Ronda: what went wrong?

[Lance Uppercut]

Ever since that fued with Becky, especially that Avacado toast promo, everyone just shits on her. I think she was amazing during her first run. And she wasn’t that bad since coming back. I don’t know where all this “she looks bored to be here” and “she’s not putting any effort” complaints are coming in. I mean, she’s been feuding with “please go away” Charlotte flair and “okay wrestler but not main event material” Liv Morgan.

She started getting cheers the second she turned heel and the people were cheering for her while “suspended”.

Also, if she really wants heat, she gotta start her promos with

“I’ve got things to say about Shotzi and Racquel but first, let me talk about…. RAID SHADOW LEGENDS”. Because she’s actually stuff with them now, so I guess it’s actually a real company

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

They very obviously did not smarten her up to the fans potentially turning on her and the fans noticed she couldn't take it and so did it more and now here we are

[XIII]

Ronda should never haven been brought in full time. If her actual run played out from the Angle/HHH/Stephanie match to the Mania Main Event where she was defeated cleanly and then she occasionally pops up to beat up on heels people would be giving her good reviews still. The WWE/Ronda got greedy though.

[mistery]

Part of the problem is that Ronda is booked as someone way above everyone else in the ring as well, even though she is one of the worst in ring performers on the main roster right now. Doesn't help she can't cut a promo to save her life either. She is one of the reasons why the SD Women's division sucks so much right now.

Hopefully she drops the title after Mania and leaves for good. And then they can move some of the women from RAW over to SD and move a couple of SD women over to RAW.

[Mozenrath]

She's an attraction who has more and more years between her and her peak relevance. She also has taken injuries and had a kid since when she began, and has a limited amount of women who can work around her limitations and make the most out of what she has going for her.

There is a handful of things they have left to do with her, maybe, like rematches with Becky and Charlotte, or some kind of tag team, but if they renew her contract when it comes up, I'd question why for both parties. I'm sure Ronda doesn't mind the money, but unless she was a complete imbecile with her cash, she's probably fine, and she will probably be able to call it a good career and probably get a Hall of Fame ring out of it if she retires.

I just don't think that her act was ever one built for longevity, and that's fine. I'd say that even if I didn't have personal beef with her, she just isn't someone who does kayfabe vulnerability well, and she isn't very versatile, so it limits her options tremendously.

[Push R Truth]

I think that they fed Ronda any corporate bullshit they could to get her to sign and then she was isolated enough (via always being a special guest performer) to not find out the reality of the non-physical part of pro wrestling until she was already in front of the crowd as a non-special-normal worker.

[SneakMan]

I personally have never thought Ronda was all that good - during her first run she admittedly had some very good matches but she can't do a worked armbar or worked strikes to save her life, she's an atrocious promo, and she's a shitty human being IRL. This second run is just the bloom coming off the rose IMO - Ronda's flaws are more evident and her positive aspects don't seem so noteworthy compared to the rest of the roster, though her booking has done her absolutely no favors.

[sportatorium]

I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with her as an individual wrestler. That said, her booking isn’t effective for who she is and what she can do. The Liv Morgan program did her no favors. She was a pro & was generous selling for Liv & helped elevate her, but it wasn’t credible and is now irrelevant. The Shotzi match was dreadful. She could have had a hot program with Shayna Baszler, but instead they’re just heel buddies whose eventual turn on each other won’t mean much.

They need to get her into something with Rhea, Bianca, Asuka, Iyo or Dakota Kai. All of those would be fresh and much more interesting matchups than what she’s had.

[kingoftheindies]

I could be wrong but during the first run she seemed committed this run she seems to be going through the motions

[poodoojenkins]

She sucks at everything wrestling requires, and is a terrible person in real life.

Where is the mystery here?

[pinja]

I asked her parents. They don't know either.

