Grappler's Choice #23 - Ridiculous Fantasy Booking Idea & Ronda Rousey Presentation

*I wrote this article prior to Ronda Rousey’s debut and subsequent few appearances in WWE*

So yet again, here’s an idea that came from a tweet I sent out recently. First of all, this isn’t a serious fantasy booking idea, just a bit of fun, so bear that in mind if you make any comments. I’m not sure when this story line would occur, but I have two people in mind to be part of Ronda’s entourage, and one of them depends on the contract status of Brock Lesnar after Wrestlemania. Can you guess who it is?

Lame jokes side, I would either have Drew Gulak (the reason for which will become apparent later in this post) or Paul Heyman to act as the spokesperson for Ronda. Again, all will be explained momentarily. I think that Ronda should be presented in the exact same way that Brock Lesnar is, but not in exactly the same format, it has to be different to keep it engaging, and so that we don’t simply reuse old material.

The Oath Of Silence….

Ok so my idea is that we get Ronda to declare that she is taking an oath of silence on social media and so, everytime we see her, she says nothing and her spokesperson says everything for her. I really want to build upon the presence of Ronda, in particular, the eye contact she has with opponents, as well as, the mannerisms that she displays. Although we know Ronda the UFC competitor, we don’t know Ronda the WWE wrestler yet and so, I feel like this is a fantastic opportunity to build an intimidating, unpredictable character.

The oath of silence itself could be explained as being for fighting purposes, spirituality or anything, it’s not the focal point, but it should be something that is sensible that we can all believe in - so that she is not given a weak spot by which opponents can then target during their promos toward her.

Drew Gulak

I only thought of this guy because of his ‘PowerPoint’ gimmick in all honesty. I think we could have him conduct a PowerPoint presentation in the ring with Ronda Rousey about her opponent, and every time he changes the slide Ronda points at the picture. The pictures would then depict various ways in which Ronda would hurt her opponent (e.g. pictures of her utilising submission moves, UFC style moves etc). Then right at the end, she slowly moves her arm away from the the Powerpoint presentation whilst still pointing, turning her arm slowly until she is pointing at her opponent. This could be a fun segment and would help Drew Gulak get more exposure and TV time, but I feel like it doesn’t do enough to present her in the way we want to present her. This could work well as a one-off segment if Paul Heyman was her manager and was in the ring with her, and explaining in detail what Ronda is going to do to her opponent, with Gulak changing the slides slowly and perhaps Heyman demanding ‘‘NEXT SLIDE’’ or something like that.

Alternatively, they could do the exact same segment , but instead using large white cards with the pictures depicting the moves/or words instead (similar to how Bob Dylan did in his video for Subterranean Homesick Blues).

Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman and Ronda Rousey together looks amazing on paper , and I really feel like it could work if we take it in a slightly different direction. Like I said earlier, we cannot repeat the Brock Lesnar promo style, because we need to keep Heyman fresh, and we need to make Ronda a new entity. Putting Ronda with Heyman makes sense because of the UFC affiliation, and the success Heyman has had with Brock Lesnar. However, rather than repeat what we have already seen, I think they (WWE) should just use this opportunity to create something unique, and perhaps develop a different kind of chemistry between Ronda and Heyman.

Squash matches

Initially I think Ronda should be booked to win a few squash matches against enhancement talents. That way, we don’t risk damaging any female wrestlers in the process of building Ronda. There are so many decent competitors for Ronda to have programs with. Immediate names that come to mind for me include Sasha Banks, Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax, to name but a few. Any of these women would give Ronda a real challenge both in the ring, and through promos (depending on how this plays out).

Schedule

I believe Ronda should work Raw matches, but not often. I don’t think that using a Brock Lesnar type schedule is in anyway beneficial for Ronda or the fans. Likewise, I don’t think booking Ronda for matches and appearances every week is a good idea either. I think these appearances and matches should either have build, or should be shock additions that fans aren’t expecting. This way you could create real excitement for the times she does enter the ring, and you could get rid of resentment that fans or people backstage might potentially feel toward her, because she would be around frequently, but not over-utilised all the time. I would have Ronda work a lot of live events, however, as this provides the opportunity to test out potential rivalries, story line ideas, to provide Ronda with experience, and to raise ticket sales for live events of course.

Closing comments

Finally, I sincerely hope they utilise Ronda well in the WWE. I am not completely dissatisfied with how they have presented her so far, although I feel like this tag team match at Wrestlemania is a bit of a disappointment. I think there is so much Ronda could do to make the women’s division even better, and the sooner we see her engaging in feuds with other female wrestlers, the better.

- Christian Reeve

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