WWE News: Footage Of Ronda Rousey Facing Nia Jax At Philly Live Event With Alexa Bliss & Mickie James As Refs
WWE superstar and first-ever UFC women’s champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey has had a busy week, despite her storyline suspension. On Thursday, Ronda Rousey became the first woman and active WWE superstar to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, and the next day she wrestled a singles match in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as reported by Cageside Seats. Rousey is currently in a story where she is serving a 30-day suspension on Raw, so she is free to compete at WWE live events (house shows).
The former UFC champion is currently in a program where she is feuding with Alexa Bliss. “Rowdy” Ronda has said that she has purchased a front row ticket to Extreme Rules to watch Bliss defend the WWE Raw Women’s Championship against Nia Jax. This will likely lead to a physical confrontation between Rousey and Bliss, but fans in Philadelphia didn’t have to wait for Extreme Rules to see the former UFC champion in action.
Though it evades any real logic, as an entertaining addition to the match, WWE champion Alexa Bliss was the special guest referee. Before the contest started, Bliss announced that she had a heart of gold and wanted to be fair, so she chose a second referee to help her officiate the bout: Mickie James. Alexa was the official at ringside, and James was the in-ring ref. It was revealed months ago that the WWE wants to book Rousey as the modern day “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and this match echoes the Attitude Era when Austin faced a variety of opponents where Vince McMahon was often the crooked ref.
Nia Jax and “Rowdy” Ronda previously squared off at Money in the Bank. This contest had similar ingredients: Jax is the stronger competitor, so she used her strength to dominate the beginning of the match, and Rousey kept targeting Nia’s arm. The special referees helped the match feel fresh. James and Alexa worked some comedy spots in the match where Mickie could be seen ignoring the contest to talk to her friend. As expected in a WWE match like this, in classic heel ref fashion, James slow-counted the bout.
In a spot near the end, James acted like her wrist was hurt, so she couldn’t perform the three-count when Ronda had Nia pinned. Mickie then attacked the former UFC fighter and delivered a series of kicks and punches to “Rowdy’s” head and throat. This didn’t last long however, and Ronda placed James in an arm bar. Jax then delivered a leg drop on Rousey and went for the pin.
Bliss ran into the ring and attacked Nia. Both heel refs then attacked Jax, but Nia quickly demolished the both of them. The former WWE champion then went for a splash in the corner on “Rowdy,” Ronda moved out of the way, and Jax ate the turnbuckles. The former MMA fighter hit a flying cross body from the top rope, a legit official entered the ring, and Nia barely kicked out before the three-count. Rousey then successfully placed the former champion into an armbar causing her to tap out, and “Rowdy” Ronda has officially won three straight WWE matches.
If you live in the New York City area, you can see a rematch between Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax as the exact same contest will take place Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in another WWE house show, and once again, Alexa Bliss will be the special referee, as ProWrestling reported.
