u2018all guns\nblazing\u2019 she can\u2019t see the long-term effects of competing that way and that it\nwill eventually burn her out. It goes back to what we were saying about her\nmove set. Having an established move base sets her up for longevity but whilst\nshe\u2019s going hell for leather every time she steps in the ring, it looks jagged and\nfrantic. Showmanship is a big part of WWE performances and there are ways to deliver\nthis without looking this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her schedule isn\u2019t as intense as some of the other Superstars and she would do well to remember that her timetable might mean she can spend time in her barn cultivating her next pretty move but these other girls are on the road 4 or 5 days a week and can\u2019t be expected, by her, to put on five star matches every week on Raw. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, her visible frustration borders on arrogance and gives the perception that she won\u2019t take a pin or put anyone over because she doesn\u2019t think anyone is worthy or good enough. There\u2019s also an even more cynical part of me that thinks she\u2019s been offered this WWE contract under the premise that she\u2019ll never have to lose, she\u2019ll never look weak and never have to make anyone look better than her. And this perception, among a more intelligent and educated WWE crowd, makes her feel like the female Brock Lesnar and this why she\u2019s booed<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If Rousey intends to stay in WWE long term, there are some changes that need to be made to not only grow but also preserve the longevity of her character but her as a performer. The fundamentals of her character are already there, they just need to be worked on. Her in-ring and technical ability will never be questioned because she really is that damn good. I ask myself, will she put in the work and I always arrive at the same conclusion, yes. Always, yes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But what\ncould make it better?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Character development is absolutely key and\nfor me personally, she needs to check herself before she posts on social media.\nThe thing, I feel, Ronda Rousey will benefit from the most, is a manager. Her\nmic skills are OK but if she is really going to be \u2018The Baddest Woman on the\nPlanet\u2019, she\u2019d do well not to say a word. I previously likened her to Brock\nLesnar and for the record there are elements of Brock Lesnar\u2019s character that\nare absolutely brilliant, namely, Paul Heyman. Ronda Rousey would benefit\ngreatly from a Heyman type, or even Heyman himself, in her corner. Someone to speak\nfor her, book her and be her advocate. Rousey cannot cut a promo right now, she\ntrips over her words and speaks too quickly. A manager who could speak on her\nbehalf with poise and conviction would do wonders for her evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two characters need to be separated.\nRowdy Ronda Rousey with her current branding, the hair, the make-up, the outfit,\nthe move set, the look, everything about it needs to be gracefully retired. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s see Ronda Rousey, with a fierce manager, a solid move set and new image as \u2018The Baddest Woman on the Planet\u2019 We know she\u2019s in there, can we let her out now?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ronda Rousey \u2013 What\u2019s working and what isn\u2019t Working Her technical ability. There is absolutely no doubt that Rousey\u2019s MMA, UFC and Judo background gives her a potential arsenal of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":11462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-editorials","category-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-2Yu","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Ronda.jpg?fit=650%2C385&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11438"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11465,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11438\/revisions\/11465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}