“This is not a smash and grab, this is not a publicity stunt.”

Rousey appeared to roaring fans Sunday night after the women’s Royal Rumble in Philadelphia, challenging winner Asuka to fight at Wrestlemania — scheduled for New Orleans in April — by pointing to a sign as Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” blared through the arena. WWE has toyed with the whole “Do you think a women’s match will ever main event WrestleMania” enough ever since Stephanie McMahon invented female wrestlers two years ago, and honestly… this may be the year to do it. Styles defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn earlier in the show, while Brock Lesnar retained his Universal title against Braun Strowman and Kane. Really, there are no other options for the blue brand…

BRANDON EWING: AJ Styles defies the odds with the deck stacked against him to retain the WWE Championship and will remain champion heading into WrestleMania 34. A potential Wrestlemania match between the two would be a sight to behold, but both Raw women’s champion Alexa Bliss and SmackDown champion Charlotte Flair are expected to be involved as well. I’m going to go out on a limb here, though, and suggest the rumors and social media posts suggesting Rousey won’t be at the Rumble and isn’t officially signed yet are all smoke and mirrors and she will show up to take this match. Assuming there’s no title changes at the Rumble (and I’m not calling for any), then the most logical winners for the 30-man contest are either Roman Reigns or Shinsuke Nakamura. It’s pretty much a guarantee that Ronda Rousey will imminently be on a WWE screen, so why not have her win here to earn a title shot at WrestleMania?
In professional wrestling, Shinsuke Nakamura wins the 31st Royal Rumble match. Asuka wins the 32nd, the first all-woman version. Both receive championship matches at WrestleMania 34. Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey returns to WWE.