Posted in: Mr. Tito
MR. TITO STRIKES BACK - WWE Wants UFC's Ronda Rousey for Wrestlemania 32... But is She Worth It?
By Mr. Tito
Aug 4, 2015 - 11:44:56 PM

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter.com: @titowrestling

This past weekend, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held their 190th Pay Per View event and it was headlined by UFC Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey, who dispatched her opponent in 34 seconds. Compared to many other UFC events, Rousey's fight was promoted heavily on sports networks NOT named "FOX Sports". ESPN couldn't stop talking about Rousey all week and had lots of coverage of her victory. From a successful MMA career, Olympic career, and now a movie star... Rousey is becoming a mega star not just in MMA, but in the world and pop culture. She is on fire right now!

And the WWE is hopping on her bandwagon. Stephanie McMahon actually Tweeted this picture with herself and Triple H wearing Rousey shirts on the night of UFC 190 to show their support:




Think about that for a second... Stephanie and HHH are both Executive Vice Presidents of the WWE Corporation and it can be easily argued that UFC is a legitimate competitor to the WWE in terms of the fanbases they are both trying to acquire. And here are two EVP's proudly promoting a UFC event. That's insane!

What the WWE really wants, however, is Ronda Rousey to work for the WWE. Rousey appeared at SummerSlam 2014 and she was much more active at Wrestlemania 31 when she entered the ring with the Rock to contront Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. You can already see the mixed tag team possibly happening... Why else would that Wrestlemania 31 segment happen? The real question is if (a) Ronda Rousey is willing to possibly tarnish her MMA career by continually working with the WWE and (b) if Dana White will let her.

If Dana White, president of UFC, lets Ronda Rousey work for the WWE at Wrestlemania 32, it's very likely that we'd see little action from her... Chances are that we'd see Triple H and the Rock working much of this HHH/Stephanie vs. Rock/Rousey mixed tag match with Stephanie McMahon quickly tagging out to Hunter to avoid Rousey at all costs. Then, at the end of the match, Stephanie is completely unable to avoid her and Rousey makes her tap instantly. End of match, everyone goes home happy, and Rousey doesn't risk injury in this match by doing very little based on the psychology of the match (i.e. Stephanie avoiding her).

But... What impact would Ronda Rousey wrestling at Wrestlemania 32 give the WWE? Sure, it will be nice for 1 day of the year, but what about the rest of the year? What other wrestlers benefit from her participating in a match with Rock (movie star, not full time), Triple H (executive now, not full time), and Stephanie McMahon (not a wrestler, executive, not full time)? Sure, the press will be nice for one day, but again, what does it do for the long term WWE?

Rousey participating in a match would be completely different than other celebrities or high profile fighters that have appeared and NOT wrestled for WWE shows. Simply put, look at Mike Tyson during 1998. WWE signed a deal for him to be a special ring enforcer for the Wrestlemania 14 main event. But did he fight? Nope... He was merely window dressing to hook in newer and non-wrestling fans to put their eyes on the WWE product. The whole trick of bringing in Mike Tyson was to put more eyeballs on the future top guy, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Tyson appears on his first edition of RAW and Steve Austin flips him off and dares to shove Iron Mike. Pure chaos erupts in the ring... Then, Tyson joins Degeneration X... Thus, the hype of Wrestlemania 14 was if Mike Tyson would attack Steve Austin but instead, you saw Mike Tyson counting 1, 2, and 3 to help Austin become WWE Champion. Mike Tyson was paid millions (read somewhere it was $3.5 million) and to help kick off the Steve Austin era, it was worth every penny.

If you've seen Wrestlemania 1 from 1985, you'll see tons of celebrities throughout the show. Yet, none of them are wrestling in the matches... They are there as accessories to create newer fans. Bringing in Cyndi Lauper and Muhammad Ali was the hook to convince fans to try out WWE or to draw attention away from other territories by current fans. It's funny with Ali's involvement, the WWE just reused the same blueprint for Mike Tyson 13 years later. Greatest boxer of an era is used to introduce people to pro wrestling...

Notice that Ali and Tyson did NOT actively participate in WWE matches as wrestlers. Just part of the referee staff... Why would they? Both are two of the toughest heavyweight boxers around and should normally kill most human beings in a fight. That's why you don't let them fight... WWE has some issues right now with Brock Lesnar in that it's hard to believe that pro wrestlers bouncing off the ropes and not really working a ground & pound style could even hurt Lesnar. Lesnar was the UFC Heavyweight Champion it's difficult to consider who could actually defeat him in a fight.

