RAW: The Baddest. The Man. WrestleMania.

LaToya Ferguson
Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch (source: WWE)

After Ronda’s grueling battle with Sasha Banks last night, tonight on Monday Night RAW, it was time for another Rowdy Open Challenge. Actually, two challenges.

Ronda let the raucous WWE Universe know:

“If you can’t dream big, ridiculous dreams, what’s the use of dreaming at all?”

“I dreamed ridiculously big,” she said about WWE career, and now here she is. She’s the RAW Women’s Champion and having the best rookie year in WWE since perhaps Brock Lesnar’s. Ronda thanked Sasha Banks for their match last night and, but she also decided to “talk about what’s next.” And you know what’s next?

“Becky Lynch, I know you’re watching.

I know she’s watching. She has a choice to make.”

But instead of Becky, Ronda (and the WWE Universe) got Bayley—you know, the one-half of the Boss & Hug Connection and another member of the WWE’s Four Horsewomen.

And so, it was on.


Ronda Rousey (c) def. Bayley, for the RAW Women’s Championship

Ronda immediately grounded Bayley, but Ronda’s right arm was still hurt from last night’s match with Sasha Banks, and Bayley very much knew that. So Ronda’s best bet was to also go after Bayley’s right arm, honestly. Especially for the armbar. But then Ronda’s knee gave out on her during up-and-over attempt, and Bayley had a new target.

Once the leg became a target, Bayley gained the advantage, taking the opportunity to go after it, knowing Ronda wasn’t 100%. Ronda was able to get some dominance after a clothesline to Bayley, but the standard maneuvers in her arsenal only worked against her favor—her leg gave out, and her arm was not at full power. And then, out of nowhere, Bayley got Ronda in a kneebar. Ronda was able to get out of the submission, but in a way where she rolled them both out of the ring and to the outside—hard. And then, Bayley ultimately ended up throwing Ronda into the barricade.

Bayley eventually got so frustrated with Ronda’s resilience that she applied the Banks Statement on Ronda, but unlike last night, Ronda was able to make her way to the bottom rope. But after Bayley got onto the top rope, Ronda was able to get Bayley down, get her in the armbar, and get the submission victory.


Post-match, Ronda and Bayley shook hands in a show of respect… and then “The Man” came around. Well, she limped around, but still. And, naturally, she made sure to grab a microphone immediately.

“Look at this. ‘The Man’ is back on RAW. Ronnie, I told you I’d find a way back to you again.”

Becky Lynch brought up Ronda being called “The Baddest Woman On The Planet,” and how the last time Becky was on RAW—during the SmackDown women’s roster invasion pre-Survivor Series—she dropped Ronda right in the center in this ring. So Becky came here to prove Ronda is actually not the baddest:

“And unlike Seth Rollins, I don’t need much time to think. I. Choose. You.”

That got a “YES” chant out of the WWE Universe.

“And at WrestleMania, I am going to break your mystique. I am going to take your title. And I’m going to kick your ass in front of the entire world.”

Ronda then grabbed her own microphone. She asked about Becky’s clearly hurt leg first before letting her know:

“I don’t just want to beat you. I want to beat the best version of Becky Lynch that has ever existed.”

She promised she’d re-break Becky’s face, “faster than you can say Nia Jax.” She also brought up the fact of Becky being in the Kickoff Show at last year’s WrestleMania while she was on the main show, in a main event match. Then Ronda noted that while they may be the same age, Ronda’s been a household name for over a decade, all while Becky was still just “training.”

Ronda Rousey plans to “own” Becky Lynch at WrestleMania, and that’s just a fact of life.

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