Mick Foley Says Women’s WrestleMania Main Event “Highly Unlikely” Without Ronda Rousey

Mick Foley credits a large part of the WWE Women’s Evolution to Ronda Rousey.

In an announcement that seemed impossible a few years prior, the company made the decision to give a Women’s Championship match the highest honour possible in 2019, being the main event match at WrestleMania 35.

The final match of the show would see Becky Lynch defeat Raw Women’s Champion Rousey and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair in a winner take all match, earning Lynch the nickname Becky Two Belts.

Hall of Famer Mick Foley has praised Rousey in a lengthy post on his official Facebook Page. In an excerpt from the post, Foley recalls being in attendance for The Rowdy One’s first interactions alongside The Rock. The Hardcore Legend continued, citing Rousey as the main reason why the company made the landmark decision in 2019:

I was in the crowd in San Jose for WrestleMania when my pal Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson introduced Ronda to the crowd to a thunderous ovation. She was quite simply, the baddest woman on the planet. And while the back-to-back defeats she suffered in UFC may have taken a little shine from her, Ronda was still this incredibly sparkling diamond in the rough when she made her WWE debut at 2018’s WrestleMania. That match, where she teamed with Kurt Angle to take on WWE’s power couple of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon was my personal favorite match of 2018.

That’s not to say it was the best match of 2018 – merely my favorite. It was one of those matches I need every once in a while to remind me of why I fell in love with pro-wrestling to begin with. I specifically remember watching the show with friends, and during this incredible moment where she had Triple H rocking and reeling, I just yelled out, “she’s not phoning it in!” She certainly wasn’t. Ronda Rousey took pride in what she did, worked diligently to become really good, really fast, and as she progressed, had good-to-great matches with a variety of opponents.

Without Ronda, it’s highly unlikely WWE would have featured a women’s match as its main event at WrestleMania in 2019. I still believe the real marquee match would have been Becky versus Ronda in a singles match – but nonetheless, let the record show that Ronda Rousey main evented WrestleMania with just one year of professional wrestling experience.

Mick Foley Praises Ronda Rousey Following Exit

Following multiple rumours that the former UFC Champion would be exiting the company imminently, Rousey confirmed the exit on social media shortly after SummerSlam. The former Raw Women’s Champion’s final match with the company would see her lose to Shayna Baszler in a match contested under MMA rules.