After years of rumors and hype, Ronda Rousey finally made her WWE debut on the Road to WrestleMania 34, and she later went on to wrestle her first match at the Show of Shows this year.
Rousey had a big run with WWE which included a Raw Women’s Championship reign and a spot in the historic main event at WrestleMania 35. WWE made it very clear that they wanted Rousey to be perceived as a top star, and her preferential treatment apparently caused some issues for other talents.
Matt Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder in WWE, noted during an interview with Inside The Ropes that at one point he wanted to hit a baseball slide while taping a match before Raw, but he was told he wasn’t allowed to.
“I was having a match before RAW so Main Event or Superstars or whatever it’s called. And my producer told me I couldn’t do a baseball slide to the floor because Ronda Rousey was doing it two hours later on RAW. I can understand if you’re saying I can’t put Mike Kanellis through the announce table on Main Event. OK I get it. But I can’t do a baseball slide?! We’re talking about a baseball slide here! Because Ronda Rousey is doing a baseball slide? You think anybody is thinking in the arena, ‘Oh, Zack Ryder did that baseball slide two hours ago’? Like, come on!”
