Ronda Rousey's match against Shotzi at WWE Survivor Series didn't go according to plan for various reasons. The SmackDown Women's Champion match was apparently cut short due to AJ Styles Vs. Finn Balor running long, preventing the two from putting on the match that they'd been working on for two weeks. There was also a rough-looking DDT spot in the match. It looked like Rousey was supposed to let go of the ropes and take a gnarly bump to the outside. Shotzi went tumbling to the ground instead while Ronda remained on the ring apron, leading some WWE fans to call for The Baddest Woman On The Planet to be fired. A hashtag indicating such trended on Twitter during Survivor Series, prompting a reply from Ronda Rousey.
During a live gaming stream on her YouTube channel, the former UFC champion explained why the DDT spot went sideways. "I was really concerned with keeping Shotzi safe, and I made it look bad, and you know what? I'm sorry, okay. F***ing shoot me. Apparently, I deserve to be fired or burned. It reminds me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail when they were like, 'Burn her!'… There weren't calls to fire anybody when Madcap Moss and Big E were spiked on their heads, and they were like, burn her anyway! I'm so sorry that I was so concerned with keeping someone safe that I made the bump look bad." She expressed regret over not helping Shotzi look good during the Survivor Series bout. Rousey said that she wanted to return to WWE for this run in part to help put over younger talent like Shotzi and Liv Morgan as well. (h/t to PostWrestling.com for the transcription)
Ronda Rousey Has A Point About A Possible Double Standard
The DDT spot didn't look great at Survivor Series, but neither Rousey nor Shotzi was in danger because of it. The same can't be said for the two instances she refers to with Big E and Madcap Moss. During Elimination Chamber last year, Moss took a gnarly-looking bump on top of his head following a reverse Alabama slam from Drew McIntyre. He was ok, but it was a scary moment. Big E hasn't wrestled since March 11, when he landed on top of his head during an over-the-head belly-to-belly suplex outside the ring. His neck injury didn't require surgery, but it's unclear whether he'll ever wrestle again.
To Rousey's point, no hashtag trended following these unfortunate accidents calling for any of these male stars to be fired—nor should there have been. The same can be said for the December 5 episode of Raw, where Austin Theory was spiked onto the top of his head in a frightening botch with Mustafa Ali. That top-rope frankensteiner spot could have badly injured the United States Champion. Thankfully, that wasn't the outcome. But, again, WWE fans didn't log in to Twitter to call for any of these men to lose their jobs. Rousey and Shotzi's slipup pales compared to all three of these examples, yet they were the only ones buried online for it. It seems like a particular sect of the WWE Universe made up their minds on Ronda Rousey long ago, and no matter what she does, she'll be maligned for it. Which is unfortunate because the rubs she's been giving to the likes of Liv Morgan, Shotzi, and Raquel Rodriguez have positively impacted how they're viewed as performers.
Sources: YouTube/Ronda Rousey & PostWrestling.com