RAW: A Woman of Her Word

With WWE’s Evolution pay-per-view coming up this Sunday, October 28, RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and her challenger Nikki Bella had one final thing to do: dot their I’s and cross their T’s, with a good old-fashioned WWE contract signing. But surprisingly, this contract signing didn’t end the same way as so many others in WWE history have. (And perhaps that was for the best, as Michael Cole surely wouldn’t be able to handle the situation if things had truly come to blows between Rousey and The Bella Twins.)

Nikki Bella came out first, with Brie Bella by her side—just like it will be at Evolution—showing off her striking ability as soon as she entered the ring. (It was as ridiculous as it sounds.) Then out came the champ, all smiles and even passing out one of her new signature gloves to a little girl n the crowd… But those smiles went away as soon as she continued her path to the ring and toward her former “friends.”

The Bellas’ left the ring as soon as “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” entered, although, in their defense, they had a good reason for this: According to Nikki, Rousey clearly came out there looking for a fight, and this? This is a contract signing. (A WWE contracting signing, but still.) Rousey actually agreed with Nikki on the contract signing point though, noting that she had to come out there to sign the paperwork for the match—where she’d actually be looking for a fight—and do only that. In fact, she gave The Bellas her word that she wouldn’t touch them if they entered the ring because unlike them, her word is bond. She made clear she was not even a little worried about them; in fact, Rousey claimed that her mother would be embarrassed if it turned out The Bellas were even able to hurt her with her hands tied behind her back.

With that, The Bellas finally entered the ring once more. But that also opened up the way for Nikki to talk more about Rousey’s mother and how much Rousey’s word couldn’t mean all that much based on her past promises. “Your mother is already ashamed of you,” Nikki added—while Brie smirked her way through all of this—before telling Rousey to imagine what her mother would think if a Diva ended up beating her for the RAW Women’s Championship. Still, after all that, Rousey kept her word and didn’t touch Nikki. So once Nikki finally signed, she took advantage of the champ’s promise, delivering a swift slap and a laugh. “You gave us your word,” she taunted.

Even then, Rousey didn’t break her promise. Instead, she signed the contract and let Nikki know: “Come Sunday, I will end you. I give you my word.” And that was it. Rousey left, with The Bellas clearly knowing they just messed up.