Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey are gearing up for a match against each other at WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view on Aug. 5 in Detroit. While the pair have been close friends in real life for years, Baszler betrayed Rousey while the two were defending their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in London. Baszler would then explain in a series of promos on Monday Night Raw that she was tired of Rousey and how the former UFC Champion had walked in through the “back door” of the business to become a star while she did it the hard way traveling on the road, working on the independent scene and building up her craft.
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Despite being the instigator, fans seem to be on Baszler’s side in her fight against Rousey. She explained why in a recent interview on WWE’s The Bump (in which wrestlers typically remain somewhat in character).
“One thing I’ve always said about wrestling fans, I guess sports fans in general, is they can smell when you’re faking the funk. All this is like legit and real talk. I think they connect to stuff that’s real,” Baszler explained (h/t Cageside Seats). “I have seen some stuff from people like, ‘Who am I supposed to be cheering for? Who’s the bad guy?’ …You just cheer for who you like. And it just happens to be me, because the stuff I’m saying is real. And if we’re being honest, the stuff I’m saying is the stuff fans have been saying ever since Ronda got signed [by WWE]. So, I’m done being quiet about it.”
Ronda Rousey Demanded Tag Title Reign With Baszler
Baszler explained in a separate interview with Cheap Heat recently that Rousey had to put her foot down behind the scenes in order for the two former MMA stars to finally get a run as the women’s tag champs. Their reign would last one month.
“Ronda is Ronda, right? She’s been (involved with the) main title, she main evented WrestleMania. She still gets one of the loudest pops when we walk out. This was something she demanded,” Baszler said. “We’d been asking for it forever, but she finally put her foot down and went to the office and said, ‘Listen, we’ve been asking for this forever. You keep telling us, ‘After, after, after this [and] this.’”
“I honestly don’t know if she hadn’t done that, if they ever would have got to it,” she continued. “I wasn’t in a position yet to be elevated to a Ronda level, so the fact that Ronda said, ‘No, stop. I’ve done this. I want to do this because this is why I started wrestling.’ So I think that’s huge. She could be main-eventing SummerSlam. She doesn’t have to be where she is, which is elevating these titles.”
WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card & Rumored Matches
- World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
- Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
- Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Yet to Be Confirmed)
- Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus (Yet to Be Confirmed)
- Ricochet vs. Logan Paul (Yet to Be Confirmed)
- Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre (Rumored)
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair (Rumored)
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. TBA (Rumored)
