Ronda Rousey will team with Naomi to face Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville in a tag team match at Elimination Chamber coming up this Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Because of the long travel schedule, WWE has already taped this week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown, which featured a contract signing segment between the four women. Unfortunately, footage from the segment has already made its way online via fan recordings and it appears something went wrong with the interaction between Rousey and Flair.ย
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According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE plans on editing that segment before it makes its way to air. The details of how they’ll pull it off remain to be seen.
Rousey returned to WWE for the first time since WrestleMania 35 at the Royal Rumble last month, winning the 30-woman match and punching her ticket to a main event bout at WrestleMania 38 against Flair. The UFC Hall of Famer was noticeably standoffish towards the fans during her return promo on Raw (stemming from her resentment towards them that built up during the final months of her last run), but was fully a babyface by the time she was on SmackDown later that week to challenge “The Queen.” She then admitted in a Facebook Gaming stream that she struggles with taking fan reactions personally.ย
“It’s hard not to take it personally from the fans because, I do go out there as a character, but also, I am actually Ronda Rousey, I don’t play Ronda Rousey on television. Sometimes I take it personally from the fans, not so much the other wrestlers,” Rousey said.
The former Raw Women’s Champion has a number of live appearances booked between now and WrestleMania, many of which are episodes of SmackDown. Check out the full lineup for Saturday’s Elimination Chamber below:
- WWE Championship:ย Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles vs. Riddle vs. Austin Theory (Elimination Chamber)
- WWE Universal Championship:ย Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg
- Raw Women’s Championship:ย Becky Lynch vs. Lita
- SmackDown Tag Team Championship:ย The Usos vs. The Viking Raiders
- Bianca Belair vs. Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Nikki A.S.H. vs. Doudrop vs. TBA (Elimination Chamber)
- Ronda Rousey & Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville
- Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss (Falls Count Anywhere)