She’ll take part in a tag match at Wrestlemania.
At the WWE Royal Rumble in January, former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey made a shock appearance (well, it was only a shock if you hadn’t been following the rumours), and subsequently announced that she had signed on as a full-time WWE superstar.
She put Triple H through a table during her first appearance on WWE Raw last week, but the question of her first opponent still went unanswered. On last night’s however, her debut match was confirmed – and it will be on the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania.
Since Rousey’s confrontation with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon three years ago at Wrestlemania 31, it’s long been rumoured that Rousey would take on the real-life couple, tagging with a to-be-confirmed male star.
The Rock was by her side at the Wrestlemania face-off, but he’s busy being the most popular movie star on the planet, so a replacement had to be found.
And now it’s official.
Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle will face Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at Wrestlemania 34 in New Orleans on April 8. This will probably be her debut match, though it is possible she could be in action on Raw to build up hype for it.
Angle – who is now Raw’s general manager – announced the bout last night, and it is likely to take place under normal WWE mixed tag rules, where competitors will only be in the ring at the same time as their opponent of the same gender (eg, if Triple H tags in, Angle automatically has to as well).
Rousey and Angle as a team makes a certain amount of sense, as both a IRL Olympic medal winners (Kurt won gold in freestyle wrestling in 1996, and Rousey got a bronze in judo in 2008). However, Angle is now 49, and Triple H is 48, and both are semi-retired. And Stephanie has never been a full-time wrestler herself.
Rousey has all the tools to become a great wrestler, but in her first match on a massive stage, she could probably do with an experienced female wrestler who could help carry her – we’d have loved to have seen Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch or Asuka in there with her. But those matches are probably still to come.
