Ronda Rousey will face arguably the biggest test of the her run as SmackDown Women’s Champion after a new challenger emerged on the December 23rd episode of the show.
It had been announced that a Gauntlet Match would be taking place to determine a new number one contender, but of course nothing was straightforward.
Ronda Rousey Gets New Challenger
The match began with Xia Li taking on Emma who she made short work of before also dispatching Tegan Nox. Next into the match was former NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Rodriguez. The star overcame Li before also seeing off former champion Liv Morgan and then Sonya Deville.
Although Deville was announced as the final entrant, Ronda Rousey had other ideas. The champion appeared to announce Shayna Baszler as Rodriguez’s final opponent. Despite Baszler ripping the brace from Rodriguez’s arm, the former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion rolled up her rival while she was distracted.
Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler have targeted Rodriguez in recent weeks, with the pair injuring her arm in a tag team match. After Rodriguez vowed to compete in the Gauntlet Match the previous week she was again attacked by Rousey and Baszler.
Raquel Rodriguez and Ronda Rousey have squared off previously, with the former meeting an open challenge in only her second match on the main roster back in April. At time of writing there is no word on when the title match between the pair will take place.
Ronda Rousey has been SmackDown Women’s Champion since defeating Liv Morgan at Extreme Rules. The former UFC star had gone into the match as the challenger having been pinned by Morgan at Money In The Bank. Morgan had earlier on the Money In The Bank briefcase and chose to cash-in on Rousey after her win over Natalya.
Rousey returned to WWE in January, winning the Royal Rumble. She went on to lose to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 38, before capturing the SmackDown Women’s Title at WrestleMania Backlash.