If Ronda Rousey actually wrestles for the WWE, it's the same premise... She is the most dangerous females on the planet right now with the UFC Title and Judo medals to prove it. Stephanie McMahon or any other WWE Diva would have NO CHANCE IN HELL in defeating her in a fight. The credibility of the WWE looks bad when Rousey dominates the competition and if Rousey sells, she looks bad as an active UFC fighter selling pro wrestling moves. Actually, it hurts the fabric of pro wrestling because Rousey "acting" like a pro wrestler makes light of how staged pro wrestling is as a form of entertainment. In some ways, I believe that Brock Lesnar is limited as a draw for pro wrestling because he has to act like a pro wrestler when in the WWE. Everybody knows what Lesnar can truly do in a legitimate fight and Brock's value almost dropped instantly when John Cena beat him in his first WWE match back at Extreme Rules 2012.

The bigger issue is Ronda Rousey actually participating in a pro wrestling match. Sure, the match will give Wrestlemania 32 some interest... But as I said above, what happens long-term? How does it help the product? Unlike Ali at Wrestlemania 1 and Tyson at Wrestlemania 14, the spotlight is squarely on Rousey. Ali was helped act as a hook to get you to watch Mr. T/Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper/Paul Ordorff at Wrestlemania 1. Mike Tyson was the hook to get you to watch Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels. However, Ronda Rousey being on the Wrestlemania 32 card showcases her. It helps nobody on the WWE roster aside from a really nice 1 day payday at Wrestlemania 32 (arguable if that happens now with the WWE Network). Spotlight is on Rousey along with 2 part-time wrestlers and a female executive who rarely wrestles. Not the rest of the WWE.

Don't believe me? How did Lawrence Taylor help the WWE at Wrestlemania 11 when he beat Bam Bam Bigelow in the MAIN EVENT. The MAIN EVENT! That match did nothing for the WWE as Lawrence Taylor went on his merry way afterward and Bigelow was pretty much done as a WWE wrestler. In addition, by having that match in the main event, it diminished the spotlight on the Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels WWE Title match.

Adding Floyd Mayweather to Wrestlemania 24 did nothing for the WWE long-term and didn't do too much for Big Show's career to get the "rub" from that opportunity. Wrestlemania 24 had 130,000 fewer buys than Wrestlemania 23, although Wrestlemania 23 did absurd business for its own right. Still, Floyd Mayweather being on the show couldn't outdraw Donald Trump for the previous year... In fact, Donald Trump makes my point... He used his celebrity status to shine attention on the WWE for great business at Wrestlemania 23. He backed Bobby Lashley while Vince McMahon backed Umaga with Steve Austin as the special guest referee. Surrounding gimmicks aside, it put the emphasis on Lashley and Umaga to shine in a match that might have received much attention otherwise (although Creative was high on both back then).

WCW tried to inject celebrities multiple times into their matches back in the day... They tried it twice with Dennis Rodman and on the second time in 1998, it was Rodman on one team and Karl Malone on the other team. Soon after that, we had Jay Leno in a wrestling match. Did nothing for the business... Whatever short-term fix it gave WCW, fans forgot about it and wondered how they could be entertained on Mondays. Oh, those celebrities never wrestled on Monday nights?

I would argue that the Rock's wrestling return was a bust... His in-ring return at Survivor Series 2011 did fewer buys than expected and while his 2 matches with John Cena did strong business at Wrestlemanias 28 and 29, both were just one night moments and did nothing for the roster long-term. In fact, most of the RAW episodes that featured the Rock and within main event segments showed little or no difference in the viewership. While Rock was a former WWE wrestler, he didn't wrestle the WWE for 7 years and has established himself in Hollywood quite well. He did nothing but steamroll over John Cena at Wrestlemania 28 and then defeat CM Punk in back-to-back matches to start 2012. Before ultimately losing back to John Cena at Wrestlemania 29, part-time Rocky was able to defeat the company's 2 biggest stars.

Point is that celebrities and part-time wrestlers need to be used to help promote the WWE and not mock it. They shouldn't "play" the role of being a pro wrestler. Let the full time pro wrestlers take care of the wrestling. The celebrities and part-timers should be used to shine a spotlight on the current full time wreslter and NOT on themselves. Ronda Rousey, if she does in fact team up with the Rock to take on Triple H/Stephanie will help Wrestlemania 32 do well but this will do nothing for the WWE long-term. What wrestlers will it put over? The WWE would have to put on an amazing midcard to possibly benefit from the added attention of Rousey being on the show.

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On a side note about UFC... I was amused at the Twitter battle between UFC President Dana White and WWE Champion, Seth Rollins. A fan Twitter account supporting Rollins got into a Twitter war of words with Dana White which led to White calling wrestling "fake". Instead of remaining silent, Seth Rollins made this Tweet.




