Total Divas S9 E1 Recap: Ronda Rousey Is Conflicted On Starting A Family, Nia Jax & Carmella Argue

Welcome to the Season 9 premiere of Total Divas! This season, two new faces join the cast including "The Baddest Woman on the Planet" Ronda Rousey and Sonya Deville. Familiar faces in this season will include Naomi, Natalya, Carmella, and Nia Jax. Both Nikki and Brie Bella will be making appearances sporadically. For those expecting them to be on each week, we apologize for disappointing you. Wrestling Inc. hopes you enjoy this new season!

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Meet the Newest Member: Ronda Rousey

The show starts with Ronda Rousey introducing herself. She begins by saying that she was born with her vocal cord wrapped around her neck. She says she's had a very tough life, so "bear with her." Since an early age, she knew she wanted to be in combat sports. For years, people told her she would never succeed in UFC, and she proved them wrong. Now that she is part of the WWE women's roaster, she knows she has the potential to be the top star of the company. We get to see Rousey's farm in California. When she isn't training or touring, she is mostly hanging out and working on her farm with her husband and former UFC fighter, Travis Browne.

It's All About Making History at the Royal Rumble

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Next, the ladies are backstage getting ready for the Royal Rumble. At this pay-per-view event, WWE created the first-ever women's Royal Rumble. Natalya is getting her hair done and is telling her stylist that she is nervous, yet excited to be part of history. Natalya summarizes in her one-on-one interview that she is still trying to cope with the loss of her father Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, who passed away last summer. She says that she is taking it one day at a time.

The camera follows Nia Jax backstage. While she is hugging Rousey, her monologue gets played. She talks about how her year has had its highs and lows. She says the hardest thing that has happened to her was when she became the most hated woman after accidentally punching Becky Lynch right in the nose, causing it to break. She believes that she can reinvent herself and her character in a way that fans will like her like they did before.

Sonya Deville is in another part of the dressing room and she is hanging out with her pal Liv Morgan. Deville is also a new face in the series. She begins her monologue by saying that she is the first openly gay female wrestler in the WWE. She wants people to be open to her and respect her.

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Carmella is doing an interview. She begins her story by saying that this past year has been hard since she broke up with Big Cass. She is in good spirits now and wants that to rub off on her character. Jax is not too happy to see Carmella. She thinks she's fake and wants to get this match over with.

Carmella finds Natalya and talks to her about the bad energy that Jax is putting out before the match. Jax comes over to say hi to Natalya. Carmella asks Jax if they could talk and clear the air. Jax tells her "not right now b?ch." Carmella is livid. She storms out and goes looking for Jax. Carmella confronts Jax and asks why they aren't getting along. Jax says that she feels Carmella is fake and not genuine. Carmella starts to cry and leaves.

Naomi makes her way backstage. Her and her husband Jimmy Uso hug all the ladies. Naomi says that things are going better since last season. She's excited for the Royal Rumble match and is glad to be around all her sisters.

Deville finds Carmella and asks what's going on. Carmella tells Deville, who tells her to not go around and make a big deal out of it. Carmella doesn't listen and instead goes and tells other wrestlers including The Revival, Sheamus, and Becky Lynch.

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Deville is getting her makeup done and her stylist is asking her about her girlfriend and how they are. Deville says because their schedules are conflicted, it's been hard to maintain the relationship on the road. She announces that she's single.

The spotlight is now on the ladies! They are making their way down to the ring. The first match shown is Rousey versus Sasha Banks for the WWE RAW Women's Championship. Of course, Rousey retains the title. Now, clips of the women's Royal Rumble are shown. Natalya is feeling the pressure since she is the first of the Divas to enter the ring. Naomi and all the ways she stayed alive in the match are shown including walking across the barricade, jumping from the barricade to the steel stairs, and entering back in the ring. She says that she was nervous she wasn't going to make it, but she does!

Carmella takes her frustrations out on Jax from earlier out in the ring by kicking her right in the face, busting open her bottom lip. Jax says that she deserved it. Natalya is shocked that she did that. In the men's Royal Rumble match, Jax makes her way down to the ring, after taking out R-Truth, who was supposed to be the last man to enter the match. The ladies in the back are shocked, yet stunned, that she went into the ring and cleaned house.

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Rousey is Feeling the Pressure To Become A Mom

Since Rousey is a stepmom to her husband's kids, she has thought about possibly starting her own family. She is conflicted because she loves her career in the WWE, but at the same time, she wants to take time off to start a family. Browne tells her that he wants her to do what she thinks is best and that if she wants to wait, he's OK with that.

Post Royal Rumble Drama

At brunch the next day, all the ladies, minus Jax (at the moment), go out. Natalya asks if Carmella is seeing anyone at the moment. She tells them all no, because she is trying to recover from the negative relationship she was in with Cass. Natalya says that she is proud of Carmella for taking some time out from dating. The rest of the ladies are not having it. Deville wants to give her pointers. She takes her up to the bar and they talk about the perfect "date." That includes the guy paying for the meal, taking her out on nice dates, etc.

(Backstage correspondent for WWE Monday Night RAW) Charly Caruso says to Natalya and Naomi who stayed back while Deville was giving Carmella dating tips, that she heard a rumor that she was dating someone, but just wasn't saying who. Natalya agrees and thinks that she has a little bit more pep in her step lately.

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The dating questions get switched over to Deville. She tells the girls when she first realized she was gay. She came out four years ago. Right now, she wants to call her ex and the ladies tell her not to. They want her to move on and find someone new.

Where Is Jax?

Natalya picks up Jax and they are on their way to have brunch with the ladies. Jax is not too excited to go since Carmella is there. They arrive at the brunch. Already, Jax is getting too cocky. She goes on about being in both the men and women's Royal Rumble. Deville addresses the elephant in the room and that's the drama Jax has with Carmella. Carmella says she didn't start anything and doesn't understand why she is receiving the wrath from her. Jax believes that people like Carmella are not breaking barriers for women's wrestling. She thinks her fighting ability is weak. Jax does not believe she is a bad person for expressing her feelings.

Fighting with My Family Movie Premiere

Jax and The Bella Twins are on their way to see Paige's new biopic Fighting with My Family. The Bellas meet up with Jax in her hotel room and pop some champagne before going to see the film. The Bellas tell Jax to just enjoy her first big accomplishment from the night before. Jax tells them about Carmella, and how she talked smack about Nikki. Nikki does not look too happy after hearing that.

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This concludes this week's episode. Total Divas airs every Tuesday at 10 PM EST on the E!

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