Ronda Rousey

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

Stiva said:

"Admittedly, she has a very small pool of matches and this nomination is based on the assumption that she’s going to eventually come back and pick up where she left off. But for that year, every one of her big matches was appointment viewing; she had one of the best modern Mania tag matches where she already looked like a natural and then came the title run; staring down the assembly line of WWEs women and delivering every time. Was able to work matches underneath (Bayley, Nikki Bella) with great selling and attention to detail, she could work as the superior grappler who gave just enough to her opponent (Sasha, Alexa) and when she had to bring it in hot angles in the build to Mania, she did. A lot of her matches felt like the Brock template of 12-15 taken one further as she added more vulnerability, fantastic bumping along with a great mix of strikes, submissions and an almost unnatural understanding of how to construct a main event match. I really hope she comes back since, even as good as her one year is, I don’t think it’s enough for her to get on but the prospect of her coming back and working the likes of Io, Asuka, Shayna, Bianca and even Mercedes Martinez feels like she could have a top tier run before 2026. "

[Reel]

I thought she was one of the 3 or so best wrestles in 2018, and if she came back and had another 4 or 5 years on that level, I could see her getting on my ballot, but I don't know how likely her having a sustained run for that length of time is. 

[Makai Club #1]

She single handily kept me watching Raw consistently. Even if it was through cherry picking. Whether it was small squashes against Dana Brooke or high profile PPV matches against Sasha Banks and Charlotte, she delivered and gave you value for your time. Ronda also got the best out of wrestlers that are pretty much disliked by a large majority of the audience. Her matches against Nia Jax were easily better than anything Jax had done prior or since. So Ronda worked well with great wrestlers and below average ones. Her most disappointing match was the WrestleMania match which was a mess unfortunately. But a 99% success rate isn't bad for someone who had a career not even reaching a full year (one day off).

I don't think I'll include her unless she makes a return. 

[Boss Rock]

I dont think she has the volume for a 100 greatest ever list, but her peaks were really good. Very much a "what if?" candidate especially considering how quickly she picked it up.

[Dav'oh]

She was great fun. Do we know if she was able to extemporize? Certainly her debut was well-rehearsed, and I have a feeling most if not all of her matches were fully laid out for her, but probably not by her. They were still excellent matches and excellent performances from her, I just wonder how much people here value the ability to improvise, and the dying art of listening to the crowd and responding accordingly? It's something of a hurdle for me, personally, to overcome when considering contemporary candidates - that, and the fact that Ronda and many others never had to do it on a cold night in Stoke (been dying to use that oldie). 

[Jmare007]

Ronda is awesome but she has less footage than Volk Han at this point and she does not comes close to Volk Han in the limited footage we do have. I guess we'll see if she has more matches in the next 5 years. She certainly has the tools to be in my list eventually if she keeps her initial pace up.

[KB8]

She had maybe the best rookie year of any wrestler ever, and even if Dav'oh's suggestion about her matches being laid out to a tee is almost certainly correct, there was more than enough of what she actually did within the framework of those layouts to make me think she just "got it" straight out the gate. Like, she was just about the best in the company at selling limb damage - or just selling in general, maybe - and had lapped most other wrestlers with literally ten times or more the experience of actually doing this pro-wrestling nonsense that she had. Captured Big Match feel, had charisma for days, was awesome at suddenly ripping out submissions from nowhere during matches, etc. 

I don't think she gets on unless she has another run, but I loved that year we got and I don't think she's a totally batshit insane low-end choice. 

[Stiva]

I believe Meltzer reported that the Bayley match was one that they made the decision to call in the ring which is why I nominated it. I could be mistaking it with the Charlotte match but either way, I think they trusted her to go out without too much of a safety net by the end, albeit with workers they knew were good and could carry the load if things went wrong

[Makai Club #1]

The Charlotte match was thrown together last minute so it could be that match. And what a match it was. It's probably the best women's match wwe has had upto that point. I definitely prefer it over the Bayley v Sasha Banks matches in NXT as of right now. 

[KB8]

I'm admittedly a real low voter on those Sasha/Bayley matches (on Bayley in general, I guess), but I prefer Rousey/Charlotte to them as well. There are probably three, maybe four, Rousey matches I'd take over the Sasha/Bayley matches. Including Rousey/Sasha (which Sasha was awesome in, FWIW). 

[strobogo]

I hope she comes back because she was truly in that Kurt/Brock tier of just immediately getting it and performing at the highest level. Actually, more than them because they both got some time in developmental and both took a few months on TV before really meteorically improving, whereas she started off at WM with all eyes on her, over performed and delivered, and only got better from there.