WWE Tribute to the Troops: The Biggest Gift of All

LaToya Ferguson
Natalya, Ronda Rousey (source: WWE)

On Thursday, December 20, 2018, WWE aired its 16th annual Tribute to the Troops special—from Fort Hood in Texas—with WWE Superstars from both RAW and SmackDown LIVE performing in front of members of the United States armed forces.

Before Ronda Rousey and Natalya face off on Christmas Eve RAW for the RAW Women’s Championship, the two friends teamed up in triple threat tag team action to take on two teams they both know very well, for better or worse: The Riott Squad and the combined unit of Nia Jax and Tamina.


Ronda Rousey & Natalya def. The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan) and Nia Jax & Tamina

After some holiday-appropriate cheer from The New Day, this match officially kicked off Tribute to the Troops. Ruby Riott stayed at ringside while Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan competed on behalf of the Squad, so obviously, the numbers game was going to come into play at some point. As for Nia Jax—who got a warm reception… if you can get a warm reception in the form of boos—she certainly wasn’t all smiles (neither was Tamina, but that’s just her default setting), post-tapping out to Rousey at the TLC pay-per-view.

With the loud “RONDA” chants coming from the troops in attendance before the match even began, naturally, the RAW Women’s Champion started off this match. Sarah Logan, the powerhouse of The Riott Squad, opted to start things off against her. But Rousey dominated things there early enough that Logan pretty immediately tagged in Liv Morgan—who is enough of a wild child to come at the champ without any thought—instead. But Rousey got the early advantage in that face-off too and then quickly tagged in Natalya to get in on some of the fun. Although, based on the screams coming from Morgan during these particular in-ring interactions, she wasn’t having as much fun. Which was especially proven to be true when she scurried away to an opposing corner and tagged in Tamina, someone Natalya knows very well.

With that, the momentum shifted, and after Tamina tagged in Nia Jax, the two of them were all about double-teaming and dominating Natalya. Then Jax decided to mock Natalya—and Rousey, despite that being a proven way for her to end up on the losing end of things—as she crushed her. All the while, The Riott Squad were having the time of their lives watching this, and it almost looked like they cared more about that than actually winning the match… until Sarah Logan tagged herself in—making sure to quickly mock Rousey before she went after Natalya—upon Tamina missing a running corner attack on Natalya. But it didn’t last long, as Natalya was finally able to tag in Rousey… and then Rousey was off to the races.

It was pretty much the beginning of the end then… or it looked like it until Ruby Riott distracted Rousey before she could put Logan in the armbar. Then Logan and Morgan both tried to capitalize with a double-team, but instead, Rousey reversed to go for the double armbar (and double tap out) on The Riott Squad—all while Natalya ran interference on Ruby Riott on the outside, preventing her from coming in to make the save.

Post-match, Ronda Rousey got on the mic to let the troops know what an “incredible honor” it was to perform in front of them. And she let them know, that when it comes to a “true champion,” these men and women embody that spirit each and every day.

“And I just wanna say: Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for all of the sacrifices you make. For all of the courage, for all of the perseverance, for everything that you do for us. And thank you for the biggest gift of all, which is our freedom. Thank you.”



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