Ronda Rousey’s rowdiest moments in her WWE rookie year

3. Heel turn

When Rousey first came in to the WWE she was a destructive force. She laid waste to Stephanie McMahon, Alexa Bliss and anyone else who got in her path. It was reflective of her career in UFC where she defeated her opponents in under a minute most times. But then things changed.

In true babyface fashion Rousey would come to the ring with a big smile on her face, hand out replica gloves to little kids and play to the crowd. In an effort to get heel heat or babyface sympathy, Rousey began to get beaten down on a regular basis. The Bella Twins, Becky Lynch and even Charlotte Flair’s kendo stick attack all left Rousey laying in the middle of the ring needing assistance and sometimes in tears. But a lot of fans weren’t behind her. They’d begun to sour on her undefeated streak, they chastised her for her promo work and ridiculed her matches even though she delivered every time she stepped foot in the ring.

Then Lynch happened. With Lynch’s rise in popularity, fans began clamoring for the match that never took place between she and Rousey. To WWE’s credit, they would deliver. But in the months of build for the match favor swayed strongly in Lynch’s direction. She eviscerated Rousey on social media again and again. It splashed over onto television when chants of “Becky” from the crowd threw Rousey off her game and she stumbled her way through a promo.

So a calculated risk was made, one that paid off on an episode of Monday Night Raw. Playing off her real frustrations with the fan reaction, and knowing the crowd was solidly behind Lynch no matter what, Rousey would turn heel. She blasted fans for their betrayal at Survivor Series before tearing into both Lynch and Flair who’d been positioned into the ongoing feud to take heat off Rousey.

The punches looked stiff, adding to the realism that Rousey had snapped and gone rogue against the WWE. It built heat for her, fueled the upcoming triple threat match at WrestleMania 35 and most importantly built Rousey back up as a destructive monster. The heel side of Rousey is what many people wanted to see when she first debuted. Rather than smiling and handing out high-fives like a reincarnation of Rocky Maivia, this version of Rousey tapped into the fact that she’s a bonafide armbreaker. The moniker of “Baddest Woman on the Planet” was earned through sweat, strength and determination. This was a version of the real Rousey with the volume turned way up and a little extra bite to her words.