WWE WrestleMania 39: Updated plans for Ronda Rousey’s championship match

On
that
eventful
Smackdown
on
December
30,
Ronda
Rousey
defeated
Raquel
Rodriguez
to
successfully
defend
the
title
but
she
was
quickly
interrupted
by
Charlotte
Flair
who
returned
to
WWE
programming
after
a
gap
of
eight
months.

The
Queen
eventually
went
on
to
defeat
The
Baddest
Woman
on
the
Planet
in
under
two
minutes
to
capture
her
14th
women’s
title
and
ensured
that
her
long-term
adversary
gets
sidelined
for
some
time.

Following
her
Royal
Rumble
absence,
there
have
been
speculations
about
Rousey’s
WrestleMania
status
but
new
reports
have
emerged
of
WWE
having
‘locked
in’ plans
for
her
match
for
the
April
PLE.

In
a
new
report
on
Wrestling
Observer
Newsletter,
Dave
Meltzer
reports
that
WWE
already
has
a
few
confirmed
matches
on
the
WrestleMania
39
card
featuring
John
Cena
and
Ronda
Rousey.

While
The
Cenation
Leader
will
collide
with
United
States
Champion
Austin
Theory,
the
former
UFC
Bantamweight
Champion
will
go
after
the
WWE
Women’s
Tag
Team
Championships
for
the
first
time
in
her
career
alongside
Shayna
Baszler.

“For
WrestleMania,
the
locked-in
matches
at
this
point
are
Reigns
vs.
Rhodes
for
the
Universal
title,
Charlotte
Flair
vs.
Ripley
for
the
Smackdown
women’s
title.

“Belair
vs.
the
Chamber
winner
for
the
Raw
women’s
title,
John
Cena
vs.
Austin
Theory
(no
word
on
whether
this
will
or
won’t
be
a
U.S.
title
match),
and
Iyo
Sky
&
Dakota
Kai
vs.
Ronda
Rousey
&
Shayna
Baszler
for
the
women’s
tag
team
titles.”

IYO
SKY
and
Dakota
Kai
are
members
of
DAMAGE
CTRL
(with
Bayley)
who
are
currently
enjoying
their
second
reign
with
the
WWE
Women’s
Tag
Team
Titles.
They
defeated
Aliyah
and
Raquel
Rodriguez
to
win
the
gold
in
September
2022.

With
Kai
in
an
injured
state,
they
haven’t
defended
the
title
in
recent
times.
It
appears
that
Ronda
Rousey
will
probably
switch
brands
following
her
WWE
return
to
appear
on
Raw
with
Baszler
to
declare
themselves
as
new
challengers
for
the
tag
titles.

At
one
point,
there
were
rumours
that
the
former
MMA
performer
was
probably
going
to
face
Shayna
Baszler,
herself
at
WrestleMania
39.
But
Xero
News
turned
down
the
probability
of
the
matchup.

The
previous
report
of
a
Ronda
Rousey
vs.
Rhea
Ripley
match
is
also
off
the
board
given
that
the
2023
Women’s
Royal
Rumble
match
winner
has
already
chosen
Charlotte
Flair
and
her
Smackdown
Women’s
Championship
at
WrestleMania
39.