Jonathan Coachman has some advice for the female superstars of WWE on how to approach this situation with Ronda Rousey.
After making her first appearance in WWE at the end of the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble match, the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey has been a major talking point within WWE's women's division. Fast forward three months later and Ronda Rousey is making her pro wrestling in-ring debut for the WWE on their biggest show of the year. A man who has watched this transpire from a different perspective is current RAW commentator Jonathan Coachman. Coachman was interviewed by TMZ Sports and he shared his thoughts on Ronda Rousey coming into the WWE and immediately being placed in a spotlighted role, and how the women of the locker should feel about and approach this situation.
"There’s been so many different reactions to Ronda coming in, to the WWE, and some really really positive. Some skeptical, some in between. But here’s the difference with Ronda Rousey opposed to anybody else you can name in the history of the business: She’s coming in right at the top. Her in-ring debut is going to be at WrestleMania. You talk about pressure, I mean that pressure is real, its legit." Coach continued, “Yeah she’s been in main events before in the UFC but this is on another level. We’re talking millions upon millions of viewers. Not to mention, here’s probably the thing people don’t think about: Just the pressure to perform in front of her new peers. Because she’s coming in and she has taken a very very lucrative spot at WrestleMania. Now, I don’t really give a damn whether she's earned it or not. Her star power has earned it, but now she has to go out there and perform, and that’s the beauty of WrestleMania and coming in where she is coming in at. So, I think there’s a lot of people anxious to see exactly how a match with Ronda Rousey is going to look."
Coach feels that the locker room needs to embrace Ronda Rousey and help her hone her skills inside the ring because that is what's good for business.
"Trust me when I tell you this: there is a long line of females that would love nothing better; I don’t care what they tell you, than to run a program with Ronda Rousey. Because when she comes out in the arena I’m there. She gets just as big a pop, if not the biggest pop of anybody on the show, but that’s only going to last for so long until she starts working matches. So, if the girls are smart, they don’t complain about Ronda Rousey, they embrace her and say ‘Let me help you’ because that’s whats good for business, and what’s good for business is good for me."
If you are going to use any of the quotes above, please credit TMZ Sports, with an H/T to Fightful.com for the transcriptions.
