Ranking Every WWE Match Of Ronda Rousey

5 years ago it would have struck many as absurd that the WWE's biggest, most hotly anticipated signing in years would come from their women's division. It is a credit both to the WWE themselves and Ronda Rousey that women's wrestling is in the position it is today.

Despite Ronda having a UFC background, her presence inside the WWE squared circle just feels right. Women's wrestling is on the up and is finally ready to create it's first big superstar. The jury may still be out on who that will ultimately be, but given her already globally recognised name and brand, Rousey most certainly has a head start.

It's not unfair to say that her WWE career to date has exceeded expectations. Crossover starts in Pro Wrestling have had varying degrees of success, and not since Ken Shamrock has a UFC star actually made it to Vince McMahon's conglomerate convincingly.

Ronda's WWE career has much riding on it. Not only could she be the key to finally unleashing women's wrestling to the same heights of the men, but a successful few years with the company will open doors for other would-be pro wrestlers. We are so used to see WWE talent jump ship to UFC that it would be a welcome sight to see it occur in the reverse. If it works for Rousey, why wouldn't it work for the likes of McGregor?

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Putting all that to one side, Ronda has been a delight ever since joining the company, and it is such a respectful compliment to say that she is yet to have a bad match. Here we look at Ronda Rousey's WWE career to date, ranking all her matches from worst to best. Let us know what you think about the list in the comment section below:

#7 Ronda Rousey (w. Bella Twins) Vs. The Riott Squad

Most fans who have enjoyed the rise of WWE's women's division over recent years will find this idea of Nikki and Brie Bella as seasoned veterans a little difficult to swallow. One might be able to view them in this way given the amount of time they've spent with the company, but what they've come to represent is essentially all the negatives we used to associate with women's wrestling.

So when the twins were paired up with Ronda Rousey for the 'Super Showdown' event in Australia earlier this year, something about the match felt a little off. Ronda has undoubtedly become a leader for this new wave of female wrestling and to see her grouped in with the limited abilities of the Bellas only resulted in preventing her from displaying her true talents on what was a big night for the company.

The match wasn't terrible and did serve to highlight the often underrated Riott Squad, with Ruby in particular putting on a decent display.

The main drawback of this affair was that nagging feeling it gave you that a one-on-one bout between Rousey and Riott might have been the way to go.

#6 Ronda Rousey Vs. Mickie James - RAW Women's Title (Monday Night RAW)

For all the talk of the Bella Twins being the stalwarts of WWE's women's division, one name that often gets overlooked in this category is Mickie James. Despite coming from an era where women's wrestling was essentially cast aside for the most part, Mickie is a name we still associate with professionalism and in-ring ability.

Perhaps it is for this reason that this match features so low down on the list. On paper, Ronda Rousey Vs. Mickie James should be a PPV semi-main event. A legend of the past meeting the de facto leader of the new generation.

Instead, the two put on a rather disappointing display. The match basically played second fiddle to the background context of Charlotte Flair's assault on Rousey the previous night. It was a way of showing that Ronda, despite the punishment she received from the Queen, is still atop the mountain when it comes to Monday Night RAW.

To put it frankly, it was a shame to see Mickie in this position. The woman who once stood toe to toe with Trish Stratus on the Wrestlemania stage was unable to give an injured Ronda Rousey a decent title match.

#5 Ronda Rousey Vs. Alexa Bliss - RAW Women's Title (Summerslam 2018)

They might not be everyone's favourite type of bouts, but in certain situations, Professional Wrestling calls for a squash match. True, they might typically be used to build up a new monster - Braun Strowman or Nia Jax being recent examples, and it is less common to see squash matches take place for a major title at a major event.

As far as squash matches go, Ronda Rousey Vs. Alexa Bliss at Summerslam was as comprehensive at it can get. Not only did Rousey pick up the victory - and her first title in WWE- in short order, she even mocked the abilities of her opponent throughout the match and deliberately tried to give her an advantage before ending it.

Fans of Alexa Bliss will obviously disagree, but this worked on some level. The match played out how we'd probably expect it to if this was a shoot UFC fight. We all know that the Goddess's skills lay outside of her in-ring ability and Ronda did need a fairly big name from the division to showcase her dominance over.

The only drawback was that given the length of the match, it took a little away from Ronda's title victory. It was a cool moment to see the former UFC star hold up a WWE championship, but surely it would have come across much more effectively after a hard fought 20-minute bout.

#4 Ronda Rousey Vs. Alexa Bliss - RAW Women's Title (Hell in a Cell 2018)

Once you get past the sheer inconsistency between this match and the previous encounter at Summerslam, you begin to appreciate it as a solid title bout in an otherwise impressive Ronda Rousey career.

