It’s WrestleMania 34 season and Ronda Rousey is a heel.
Sure, WWE will more than likely make every effort to initially present her as a babyface, but this is an insufferable, Twitter-influenced fanbase we’re talking about. And, without The Rock by her side, Rousey could be in for some rough weeks as an unproven, albeit coveted, crossover prospect from the world of mixed martial arts.
With so many casual fans gradually leaving with every passing year of the Attitude Era, WWE’s television and pay-per-view audiences have adopted a more hardcore sentiment. Booing top babyfaces, like Roman Reigns and John Cena, is now the status quo as this combustible contingent has proven liable to turn on big names around WrestleMania such as Goldberg and Batista.
In fact, one of WWE’s long-term goals of signing Rousey is to bring back the more valuable casual fans and dilute a territorial, aging wrestling demographic that takes its scripted live entertainment too seriously.
By all indications, however, this will be an uphill climb.
Monday on Raw, Kurt Angle promoted Rousey’s big contract signing at WWE Elimination Chamber. The mere mention of her name was booed soundly because, as a perennially disrespected form of entertainment in the mainstream media, the idea of a mainstream star coming to WWE tends to bring out the inferiority complex among WWE’s most impassioned fanatics.
It’s why it’s so critical for WWE to get it right when it comes to the ideal partner for Ronda Rousey in her rumored mixed tag team matchup come WrestleMania 34. And though it may be a longshot, that ideal partner is The Rock.
Justin Barrasso of SI.com recently reported WWE’s choices for Rousey’s partner at WrestleMania 34 are down to The Rock, Kurt Angle, Shane McMahon and Seth Rollins in that order. It should be noted, however, that many of Barrasso’s reports have been disputed in the past, so consider this as merely rumor and innuendo.
Rousey teaming with The Rock would be a godsend for obvious reasons. The Rock is a walking box-office record coming off his most domestically successful movie to date as Jumanji has grossed over $370 million and counting. Every fear some skeptics have about Rousey’s ability to connect with a WWE audience is light work for an overly charismatic legend who is a maestro in that category.
Rousey and The Rock would also be picking up right where they left off following a memorable and entertaining exchange with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 31.
WWE’s grumpy, old fanbase of today—one that has aged significantly since 2000—has also proven to be a loyal one. One of the many ways WWE has turned around profits in the past six months is by raising its most expensive ticket prices as demand for high-priced seats at live events remains somewhat inelastic.
WWE continued to hit on all cylinders business-wise as it once again announced record revenues during its Q4 2017 earnings report while bringing in profits of over $32 million. So whether hardcore fans are booing at live events or venting on Twitter, maybe it just pays to be angry.
The presence of Ronda Rousey should continue to incite this uneasy trend as this territorial bunch tends to react to incoming talent from the outside world like rabid bulldogs who meet their owner’s girlfriend for the first time.
Outside of The Rock, few part-time or incoming WWE Superstars are universally embraced. The only type of incoming WWE Superstars who typically get the benefit of the doubt from an otherwise tough crowd are typically under six feet and made a name for themselves on the independent circuit. Often dubbed “internet darlings,” WWE Superstars with these type of hard-nosed, underdog origin stories mirror the bulldog mentality inherent in many wrestling fans.
Right, AJ Styles?
So when Rousey officially puts pen to pad at Elimination Chamber, it’s imperative that WWE has a shrewd plan in place to pair the former UFC bantamweight champion with someone who will endear her to the WWE Universe in ways that would have failed had she done so on her own.
The chants and temperaments of WrestleMania crowds and the bloodthirsty #RawAftereMania crowds tend to influence fan sentiments for years to come. Should WWE pair Rousey with an inadequate partner, it could launch a snowball effect that would sabotage arguably WWE’s biggest full-time signing to date.
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