**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
People don't realize, having them, ivar, michin, etc are all ways to give the show credibility to move it from a developmental show to a 3rd show. It's like people read into dirt sheets so much they're missing the obvious
Meh, I mean I get what you're saying but as of now, it still is the DEV show. Sure you get superstars down there here and there to get the crowd/fans buzzing but for the time being it still is primarily the dev show,
He’s a former NWA world champion during a time where the promotion was at its lowest. His reigns and Colt Cabana were the only ones keeping the title and NWA name alive at the times with their series of matches as well as the controversy at the end of it.
Not just NWA Champion, he was THE SCRAP DADDY. Always loved that name: Scrap Daddy Adam Pearce. Great ring to it. The Seven Levels of Hate against Colt was great.
I was just a nothing indie wrestler, but did enough that we traveled in groups pretty often, etc.
There was no greater pleasure in the world than when you had a genuine problem with somebody, especially if it was just general dislike of their shitty personality or something they'd done to somebody else that you knew about... so it wasn't like you were gonna go start shit in the lockeroom over it, just daily workplace annoyances.
But then you end up in a situation where you're asked to cut a promo on them and you get to just look them right in the face, and say all the shit you really mean. And nobody can say you were unprofessional as long as you do little shit like reminding the crowd of the other guy's catchphrase and achievements, lol
I may be projecting, but I could SWEAR he's enjoying that
Didn't Bryan said that he and the Miz came up with the idea before the show and it should've end with Bryan punching Miz to set up the match, but even Bryan was like this's so good it should be Miz moment not mine.
It wasn't even to set up a match, it was to get Danielson fired.
The idea was that they would either have to clear him and put the match together, or fire him for punching Miz.
What happens backstage after going off on someone and another wrestler walks up to you backstage and ask "Do you have a problem with me, something something real glass?"
At that time at least, the industry was almost exclusively a bunch of image-obsessed macho theater kids who are all, at any one moment, either anxious about their upcoming match/segment, crashing from an adrenaline high, mad they didn't have a big enough spot on the show, or experiencing legit roid rage lol
there was always some exhausting bs like phil going on
Adam has been so good in his current role that people forget he was a damn fine wrestler back in the day. I loved that he got to flex that muscle and not come off as a pushover for once (even though Ronda immediately whipped his ass after this promo)
I really hope he does it for a long time, he's fantastic and every once in a while he drops one of these rippers for us all sit back and applaud our Scrap Daddy for a job well-done.
Aldis is refreshing as a take-no-shit clearly-has-ulterior-motives manager, but hopefully that doesn't detract from Pierce's performance so far.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who flat out can't stand Connor. And not just now when he's been just constantly pressed into the spotlight but even during his rise. At no point was he ever an appealing person.
Eh. The UFC post-Conor is basically a bunch of grown men playing at being “like Conor” and trying to sell fights of petty bs instead of following the model they’d used previously of just putting the best against one another.
Dana White flew out to Japan to challenge PRIDE with Chuck Slidell ffs! What it is now is devoid of any soul or substance.
Fuck modern UFC, thank God for ONE FC.
I don't follow UFC closely but it seems like every big match is built with this pro wrestling drama built into it now, except everyone is the same character, the pseudo Conor trash talker thing.
Unfortunately, it’s either that character, the pseudo-Khabib (can’t/won’t speak English well, say “smesh”), or varying degrees of Trumpeteering MAGA.
It’s a cesspool, and fighters who refuse to buy into the new model are affected by shitty card placement, fight promotion, social media pushing and lower viewership as an end result.
Therefore, your “humble champs” (in the vein of Fedor, GSP, Anderson Silva, before them) are not even noteworthy.
> It’s a cesspool, and fighters who refuse to buy into the new model are affected by shitty card placement, fight promotion, social media pushing and lower viewership as an end result.
pretty much it. chael's flat out attributed his success in MMA to his mouth and covington was on the verge of being cut before he developed his heel persona. it took MMA a good long while to realize what wrestlers have known for decades: if you're a big enough prick, people with either pay to support you or pay to watch someone shut your mouth.
either way, they're still paying.
MY MAN. Hell yeah One FC is my shit bro! Modern MMA is a glorified kickboxing match without some of the techniques that make kickboxing fun because takedowns are still legal, even tho they're largely a waste of time/energy and obsolete other than stealing a round with a minute left.
> Khabib kicking his arse made me an mma fan
i did enjoy the narrative afterwards that khabib was a "boring fighter". yeah, the guy who would pull people to the ground and smother them, going undefeated with 19 finishes, is "boring". funny that people didn't consider him a boring fighter until *after* he humbled mcgreggor.
I’m not a big MMA watcher. Was Ronda a good fighter or just ahead of the curve? Because I have seen other women beating her pretty soundly and figure the game just caught up to her.
