All eyes will be on Ronda Rousey on the Road to WrestleMania 34, but her adversaries Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are the true key to ensuring her debut match in WWE goes off without a hitch.
WWE fans haven’t seen much of Rousey within the wrestling realm and therefore don’t have much to base her chances of long-term success on. In fact, her only three appearances so far have come at Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and the Feb. 26 edition of Raw.
On the latter two occasions, she was given a microphone and was required to talk for a lengthy period of time. Going forward, WWE should know that less is more when it comes to Rousey and that The Authority should be doing most of the talking for her.
There can be no question that The Authority has been overexposed over the last five years. What started out as a hot angle with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon turning heel at SummerSlam 2013 soon became an annoyance, with them as the central focus of Raw each week.
Thankfully, their roles as on-air characters have been drastically curtailed since WrestleMania 32. Triple H has only appeared when necessary, while Stephanie has taken a backseat to current Raw general manager Kurt Angle.
Despite that, they continue to elicit incredible negative reactions whenever they resurface on Raw, which is why Ronda will become a beloved babyface by opposing them in this feud.
Look no further than Rousey’s recent run-in with Triple H and Stephanie at Elimination Chamber. The former UFC Bantamweight champion entered to a mixed reaction from the Las Vegas faithful, and it was only after Stephanie slapped her that Rousey endeared herself to the audience.
As painful as it is for some fans to see The Authority back in a prominent spot on Raw, they excel at being quintessential heels. The power couple possess virtually no qualities that make crowds want to cheer for them, and that will work to Rousey’s benefit.
The program pitting Rousey against The Authority is off to a solid start, but it remains to be seen how they will effectively kill time between now and their likely WrestleMania match on April 8.
1st day on the job… @stephaniemcmahon slaps me…
2nd day on the job… my fellow Olympian @therealkurtangle, an American hero with pneumonia, gets sucker punched by @tripleh …
This is far from over. pic.twitter.com/Q1klVTtVmq— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) February 27, 2018
As previously noted, promos are not Rousey’s strong suit, at least not yet. Having her talk every week for the next month will not do her any favors, so WWE Creative will be forced to find other ways to build up this bout.
Enter The Authority. They can continue to attempt to manipulate Rousey into thinking that they are sympathetic figures and that they want what is best for her, a la the story Triple H and Batista told en route to WrestleMania 21.
Knowing full well that they are no threat to Rousey and the legitimacy she brings to the company, Triple H and Stephanie should do everything imaginable to prevent that inevitable WrestleMania match from coming to fruition, with Rousey staying true to her rebellious core the entire time.
The Authority are not only important to the success of this feud leading up to ‘Mania but also at the event itself when it comes time for Rousey to wrestle her first WWE match. A mixed tag team match is the right route for WWE to take with her at the moment since it’s unknown how she’ll fare inside the squared circle.
Given she isn’t a frequent competitor, Stephanie won’t “carry” Rousey in the ring the same way someone such as Asuka or Charlotte Flair would. Rather, the Raw commissioner will be an easy opponent for Rousey to squash, making her look unstoppable in the process.
Say what you will about The Authority not having a place on WWE programming in 2018, but they will do wonders for “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey in serving as her first foil and making her out to be the huge star she is.
