What if Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler interact at Evolution?

This weekend’s Evolution will be the first all-female PPV WWE has ever produced. On a less profound, but nonetheless interesting note, it’s also the first show when both Ronda Rousey and real-life friend Shayna Baszler will both be working matches. The two grew close in MMA circles and were both wrestling fans, with Baszler pursuing sports entertainment in earnest long before Rousey got into the ring.

Given her celebrity and credibility from UFC, it was little surprise that Rousey skipped NXT and advanced straight to Monday Night Raw. Baszler took the more traditional path in parlaying a big run in the original Mae Young Classic into growing into the top female heel spot in developmental and enjoying a substantial run as Women’s Champion there.

Baszler is ready for her main roster call up any time now and if WWE books her to interact with Rousey on screen on Sunday, that could be a natural enough way to facilitate the transition. How it goes down will be telling, though, and this column looks at five possibilities.

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#5 Baszler has Rousey’s back

Baszler could provide big-time backup.

At Evolution, Ronda Rousey has to be considered a heavy favorite against Nikki Bella, both for how WWE has booked her as a force and for her real-life credentials that make it hard to imagine most any woman beating her in a fight. The one way in which Rousey is at a disadvantage, though, comes down to the numbers game. Brie Bella could be a difference maker by way of outside interference.

While Rousey has been allied with Natalya for most of her main roster run, Evolution would be a fitting stage for her to introduce heavier artillery in her corner. The Queen of Spades could neutralize Brie nicely to even the odds and establish her connection with Rousey for the main roster moving forward. It might even set up a tag match between the two sides for a later date to cast Rousey in another type of match and further give Baszler the rub of being associated with her.

#4 Baszler chokes out her friend

Rousey and Baszler are good friends. Might they make better enemies?

While it would make a good bit of sense to capitalize on Ronda Rousey’s real-life friendship with Shayna Baszler by casting them as kayfabe allies on Monday Night Raw, another approach could see the two feud with one another right out of the chute.

No, Baszler doesn’t have Rousey’s star power. She does have more experience in the squared circle, though, and the real-life MMA background to make her more believable than most as a challenger to the Baddest Woman on the Planet. There would be the psychological edge, too, for knowing Rousey so well and having betrayed her. Moreover, Baszler would be especially well equipped to work an interesting worked jiu-jitsu style opposite Rousey.

Baszler could make an immediate impact in establishing herself and a new rivalry with Rousey by catching her with her signature Kirifuda Clutch to choke her out, potentially to close out the show,

#2 The Horsewomen arrive

It may not be just Baszler and Rousey who come together.

If WWE does choose to introduce Shayna Baszler to the main roster as Ronda Rousey’s ally, they may wind up going full tilt and not only having them featured as a tandem, but also bring Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke into the mix. The quarter are real-life friends who had previously dubbed themselves the Four Horsewomen of MMA.

To be fair, Shafir and Duke are less proven in sports entertainment, but for the sake of introducing the faction, their jump into the main roster mix could be justifiable, and Baszler and Rousey could feasibly cover for their limitations.

The Horsewomen would be showing up just in time to be sold as a Survivor Series team together and square off with a team headed by the Bella Twins, or else the Four Horsewomen of NXT, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Bayley. The two sides teased a confrontation amidst the original Mar Young Classic, and now may be the time.

#2 A backstage tease

WWE may keep the interaction to a tease for now.

Naturally, it’s a little presumptuous to think Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey will necessarily mean an immediate call-up for Baszler or another newsworthy happening between the two friends. WWE could play things more subtly by merely having them interact in passing backstage, for example. Rousey and Baszler might tease a partnership to come, or else a quick stare down could suggest the rivalry that might be ahead for them.

WWE has been known to orchestrate these types of backstage run-ins before. Consider Brock Lesnar and Goldberg informally launching their original program with an incidental war of words during an interrupted promo. For a more modern example, there was Finn Balor running into AJ Styles and the Good Brothers to harken back to their shared roots all around with New Japan’s Bullet Club faction. WWE could, at the least, generate buzz with even a short interaction between Baszler and Rousey.

#1 Champions close out the night

Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler could each end the night champions.

Fourteen years, and the death of both major stats has cast a shadow over the ending of WrestleMania 20. Particularly given the circumstances of Chris Benoit’s demise, neither WWE nor its fans tend to be eager to look back upon Benoit and his late friend Eddie Guerrero celebrated my in the ring while confetti rained, both world champions.

WWE has the potential to capture a moment of a similar spirit between Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, particularly if Rousey retains her Raw Women’s Championship at Evolution and Baszler wins back her NXT title.

No, Rousey and Baszler don’t have the organic connection with the fans that Guerrero and Benoit did, but they do share the bond of a long real-life friendship. Moreover, the Evolution PPV, on the whole, feels like a celebration of how women’s wrestling has come in WWE. Seeing two respected champs share a moment in the ring to close the show could wrap up the festivities nicely.