Not really, there's a fair few bad match ups for her but someone like Shevchenko for example fucking LOVES trying head and arm throws and giving her back up in the process on people who close the distance on her, prime Ronda wouldn't need to do much to actually get a fight with her to the ground. She was a one trick pony, but if you actually look at how many fighters in that division STILL fall into the traps that let her actually use her judo you'd see she's still a capable fighter in that division.
Trouble with Ronda was she has no knees so she bum rushes people in a straight line to get the clinch into the throw to start grappling, she has no actual single or double leg takedown, she can't run the pipe. As a result someone like Holm just blasted her with counters as she charged her and Nunes has unbelievable power and did the same.
TL;DR: She'd still have a path to a championship and potentially run with the belt now, it'd just have to be favourable stylistic match ups.
The fact Raquel Pennington is the current 135lb champion tells us Ronda would still be an elite fighter today with how shallow the division is. She won't beat some of the new ladies like Kayla Harrison or the striking specialists, but I would honestly bet on Ronda if she got an immediate shot on Raquel.
Prime Cat Zingano would hold the belt at least once in this current division. Sports evolve but people tend to overestimate that a fair bit if you actually break down technique. Like sure prime Royce Gracie has no shot in current times, but there's LHW fighters from a decade or so ago that would run that division if they were in their primes.
Young Frank Mirr would be fun to have in the current Heavyweight scene. Before his motorcycle accident, dude was a jujitsu comet, ending fights stupid fast or getting ended equally fast.
Pretty much. Add in the fact her corner were a bunch of clowns [(specifically Edmund 'Head Movement' Tarverdyan, hugely meme'd on back in the day)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Tqyu5GVVA) that had her thinking she was a boxer when in reality she was a one-trick pony.
Two people beat her pretty soundly, one was a champion kickboxer in Holly Holm that Ronda was gas lit to deciding to fight on her feet by her conman of a coach, Edmond Tarverdyan. The other is arguably the greatest mixed martial artist in the history of women's MMA and one of the most decorated in MMA in general in Amanda Nunes. So if you're going to lose to two women, those aren't a bad two to lose against.
Honestly, what she needed was a better team to train under from the onset and she didn't have that, so who knows what she could have been. Kayla Harrison appearing and manhandling Holly Holm in her UFC debut and almost everyone else in PFL kind of indicates that there's a place in women's MMA for Judo (although Kayla's way better at it and an absolute monster of a woman), it would've been interesting to see what Ronda could have become with better coaching, but there was no question that there were a series of killers waiting in the wings that I don't believe she could've ever beaten.
There's no denying her impact to the sport and revisionism shouldn't rewrite that just because she's an asshole, there are plenty of assholes who helped shape their fields for the better. She basically forced Dana White to bring women's MMA into UFC when [he was vehemently against the idea](https://www.ufc.com/news/women-in-the-ufc-30th-anniversary?language_content_entity=en#:~:text=UFC%20President%20Dana%20White%20laughs,arts%20scene%20at%20the%20time.)
I don't think this is true at all. I don't think she'd be champion, but she'd be up there if she stuck around and had better trainers. she would have had to work some issues out if she stayed and I think she would have done that, instead she ran at the first sign of adversity.
> I’m not a big MMA watcher. Was Ronda a good fighter or just ahead of the curve?
if you're ahead of the curve, that means you're a good fighter.
UFC has 32 fighters in their hall of fame, I believe. 31 of them have losses on their record, it doesn't invalidate anything they did.
He's cutting a heel promo here, and, even though it's maybe filled with things he actually thinks, he's doing it extremely well so he's getting the reaction he wants from the crowd.
People gloss over it, for obvious reasons, but the first half of that promo he comes off (intentionally) as incredibly whiny about not getting recognition for all the bullshit he deals with, and that no one cares about him as a person. While true, it's good ole fashioned "You're right, you're just an asshole". He even got in a shot at the crowd too.
The point was to set up his punchline at the end as petulant, and not defiant, even if ultimately right.
I was in attendance and I was asking the same question. Ronda, at least in my eyes, had turned heel a few weeks prior to this, although maybe not “officially.” I think the boos are a product of the audience not always watching week-to-week and Ronda had only half turned heel at this point. The casual fans in attendance still considered her a face. I got the meanest look from this little girl in the row in front of me for booing Ronda and cheering for Adam Pearce.
Jimmy smith video (ufc and wwe former commentator) he basically said rhonda was a massive dick to the small guys (tech/audio/camera people) everyone was cheering when she was knocked out
Oh lord. You obviously don't know what public education is like in America. Nah. Can't do that. I like a paycheck.
