WWE News: Ronda Rousey Used Her Influence To Elevate ‘Monday Night Raw’ Star
Ronda Rousey beat Ruby Riott in a squash match at the 2019 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, which wasn’t a popular decision at the time due to the quick nature of the match. However, the pair had a longer match on the subsequent episode of Monday Night Raw to make up for the short pay-per-view outing, and according to Rousey, the second match went ahead because she requested it.
As quoted by Sportskeeda, “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” opened up about the experience on her Facebook Gaming channel. Rousey revealed that their match at Elimination Chamber was cut due to time constraints, which is why she wanted to have the follow-up match on Monday Night Raw. However, Rousey also revealed that she was originally supposed to face Alexa Bliss in a title match that night.
“I was like, ‘Alexa, I love you, you know I love having matches with you, but me and Ruby have been putting this match together all week and we couldn’t do it at the pay-per-view because it had to be a squash, and would you mind if I went and requested that me and Ruby have a second match instead?'”
Vince McMahon and Bliss agreed to Rousey’s request, and it became the episode’s main event, lasting 12 minutes and making Riott look strong in defeat. While a stronger showing on pay-per-view would have benefited Riott, at least Rousey used her influence to ensure that their hard work and planning wasn’t a waste of time.
.@RubyRiottWWE… meet The #BaddestWomanOnThePlanet.#Raw #WomensChampion @RondaRousey shows no mercy at #WWEChamber! pic.twitter.com/Q3Yv5bXYQ7
— WWE (@WWE) February 18, 2019
The match was also one of Rousey’s standout performances on the road to WrestleMania 35, leading up to her historic main event match with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair at the show. At the time of this writing, the WrestleMania match is Rousey’s most recent appearance in WWE, and it remains to be seen when she’ll return to action.
However, as The Inquisitr recently reported, she was spotted at WWE HQ with Cain Velasquez earlier this month, prompting rumors that she was having meetings about a comeback. The former UFC star has confirmed that she will return to WWE at some point, but she hasn’t revealed when or how she plans to make an appearance.
Riott returned to action earlier this year following a lengthy injury hiatus and began feuding with her former friend and tag team partner, Liv Morgan. She was involved in this year’s women’s Elimination Chamber match, which was won by Rousey’s real-life friend, Shayna Baszler.
