On the March 3rd episode of Friday Nigth SmackDown, Ronda Rousey had been due to team with Shayna Baszler to take on Natalya and Tegan Nox.
However, the match never took place and was replaced by a singles bout between Baszler and Nox. Unsurprisingly it was the former NXT Women’s Champion who gained a dominant victory, forcing Nox to tap out in under two minutes.
Ahead of the match, a pre-taped backstage segment was shown where the two teams got into a brawl. The action ended with Rousey cradling her arm, and when she appeared at ringside to support Baszler, she did so wearing a sling.
While it was initially believed that the injury was just for storyline purposes, it has now been revealed that the issue is legitimate. PWTorch reports that the former UFC star has aggravated an existing issue although she is expected to be fit for WrestleMania 39.
Ronda Rousey Forced Change To WrestleMania Plans
It was recently reported that current plans for Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania look very different from how they did originally. Back in November, Rousey was set to face Rhea Ripley with the SmackDown Women’s Title on the line. However, Rousey’s desire to win tag team gold forced a change. This led to the star losing the SmackDown Women’s Title to Charlotte Flair on the December 30th episode of SmackDown.
This paved the way for Rousey to team with Baszler to try and win the Women’s Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania. Becky Lynch and Lita won the titles on February 27th, defeating Damage CTRL in the main event of Raw via an assist from Trish Stratus.