Alexa managed to avoid the embarrassment of a second squash match loss and actually showcased her own talents as a performer.

It was refreshing to see Ronda in a slightly more vulnerable position as she continued to display the facial expressions and psychology of a WWE main event star. With Alexa given time to rely on her heelish tactics, Ronda was made to look like a sympathetic babyface champion, something the WWE has relied heavily on since the Hogan years.

After the short-lived bout between the two at Summerslam, it was encouraging to see the back and forth exchanges here. Often, untested competitors get found out when required to work a longer match (see Goldberg), but there was nothing unconvincing about Ronda's performance here.

#3 Ronda Rousey Vs. Nia Jax - RAW Women's Title (Money in the Bank 2018)

Ronda had done more than enough at Wrestlemania to prove herself worthy of the WWE main event scene, but the time soon came for her to step into singles competition. Her first proper challenge? - None other than Nia Jax.

This was a true test of Ronda's abilities. Not only was she unproven as a single's competitor in Sports Entertainment, but she would also be across the ring from somebody with her own point to prove. Despite her impressive look, Nia hasn't exactly set the world alight with her wrestling abilities since being promoted from NXT.

On top of all this was the fact that fans had every excuse to dismiss this match out of hand. As big a star as Rousey is, surely it was unfair to leapfrog her above other, more deserving women in line for a title shot.

In spite of all this, Ronda and Nia actually put on one hell of a performance and managed to get the best out of each other. Ronda looked every bit the natural going up against somebody of Nia's stature, and Jax, for her own part, benefitted from allowing Ronda to do most of the work between the big spots.

The WWE even managed to write themselves out of a tricky situation, having Alexa Bliss interfere at the end to avoid any accusations of special treatment for the Rowdy one.

#2 Ronda Rousey Vs. Charlotte Flair - Champion Vs. Champion (Survivor Series 2018)

No sooner had the dust settled from Wrestlemania 34, than fans were already eyeing up a potential 'first time ever' main event for the following year. After great performances from both competitors, the idea of a Ronda Rousey Vs. Charlotte Flair main event at Wrestlemania 35 struck us all as a genuine possibility.

As ever with Pro Wrestling, plans were forced to change following the unexpected meteoric rise, and untimely injury, of Becky Lynch who established herself as the most popular superstar on the entire roster. Lynch was due to face Ronda at Survivor Series, a match quickly becoming the most intriguing aspect of the PPV as a whole.

Following Lynch's injury, Charlotte was inserted into the Survivor Series match and Wrestlemania 35 came early. Gone were the apprehensions of whether Ronda would be able to handle a single's match. The WWE Universe were anticipating a true spectacle, and this is exactly what they got.

Perhaps unexpectedly, the match was an impressive combination of mat-based grappling and stiff hard contact. It was as if both women were too bent on destroying each other that they were not content with a simple pinfall or submission victory. This even verged on the nasty at certain points!

Charlotte's DQ loss, whilst taking a little away from the event overall, did serve to protect both women in this early stage of their rivalry and has given the company something to go back to should they need it next time around.

If we were to get this exact same match at Wrestlemania 35 it would probably be the best main event of a Mania since 31.

#1 Ronda Rousey/ Kurt Angle Vs. Triple H/ Stephanie McMahon - (Wrestlemania 34)

On another day and given another writer this match would probably come second behind the aforementioned Charlotte Flair encounter. Wrestling is subjective after all, and whether you place this or the Survivor Series meeting at number one comes down to what you most enjoy about Pro Wrestling.

If you like in-ring action and move sets, Charlotte Vs. Ronda is the match to back. However, if, like me, you prefer wrestling to be about the storylines and psychology, the mixed tag team match at Wrestlemania really does tick all the boxes.

Being Ronda's first ever match inside a WWE ring, this was always going to have a huge amount riding on it. Rousey's debut was one of the most anticipated of all time and seeing her fail as a WWE competitor would have destroyed her future prospects and saddled the company with a huge financial burden.

So when we all witnessed Ronda rise to the occasion, the WWE Universe was able to let out a collective sigh of relief.

Looking at the match itself, it's hard to remember why we were so worried. On paper, it contains two of the most beloved characters in WWE history in Kurt Angle and Triple H, and along with Stephanie McMahon, you knew there would be a lot of experience to draw from. Triple H and Stephanie, in particular, have made a career of getting people to hate them and they are actually very effective at receiving their comeuppance when the time calls for it.

This was an exciting match from start to finish and probably ended up being the match of the night on an already impressive Wrestlemania card. Perhaps it isn't the greatest indictment of Rousey's career that she hasn't yet been able to top her debut, but when she finally does, it will be one hell of a classic.

Edited by Vikshith R