Do pro wrestling fans really care about Rousey?

[IGotAHugePeckah]

I get that she has credibility from MMA, but does that really mean pro wrestling fans want to see her? She has no charisma and I can only imagine her mic work will be a cringe fest, plus she's lost the lustre of being the "world's baddest woman". Brock was a pro wrestler who went to MMA and then came back. Will wrestling fans like someone who starts somewhere else and comes to wrestling as much?

Just a question. TBH I haven't followed wrestling in years.

 

[Magooglie]

I have no idea what any of her pro wrestling skills are like. Shayna Baszler's transition to pro wrestling has been good and she was beat out of MMA as well. Pro Wrestling fans are willing to give people a chance.
One thing that Brock has is he really likes to entertain people. Usually his explosiveness/power and look are talked about a lot but he also has the mindset to entertain.

 

[HereticBD]

She'll be judged on her ability as a pro-wrestler. If she sucks, the fans will let her know it.

 

[ThunderL1ps]

Fans will give her a chance. MMA haters will be watching her every move, even if they claim they don't understand pro wrestling's appeal.

She is going to have to loosen up. Rousey looks uptight and thinks she is playing a character. Fans shit all over her TUF appearances when she said she was "playing the heel" against Tate. She is not a good actress and people could see her hate for Tate was real (which she demonstrated again and again). That showed me she does not get it and may not grasp PW psychology, even though she claims to be a lifelong fan. What she really needs is to be herself the best she can. It is one thing to be able to do an interview or be a host on TUF, but pro wrestling fans can see through if someone isn't feeling their gimmick.

Rousey's matches need to be short and make a statement at first. Her MMA bouts were usually over in a minute or two. In WWE? Maybe 5 minutes max for in-ring, but that may even be too long because of the no-talents she'll be in there with.

If Rousey isn't a quick learner in-ring, she can't talk, doesn't grasp psychology.....fans are going to turn on her. It will be worse than when UFC fans turning on her because it will be both worlds piling on.

 

[D.R.H.]

 

[Darth Nevets]

With Rousey we have to talk about value added over if wrestling fans care because there are less than ever of those people. They are trying to make some bread off the women's division but every time they do it stalls and fails due to basic reality and history of the division. The Women's Rumble harshly highlighted this problem, in its bid for equality they had to stack the card with multitudes of returning stars (if this was stacked with men of this prominence this would be the stariest Rumble since the 90's) many of whose popularity belies the entire point of them being taken seriously. The E has maybe six women who can work, but the over-est one can't but the fans feel nothing but Bliss.

 

[Bamboozled]

It's not about the fans, it's about sponsorships and TV deals.

 

[neil_totally]

Wrestling fans, or at the very least, the casual fans that actually matter, are willing to give anyone a chance.

They also don’t follow mma, generally speaking, so they give exactly zero fucks about Holly Holm or Amanda Nunes. Probably can’t even name them.

They are also, most importantly, willing to accept anyone on the terms they are presented, and in most cases willing to judge them as such. So it doesn’t matter that Rousey has a couple of brutal losses, she brings with her an image of indestructible badassery, so the fans will take that on board as-is and just go from there.

(This is all meant to be quite complementary, by the way)

 

[Bluesbreaker]

Pro wrestling fans will understand that if she says something negative, she's just being a heel. UFC bros don't understand that.

 

[Don Hagliatelli]

They have to make them care.

Ronda's MMA record is impressive. Her first 7 fights were all 1st round victories via armbar and included capturing both the Strikeforce and UFC belts.

I'd set her up as a tweener and see how the crowd react to her.

She can't talk for shit so I'd pair her up with Heyman.

Give her an armbar as a finisher, maybe some kinda flying scissor, rolling, belly down variation and have her run through the roster on her way to a title shot.

Make it a submission match against Charlotte.

This shit writes itself.