Having returned at the Royal Rumble last month, the 35-year-old Ronda Rousey is set to take on Charlotte Flair at Wrestlemania for the Smackdown women’s championship, but if WWE want to get the most out of Rousey’s current run, they should pair her up with close friend Shayna Baszler and let the two run rampant over the tag team division.
Sure, Rousey’s star power means winning the Rumble and facing Flair for the gold at Mania makes a whole lot of sense, but she’s been down this road before and the prospect of her once again winning the title and embarking on a long run as champion is not an exciting one.
Having briefly teamed up with Shayna Baszler once she entered the Rumble match, fans were offered a glimpse of the two real-life friends working as a unit, and it is something the WWE should move forward with.
It Would Help Hide Rousey’s Ring Limitations
While she is undoubtedly one of the biggest names on the WWE roster right now, there is no denying Ronda has a number of limitations inside the squared circle. She is a star, but in terms of her in-ring ability, she is not quite on the same level as many of the women currently fighting for their spot at the top of the division.
A run as champion and a number of high-profile singles matches would only highlight the difference in skill she has as opposed to the likes of Flair or Sasha Banks. With that being said, a run in the tag team division alongside Baszler would go a long way into helping Ronda’s in-ring work improve and would even hide the limitations she has. Teaming with Baszler would allow the 41-year-old to carry the brunt of the work inside the ring for the two, and allow Rousey to spotlight what she can do in small bursts.
It Would Benefit Shayna Tremendously
Having joined WWE back in 2017, it looked like Baszler was destined to become one of the biggest stars in the women’s division. After a dominant run in NXT – which saw her become the first ever two-time NXT women’s champion, with her second reign lasting a whopping 416 days – fans had high hopes for the former UFC fighter and were excited to see what she could do on the main roster.
Well, like so many other NXT call-ups, Baszler’s time on the main roster has been very underwhelming. Although things looked great early on, with the Queen of Spades being the first woman to eliminate all other competitors inside an Elimination Chamber which set up a high-profile title match at WrestleMania with Becky Lynch, it all quickly went downhill from there. Shayna lost and quickly fell down the card, with the highlight of her two-year spell on the main roster being her tag team title runs with Nia Jax.
Pairing up with Ronda and getting to dominate the tag team division as the two unleash terror on anyone they come across, with the titles around their waists, would go a long way in repairing the damage that has been done to Shayna already.
It Could Do Wonders For A Struggling Tag Team Division
There’s no sugar coating the fact the women’s tag team division in WWE is by far the weakest in the entire company. With the only recognized tag team being the current champions, who were quickly thrown together just before they won the gold in Carmella and Queen Vega, the division is in desperate need of additions and Rousey and Baszler would be perfect for it.
Adding the two to the division would add some much-needed stars and Rousey’s inclusion would make it much more relevant than it has ever been in the eyes of fans. While adding the pair would not be the overnight fix that WWE would likely expect, it would go a long way into improving what has quickly become one of the biggest afterthoughts in the entire company.
Who knows, maybe with the two adding star power to the division and potentially increasing fan interest as a result, WWE would even consider adding more teams to it and finally make the titles mean something. As of right now, winning the tag team titles means very little, but with a team like Rousey and Baszler sitting atop of the division, the opportunity to create stars out of whoever beats them is too good to turn down.
An English sports journalist. Currently working for several different websites, covering pro wrestling, MMA and football/soccer.
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