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At the WWE PPV Evolution, Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey will put her title on the line against Nikki Bella, accompanied by her sister Brie.
This match transpired due to the post-match events of Rousey and the Bella Twins vs. The Riott Squad on last week's episode of Monday Night Raw. Despite embracing her with a smile after the win, Nikki Bella suddenly turned on Rousey, with her sister joining her in viciously attacking the Raw Women's Champion.
Though Rousey attempted to fight back, the numbers game proved too much, and the Bellas laid waste to her, throwing Rousey into the barricade and the steel steps before finally rolling her into the ring and posing over her. With that, the Bellas turned heel, and a major match at Evolution was set.
Additionally, in media appearances this week, both Rousey (in a short interview with TMZ) and Nikki (in an appearance at ACE Comic-Con) indicated that their match will be headlining the first-ever all women's pay-per-view.
With that being said, here are three reasons why Rousey and Bella deserve to be in the main event of Evolution:
#3 Both women are good in-ring performers
Despite the criticism that Rousey has received for being relatively new to wrestling and that Nikki has received for her part-time status, it is abundantly clear that they are both talented in the ring.
Since her return to Monday Night Raw, Nikki has definitely appeared to be the least rusty of the Bella Twins. While her sister has made some noticeable mistakes recently, Nikki has looked as smooth and athletic as ever while moving around the ring.
She hasn't made any major mistakes, and has been able to execute all of her moves with near perfection so far. It seems that she has hardly lost a step during her hiatus from WWE, putting in impressive performances across several episodes of Raw and at WWE Super Show-Down.
Rousey has undoubtedly been one of the breakout wrestling stars of 2018. From her electric and impressive debut at WrestleMania 34 in a Mixed Tag Match (which also happened to be the best match of the night), Ronda has consistently delivered in the ring.
Her match at 'Mania was clearly not a fluke: she had one of the better matches at Money in the Bank against Nia Jax and put in two solid and dominant performances against Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam and Hell in a Cell. Riding a huge wave of momentum, it seems like Rousey is going to continue to put on spectacular matches for the WWE Universe.
With both women capable of consistently delivering an entertaining wrestling match for audiences around the world, their ability to wrestle cannot be used as an excuse to push them out of the main event spot. In fact, their tremendous wrestling skills are one of the main reasons that they deserve to close the show.
#2 A metaphorical passing-of-the-torch moment
While Nikki Bella is still a great wrestler, it is highly unlikely that she will be the face of the women's division for years to come. She has been performing in the WWE at a high level for several years and held the Divas title for a record-breaking time, so it is likely that her prime has passed and that she will assume more of a part-timer role like the one John Cena currently has.
However, as of today, Nikki Bella is still recognized as one of the major forces in the woman's division. There is no better choice for a woman to give Rousey the opportunity to prove that she is truly the baddest woman on the planet.
WWE can use that to their advantage here: if they want to shift the role as face of the women's division to Ronda Rousey, now is the best time. Defeating a Nikki Bella who has been utterly dominant since her return to Monday Night Raw would skyrocket Rousey's career. More than that, it would signify a passing-of-the-torch from Bella to Rousey - a clear shift in focus for the women's division of WWE for the foreseeable future.
This match could and should work out similarly to the Roman Reigns vs John Cena match at No Mercy last year, with Cena losing and officially handing Reigns the top spot in the company.
But this can't happen at any place on the card. If WWE wants to make it clear that Rousey will claim her place at the top, it needs to happen in the main event. The scene that closes any PPV will be etched into the WWE Universe's heads for some time, and will likely be the main point of discussion for the next several days.
Putting Rousey vs Nikki somewhere in the middle of the card makes this match largely seem inconsequential, especially considering the effort that has gone into building it up. The main event is the best, and the only, place this can happen: a historic event capped off by a historic shift in women's wrestling.
#1 Ronda's stunning promo from this Monday's episode of Raw
On this week's episode of Raw, Ronda Rousey finally unleashed her full potential on the mic, delivering one of the most scathing promos we have ever seen not only from her, but from the entire women's roster.
Rousey held nothing back, delving into the problems that she (and possibly members of the WWE Universe) have with the Bella Twins. Ronda labelled them as "cowards" who only became friends with Rousey because there was a camera in her face, playing up the notion that the Bellas don't really want to wrestle and only want publicity.
She then unleashed some punishing words about them "leeching off their men [John Cena and Daniel Bryan], adding further insult to injury by saying that Nikki has only broken down one door: the one to Cena's bedroom, hinting at the real-life speculation that Nikki is only where she is in WWE today because of her ex-boyfriend's position in the company.
This was the promo that not only Rousey needed to establish herself as a versatile WWE Superstar both in the ring and on the mic, but was also what was needed to really kickstart this feud. It has allowed her to fully become the main event player we always knew she had the potential to be. While bringing real life into it may seem a bit harsh, it is ultimately what was necessary to make this a successful promo.
Before this, interest in the Rousey vs. Bella match was not very high among most members of the WWE Universe. However, this promo clearly got people interested: social media has been buzzing about it ever since and several reporters have characterized this promo as what this feud (and Rousey herself) really needed. Clearly, this renewed interest has given the Rousey-Bella match a big-fight feel, and made it actually seem worthy of the main event.
The bad blood evidently runs deep between these two, and Ronda's brutal shots at Nikki will certainly not go unanswered. They'll collide (in the main event) at Evolution. And thanks to Rousey's promo from this week's episode of Raw, many more fans are sure to tune in when they step into the ring against one another.
