Getty Ronda Rousey of the US (L) lines up compatriot Holly Holm during the UFC title fight in Melbourne on November 15, 2015.
Ronda Rousey has made history as a female athlete time and again in her professional career. She won her first 12 fights in the UFC, became the first-recognized female champion in the sport and at one point earned the highest purse in UFC history at $3 million (after her loss to Amanda Nunes).
She’s breaking new ground Friday night as she will fight Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch for the WWE’s first-ever all-female main event at Wrestlemania 35.
Breaking: For the first time in @WWE history, a women’s match will be the main event of @WrestleMania! The historic Raw Women’s Championship match featuring @RondaRousey @MsCharlotteWWE @BeckyLynchWWE will take place on Sunday, April 7 at @MetLifeStadium and live on @WWENetwork
The rivalry between Rousey and Lynch has generated a lot of buzz for the match. Since signing with WWE full-time in Jan. 2018, Rousey and Lynch have clashed on the mat and over airwaves. As Andy Sahadeo at Fox News writes:
Leading up to “Survivor Series,” an event that pits “Raw” Superstars against “SmackDown,” Lynch became embroiled in a bitter feud with “Raw” Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey — attacking her backstage during an episode of “Monday Night Raw.” Lynch suffered a concussion during the ensuing brawl later on in the episode, and was ultimately replaced by Charlotte Flair at “Survivor Series.”
In December, Becky Lynch lost the “SmackDown” Women’s Championship to Asuka in the first-ever women’s triple threat Tables, Ladders and Chairs match — a match that also featured Charlotte Flair. One month later, Lynch won the second-ever “Women’s Royal Rumble” match — punching her ticket to a title shot of her choosing at WrestleMania. After failing to regain the “SmackDown” Women’s Championship at Royal Rumble, Lynch then took aim at “Raw” Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey.
Lynch has continued to talk in the leadup to Wrestlemania 35, going as far to say that Rousey will retire from pro wrestling if she loses.
She won’t be able to hack it,” Becky said of Ronda on TMZ Live. “She won’t be able to take it. She won’t be able to look defeat in the face and say I can come back from this.”
This is possibly in reference to the inglorious end to Rousey’s UFC career, where she lost her final two fights to Holly Holm and Nunes.
Much like her strong start in UFC, Rousey has hit the ground running in WWE. Let’s take a look at her record.
Ronda Rousey WWE Record
NOBODY is giving up in this match as @SashaBanksWWE & @itsBayleyWWE take on @RondaRousey & @NatbyNature on #Raw!
Rousey is currently 29-1 in her appearances on WWE appearances. She won her first match at Wrestlemania 34 in a tag-team bout alongside Kurt Angle against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H.
She took home the Raw title on June 17, 2018 over Nia Jax in a disqualification. Since then, she’s defended the Raw title 13 times, including most recently on March 18 by earning a submission over Dana Brooke.
Her only loss was this past January in a tag-team with Natalya against Bayley and Sasha Banks. Since Natalya tapped out against Banks, Rousey is technically on the hook for an L.
On six days later at Royal Rumble, Rousey exacted revenge by pinning Banks to defend the Raw title.
Just this past week, she participated in a tag-team with Flair and Lynch, which ended up being a win by submission over Sarah Logan, Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan.
Clearly, the spirit of teamwork isn’t lasting much longer, as the trio will fight for the title tonight (7 p.m., PPV).