WWE Reportedly Scraps Ronda Rousey's Original WrestleMania Plans

With WrestleMania 39 just over a week away, WWE has reportedly nixed their original plans for former "SmackDown" Women's Champion Ronda Rousey.

Heading into the two-night spectacle, the expectation that has long been held was that Rousey and Shayna Baszler were being positioned to challenge for — and win — the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. There were all sorts of scenarios supposedly being considered on how that'd then work with the current titleholders, Becky Lynch and Lita, already locked up to team with Trish Stratus in a six-woman tag against Damage CTRL. The rumblings were that someone might be pulling double duty and wrestling on both nights of WrestleMania. None of that appears to be happening.

Rousey suffered an arm injury, throwing her WrestleMania status into question. In recent weeks, her on-screen appearances became limited, leaving WWE with a small window of opportunity to try and craft a sensible story leading up to the projected title match. Instead of attempting to rush the build, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter now says that WWE has scrapped the title match plans entirely, putting forth an alternative route for Rousey and Baszler to take to get to WrestleMania.

Rousey and Baszler will take part in the upcoming women's WrestleMania Showcase — a Fatal Four-way tag bout featuring various competitors from the "Raw" and "SmackDown" women's divisions. So far, only one team has solidified their spot: Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. The duo punched their ticket when they defeated Emma and Tegan Nox in a qualifying match on last week's "SmackDown." Rousey and Baszler are allegedly slated to be one of the four teams, allowing Rousey to be involved while many other competitors can carry the load of the match. However, nothing can be assumed to be certain with Rousey's WrestleMania situation at this point.