On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, WWE referenced UFC Women”S Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey on a number of occasions.
RAW featured a Divas tag-team match between The Bella Twins and the team of Charlotte and Becky Lynch, and after the match, three others Divas — Sasha Banks, Naomi and Tamina — were asked to comment on the match. It was there where Rousey was referenced.
Naomi referenced the fact that Rousey is being called “The Baddest Woman On The Planet,” and said it’s untrue. She said “Team B.A.D.,” are “The Baddest Women On The Planet.”
A few minutes after that, when coming back from a commercial break, WWE referenced Rousey a second time. This time, WWE read a social media message that Rousey wrote about the passing of WWE legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who Rousey got the “Rowdy” moniker from. After that, WWE showed the clip of Rousey mentioning Piper in her post-fight interview in the Octagon after her 34-second knockout of Bethe Correia at UFC 190 this past Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Then, a third time, WWE re-referenced the fact that Naomi pointed out Rousey is being referred to as “The Baddest Woman On The Planet,” despite the fact that she thinks she and her “Team B.A.D.” members are.
WWE outright referencing Rousey on their show two days after she win a highly viewed 34-second knockout over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 could be an indication that they expect — or at least they still hope — Rousey works WrestleMania 32 next year at AT&T Stadium in Texas, where coincidentally enough, UFC is talking about holding Rousey vs. Miesha Tate III and Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor at AT&T Stadium in December.
