WWE Confirms Upcoming Returns Of Ronda Rousey And Becky Lynch


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WWE will be without a boatload of top stars at WrestleMania 37, but two major names are coming back.

During a recent interview on The Colin Cowherd Podcast (h/t WrestleTalk), WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan revealed that both Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch are slated to return to WWE programming, with “The Man” expected to make her triumphant return in the near future: “Ronda is going to be coming back at a certain point in time. Becky Lynch, she just had her first baby, she will be coming back at a certain point in time in the not too distant future.”

There is a noticeable absence of star power for this year’s WrestleMania, which will take place this weekend at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Among the notable part-time attractions who aren’t currently scheduled to appear at WWE’s biggest pay-per-view of the year are Brock Lesnar and John Cena, who are typically featured in high-profile matches at the event.

MORE FROM FORBESWWE Once Again Overlooking Its Women’s Division At WrestleMania 37

The women’s division, however, has been hit particularly hard by the absence of marquee stars this year, with Rousey and Lynch—two of pro wrestling’s biggest stars—both off the show this year after they made history when they participated in the first women’s WrestleMania main event at WrestleMania 35 two years ago. That historic match seemed to be just the beginning of a potential long-running feud between the two, but Rousey actually hasn’t been seen in WWE at all since then.

At last word, however, “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” is under contract with WWE until April 10, 2021, which, ironically enough, is the same day as Night One of WrestleMania 37. It remains to be seen, though, if WWE will add time to Rousey’s deal given that she hasn’t appeared on Raw or SmackDown for two years as the company has customarily done that in the past for other stars who have missed significant time.

The widespread expectation is that Rousey, who was spotted training for a potential in-ring return earlier this year, is going to be back at some point in the not-so-distant future, and if and when she does, WWE has a tailor-made rival just waiting for Rousey in Lynch. Of course, Lynch won Rousey’s Raw Women’s Championship in that historic match at WrestleMania 35, but she didn’t pin Rousey in convincing fashion, an oft-used booking tactic that was clearly done in order to pave the way for Rousey and Lynch to cross paths again down the road.

The biggest, well, “big money match” WWE could realistically book in the women’s division right now—and maybe in the entire company, for that matter—is the first-ever singles encounter between Rousey and Lynch, who—as confirmed by Khan—should be back in WWE in the near future. Lynch gave birth to her first child last December and has been off WWE TV for nearly a year after first announcing her pregnancy on an episode of Raw last May. Lynch’s real-life fiance Seth Rollins isn’t spilling the beans regarding her expected return to TV, but as is the case with Rousey, fans have been eagerly awaiting the return of one of the biggest stars in WWE history.

Over the course of the past year during the absence of Lynch, WWE’s women’s division has been hit or miss, with far fewer hits than misses. Star power and depth isn’t at all an issue in the division, but the roller coaster ride-like booking of Raw and SmackDown in general has impacted the women’s division more than any other area on the card. With no Rousey and Lynch, names like Asuka, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss and Bayley have largely carried the division, but outside of Bianca Belair, very few other female stars have been able to break through that proverbial glass ceiling.

If and when Lynch and/or Rousey return, that could prove to make it even more difficult for those stars to break out, but on that same token, WWE could really use the significant star power boost that Rousey and Lynch would undoubtedly provide. WWE, however, isn’t going to return to traditional live events until at least August, and that could certainly play a role in the timing of the returns of Lynch and Rousey, but especially the latter.

Rousey and Lynch rank among WWE’s biggest attractions, and with no traditional live events or pay-per-views outside of the ThunderDome expected to take place over the course of the next several months, WWE would be best served holding off on their returns until fan-filled shows becomes the norm again.

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