Ronda Rousey dominated the WWE SmackDown division last year. She captured the blue brand's world title twice, defeating the likes of Natalya, Charlotte Flair, and Liv Morgan. The Rowdy One will be back on familiar grounds tonight at the Wells Fargo Center in Iowa.
Despite being drafted to RAW, Rousey is advertised for the upcoming WWE SmackDown episode. She got the liberty to jump brands when she won the Women's Tag Team Championships alongside Shayna Baszler a couple of weeks ago. The champions can defend the gold on either brand since the tag titles are competed for by teams on the entire women's roster.
WWE's plans for Ronda Rousey on SmackDown are still a mystery, though. Her being listed in the featured stars list could be a teaser of a high-profile match. If Shayna Baszler accompanies her, their potential challengers on WWE SmackDown will either be Damage CTRL or Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn.
The Baddest Women on the Planet thwarted the efforts of Kayden Carter and Katana Chance, winning the tag team titles on their main roster debut. As such, the newly-established champions are being backed by the company to assert dominance on NXT breakouts to highlight the importance of experience.
Could Ronda Rousey challenge Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship on WWE SmackDown?
Shayna Baszler isn't featured alongside Ronda Rousey. This means that The Rowdy One could be returning to solo action soon. Top heels of their respective divisions, a potential first-time-ever match between Asuka and Rousey on WWE SmackDown will be a surreal battle of agility and strength.
Ronda could answer an Open Challenge for the RAW Women's Championship or directly challenge Asuka. Like Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair post-WrestleMania, the newly-crowned Women's Tag Team Champion could tease a future showdown with The Empress.
Ronda Rousey would love to work with Asuka 💯 pic.twitter.com/WQt4HmWGoR
— WrestlingWorldCC (@WrestlingWCC) October 20, 2022
Last year, The Rowdy One expressed a desire to bring Asuka over to WWE SmackDown to compete with her. She even planned to pitch the idea:
"Me and Asuka would be great. Maybe that’s something I could pitch at like because they do the draft before Survivor Series, that I could pitch them drafting Asuka,"said Rousey.
Asuka shares the same feeling. Ronda is part of her dream opponent list:
“I want to wrestle with Triple H and Ric Flair. I fought many great WWE superstars. Oh, [I want to wrestle] Ronda Rousey. One day!” (H/T Essentially Sports)