I could imagine that on Monday Night, Seth Rollins met with WWE Officials backstage and was told to STOP taunting Dana White. WWE wants Ronda Rousey for future business and ticking off Dana White could hinder any future business. Ultimately, it's Dana White's call as UFC President to let WWE borrow Rousey and he could simply block her from attending. Rollins needs to realize this...

But what disturbs me is how much of a company guy that Seth Rollins is becoming. He's trying to defend the business while speaking very positively about the WWE in every interview he gets. Meanwhile, WWE Creative is undercutting him as a wrestler and WWE Champion. He needs to stick up for himself backstage and challenge WWE Creative to be better. The Main Event guys should have some say because they didn't make it the the Main Event without some kind of drawing appeal. Well, maybe not Rollins with the under 4 million viewers per RAW since he was WWE Champion, but being the top guy gives you leverage backstage. He needs to start sticking up for himself or else he'll just become another mark for the WWE. Or, just another victim for John Cena to defeat and become World Champion, yet again.

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PHAT QUESTIONS

Question #1 - What should have happened with Sting as WCW Champion during late 1997/early 1998 as opposed to what really happened?

It's so simple... After having Sting defeat Hulk Hogan at Starrcade 1997 without controversy (instead of that awful "fast count" finish), Sting could have easily feuded with Bret "the Hitman" Hart. You had a main event star who didn't legitimately lose the WWE Title and WCW could have pushed how he never lost that title. Then, technically speaking, Sting vs. Bret Hart could have been WCW Title vs. WWE Title. Money, money, money...

Instead, WCW stripped Sting of the Title and he had to defeat Hogan one more time to become champion. Soon after that, Sting lost to Macho Man Randy Savage and Hogan beat Savage to become WCW Champion again. Rinse and repeat.

Bret vs. Sting, Sharpshooter vs. Scorpion Death Lock... Could have worked during early 1998. Stupid WCW.

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Question #2 - How would you book TNA Wrestling now, given how they tape multiple shows at a time?

Very simple... Watch the NBA Playoffs and tell me what you see after each and every game. Do you see those press conferences where the NBA stars sit down at a table and discuss the game? That's what TNA should film on the side to help supplement their in-ring tapings. For the matches in the ring, NEVER have a Title Belt shown around the ring. Do it all backstage... You could have Dixie Carter backstage in the press conference area holding said title and standing between the wrestlers fighting for the title belt. They could take phony questions about their match, etc.

If you HAVE to tape shows, you've got to control the spoilers. Don't let the titles show up in the arena or in the ring. Just make presentations backstage in a press conference type setting and track who is at each taping. When you film TNA tapings, just film a bunch of matches and then use the backstage press conferences to fill in the blanks. They sort of do this now but the backstage segments are using the Russo-esque invisible cameras. I'm saying flat out have a Press Conference area in which wrestlers know a camera is on and the "press" is there to ask questions.

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Question #3 - Do you think that performance enhancement drug use would harm UFC?

Nope. Those recent busts, to me at least, prove that they have a drug testing system that works. Fighters got caught and were punished. No hiding things under the rug unlike what other sports or other forms of entertainment have done. Sure, those drug test failures were embarrassing, but it proves the testing system works for UFC.

In my opinion, what will seriously challenge UFC would be integrity. Eventually, one of their fights is going to be alleged as being "rigged" or "fixed". It has happened to boxing, point shaving in basketball, a corrupt referee in the NBA, etc. As UFC continues to grow in popularity, so will gambling on its fights. One of these days, a fight will be alleged as being fishy and it's how Dana White (or future UFC Presidents) responds to this controversy which will make or break MMA/UFC.

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Question #4 - When Vince McMahon retires from the WWE, how will Triple H/Stephanie run the company?

Sometime in the near future, I believe that Vince McMahon will retire from the full time road job and step down as CEO. Triple H will handle the on-the-road stuff while Stephanie McMahon will become CEO. Based on their recent changes in title, this seems accurate.

The first major change Triple H would do is to remove Executive Producer, Kevin Dunn. There is some reported heat backstage between HHH and Dunn as it probably stems from Dunn being the most influential on Vince McMahon. Dunn is probably Vince's best friend and Dunn's input is valued by Vince. I could imagine that HHH believes that the television product needs an overhaul and/or Dunn's job running the production truck can be easily replaced. After all, it's a good job to have for an up and coming producer looking to cut their teeth in the television business.

I actually believe that HHH will change the WWE Creative Team and I believe that he'll hire his old Clique buddies to help him out. With Dunn gone, all of the Hollywood writers would be doomed... HHH is seeing how simple NXT is working with just a minimal amount of individuals booking it and believes he can replicate the same success for the main WWE product.

SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE!

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