On Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer had a conversation in which Alvarez questioned what WWE was doing with Ronda Rousey and whether the intention was for her to be a heel since the audience at the events viewed her as a babyface.
“No the idea is to get her to be a heel,” Meltzer said. “The idea is to get her to be a heel. Here’s the thing. The idea for Ronda Rousey actually is to get her to be what she was before which is to break out of the pack, mainline woman Superstar. Not just a woman on the roster who is below [Bianca] Belair and all that, which she kind of was becoming.”
According to Meltzer, Rousey’s Google Trend numbers for this year are lower than those for Belair, but WWE is attempting to raise Rousey’s profile to the level it was at when she competed a few years ago.
Meltzer continued, “They want to get her back to ‘special attraction, big Brock Lesnar star.’ So that’s the goal of what they’re doing right now. The belief was that at the end, because she’s Liv Morgan, [Ronda] ends up as a heel. What they’re doing now isn’t necessarily to make her a heel, it’s to make her a big big star. If she ends up being a babyface from this, that’s fine too.”
Meltzer stated that Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey was planned for WrestleMania 39 a year ago, but plans could still change depending on the reactions of the crowd.
During a segment on SmackDown with Rousey, which can be seen in the video below, Adam Pearce essentially played the Mr. McMahon heel role. The segment came to a close with Pearce insulting her, which prompted her to put him in an armbar submission.
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
