At WWE WrestleMania 38 Night One, Ronda Rousey challenged WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair for the gold.
The two women have been feuding since February, shortly after Rousey returned to WWE and won the Women’s Royal Rumble Match. Their bitter rivalry came to a head at “The Showcase of the Immortals.”
Early on in the bout, Rousey used her signature striking skills and overpowered “The Queen” with some judo throws. Flair responded with a thunderous Spear to gain some needed momentum. Both women continued to battle back and forth. Rousey slammed Flair off the top rope and hit the Piper’s Pit. Flair evaded the challenger’s signature arm-bar and blasted her with a big boot. “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” trapped Flair in an ankle-lock, but she escaped. Flair reversed it into one of her own. She then slammed her way out of arn arm-bar, but Rousey wrenched her ankle with an ankle lock again.
Lightning quick! ⚡️@RondaRousey #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/1q9rqy08II
— WWE (@WWE) April 3, 2022
“The Queen” escaped and subsequently locked Rousey in the Figure-Eight, but the challenger reversed the hold. Rousey nearly got the win with the Piper’s Pit, but Flair reached the rope to stop the count. Flair then hit the Natural Selection when her opponent’s back was turned for a near fall. Flair accidentally took the referee out with a Spear in the corner. Rousey locked in the arm-bar, but the referee was down. She tried to get him up, but Flair capitalized and blasted her with a big boot that kept the challenger down for the three count. As a result, Flair retained the gold.
???@MsCharlotteWWE defeats @RondaRousey at #WrestleMania to retain the #SmackDown #WomensTitle! pic.twitter.com/yJqpE2HfZS
— WWE (@WWE) April 3, 2022