[mistery]

Dec 21, 2022 7:33:47 GMT -5 sportatorium said:

I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with her as an individual wrestler. That said, her booking isn’t effective for who she is and what she can do. The Liv Morgan program did her no favors. She was a pro & was generous selling for Liv & helped elevate her, but it wasn’t credible and is now irrelevant. The Shotzi match was dreadful. She could have had a hot program with Shayna Baszler, but instead they’re just heel buddies whose eventual turn on each other won’t mean much.

They need to get her into something with Rhea, Bianca, Asuka, Iyo or Dakota Kai. All of those would be fresh and much more interesting matchups than what she’s had.

Honestly I wouldn't want to see her feuding with any of those women, because outside of maybe Bianca, she would just be booked to run over them. WWE seems to have this warped idea that being a former major UFC fighter always trumps wrestlers in terms of kayfabe credibility. Especially when it comes to the women.

I'm at the point with Ronda where I pray to god she loses at Wrestlemania and leaves forever, because no one benefits from working with her.

[theironyuppie]

Dec 21, 2022 7:33:47 GMT -5 sportatorium said:

I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with her as an individual wrestler. That said, her booking isn’t effective for who she is and what she can do. The Liv Morgan program did her no favors. She was a pro & was generous selling for Liv & helped elevate her, but it wasn’t credible and is now irrelevant. The Shotzi match was dreadful. She could have had a hot program with Shayna Baszler, but instead they’re just heel buddies whose eventual turn on each other won’t mean much.

They need to get her into something with Rhea, Bianca, Asuka, Iyo or Dakota Kai. All of those would be fresh and much more interesting matchups than what she’s had.

I think some of it is that Ronda as a heel doesn't play to her in-ring strengths. It means that her matches are in an awkward spot where she's generally on top, but not dominant enough for it to just look like a badass squashing her opponents. As a heel, she can't use her skill for good comebacks and convincing bumping to help rally fans behind her. It might help having her against a powerhouse--her SD match with Raquel was good, and probably the best standard match of this run as Backlash was an I Quit match, but that was face/face.

[J is Justice]

I didn't see her first run but I haven't been too impressed. I wanted to be a fan as I like her wrestling style and her look, but her matches have pretty much stunk and she also can't talk. The Liv feud didn't help either, lol.

[welshpenguin]

I guess she isn’t a novelty anymore, we see her most weeks. I do actually commend her for for this, as she could have insisted on a contract with very limited dates. Also I may be unpopular for saying this but she shouldn’t be having competitive matches with people like Liv, she should destroy her within seconds. I do think she is much more suited as a heel & like her alliance with Shayna.

[Cyno]

She was impressive for someone who didn't have any pro wrestling experience, but that only goes so far when you actually become a full time wrestler.

And she's an awful promo. Acting has never been her strong suit but yeesh.

[BRV]

I give her credit for being a full-timer and getting into the ring on a frequent basis, even performing regular house shows with the likes of Aliyah, Shotzi, Liv Morgan, Emma, and Raquel Rodriguez, which is something you'd never see out of other "special attractions" like Brock Lesnar or Roman Reigns - seriously, could you ever imagine Brock Lesnar on the house show circuit fighting someone like, I don't know, Otis or Akira Tozawa? - but it just isn't clicking this time around.

She seems to be trying, she's playing heel (which she's naturally better at than her generic smiling face character), she's paired up with Shayna Baszler, but it's not working. Maybe she really should be a special attraction, somebody who lords the championship over SmackDown's women's division and only shows up every so often to snap arms and kick ass. Seeing her weekly against some of the lower-card regulars diminishes her value. It really is that Paul Heyman "Getting Santa Claus 365 days a year" promo playing out in real time.

[Fade]

Ronda.

[polarbearpete]

I think she’s still really good in the ring, she just can’t carry a poor worker to a good match typically as she just doesn’t have the experience to pull that off. She could’ve used a mouthpiece though.

[Citizen Snips]

Survivor Series 2018 is what happened. When that crowd went nuts for Charlotte beating the brakes off Ronda, you could literally see any sort of positive feeling about wrestling drain from Ronda’s eyes.