Ronda Rousey was conspicuous by her absence on last week's episode of WWE SmackDown. Following her victory over Shotzi at Survivor Series WarGames, fans expected to see her, but that didn't turn out to be the case.
Rousey retained her SmackDown Women's Championship at the premium live event, which suggested she would come down to Friday's show and gloat. Instead, we only saw her friend and associate Shayna Baszler this week, who wrestled Emma and emerged victorious.
Naturally, fans are curious as to why The Rowdy One no-showed last Friday. If you are looking for the answer to that question, read on to find out.
Shayna Baszler makes Emma tap out. Ronda Rousey isn't able to be at #SmackDown tonight because she is "doing PR after her win at Survivor Series". Lmfao pic.twitter.com/eD0rk5ACTi
— AUTHORS OF WRESTLING (@authofwrestling) December 3, 2022
Ronda Rousey was not present on last week's episode of WWE SmackDown due to WWE reportedly telling her to do PR after Survivor Series WarGames. If that is the case, we can expect her next week given this must have been a one-off. That or WWE was exercising caution on the whole #FireRondaRousey Twitter trend that's been doing the rounds recently.
Ronda Rousey's thoughts on the women's roster
Ronda Rousey has wrestled most of WWE's female roster. She has taken on superstars ranging from Charlotte Flair to Alexa Bliss. However, she feels that due to the size of the roster, it becomes difficult for every storyline and performer to get the spotlight. She commented on the situation on one of her vlogs.
"One thing that’s really missing is none of the women have storylines aside from titles, like you watch pay per views and there’s several men’s matches that aren’t for titles and the women don’t really get any non-title storylines which I feel like would really add to the depth of people getting to know everyone’s different character before they got into the title picture."
Rousey is currently the SmackDown Women's Champion, having won the title from Liv Morgan at Extreme Rules. With Royal Rumble and WrestleMania season coming up, she will be having a busy few months from here on out.
The Baddest Woman on the Planet will mostly be booked for prominent spots on both shows. A one-on-one showdown with Becky Lynch is our match of choice given the hype surrounding it over the last four years. By the time 'Mania rolls around, we hope WWE sows the seeds for a fight between the two women.