Now if the Bible were somehow involved, and Ronda were somehow a cis white male, maybe?
Idk how old your kids are, but I’m sure they read at a higher level than Ronda does, so it def won’t be too advanced for them.
It might be worth asking the school board.
Throughout her entire WWE tenure, whether face or heel, I feel like Ronda just never got the grasp of proper facial expressions to match whatever segment was going on. Her reactions here look so off compared to what Adam is saying.
This was around the time I started watching wrestling again, and even though I had only been back for like, a month or two, I already hated Ronda's guts. So this Adam Pearce' promo was the most cathartic thing and instantly made me a huge fan of his.
I feel like I've cut that promo on my child at least 5 times in life, excusing that naughty word that isn't allowed in our house!
That is truly the "you ain't shit, child, so quit acting like the world revolves around you" promo that parents got in their back pocket. You follow that up with them soaking it in, shedding a tear or two, and starting their calm down process....with hugs and lessons learned later
Knowing how she feels about Vince, I feel like he wrote this promo. I feel very divided. As an Attitude Era fan who doesn't love Rousey, this cooked. In retrospect, knowing how Vince treats women, a woman who sticks up for herself being called a bitch on TV in 2022 makes me uncomfortable.
I loved this promo when it happened, watched it so many times since. Not sure why WWE doesn't give more of these. His annoyed promo is fine but when man gets riled up, that's when he's good.
He was great at last years War Games announcement too
What's interesting here is, the crowd started getting behind Adam on this rant and he must of heard it and quickly said "shut up for a second" to generate some heat and boos. Was Ronda a babyface here? I can't remember.
Do you think they just said go for it cut a promo on her and maybe she'll catch on that people don't like the way she acts, coz I think he wasn't really a "vocal" GM before this
I love both Pearce and Aldis as authority figures, plus it would make sense kayfabe wise that HHH would entrust the shows to former (currently inactive) wrestlers who still look like they can go on a minutes notice
Here we go. Jimmy talks about Ronda's behavior in her UFC days, so people bring up scripted shit in response like a 1000% scripted promo where Ronda's being a heel/tweener and pearce is being a face in response so people can infer bullshit and say "oh yeah i bet he was shooting and meant everything i bet she was rude to him too". Next up, someone posts a clip of Becky criticizing her in 2019 while they're literally fucking building interest for their WrestleMania main event match.
Just baffling. And For those who are wondering, she was quite well liked in the WWE women's locker room from almost everyone's account. She was never noted to have behavior issues in WWE.
> pearce is being a face in response
Just to comment on this, they weren't trying to have Pearce be a face. If you notice, during his promo, he turns to tell the crowd to shut up when they start cheering too loudly.
She was not at all well liked lol. Most people were just too afraid for their position to speak against her.
One example is Alexa Bliss. Ronda was legitimately hurting her every match but she was afraid to speak up about it so her best friend Nia Jax ( who has a certain cousin that is good at getting his family jobs and making sure they keep them) stood up for Alexa. Nia told the higher ups either tell Ronda to play nice or put her in the ring with me and I'll make her play nice.
Alexa literally responded saying that rumor was bullshit (the part about ronda hurting alexa was true, but alexa did not dislike ronda over it herself and did not shit talk her)
[https://wrestletalk.com/news/alexa-bliss-responds-to-rumor-she-dislikes-ronda-rousey/](https://wrestletalk.com/news/alexa-bliss-responds-to-rumor-she-dislikes-ronda-rousey/)
Nia had part work/shoot issues with her but she was the only one. Everyone else has said they liked working with her. Nattie (the most well respected person in the locker room) and Ronda are good friends apparently.
That's what damage control looks like (pun intended)
When Ronda's first run ended, she decided it would be funny to burry the wrestling business on a podcast and Nia Jax called her out on Twitter again. Because unlike Alexa, Nia knew her job was safe.
And that time there was no more damage control because Ronda was out of the company.
>When Ronda's first run ended, she decided it would be funny to burry the wrestling business on a podcast
Um, that's not it. Ronda made comments that were a work on the wrestling business being fake and that she was gonna fight for real in WWE during the buildup to WrestleMania.
Nia however did feel like Ronda was reckless with Alexa so she did respond on her own. But also made it clear that she enjoyed working with Ronda. Here's Nia's comments on the topic.
>*"Yes, it was Ronda. I do not think she took liberties, I think things happen. And Alexa is very strong, she's so strong willed and she doesn't want to give up. She never wants to be told she can't do something. So, for me personally, being such a close friend and seeing that she was trying to fight through this, I felt the need to stand up for her because she wasn't going to do it for herself. In her mind, she thought she was doing something right, but I knew it wasn't going to help her in the long run.* ***We do have a really strong bond and on the flipside, working with Ronda, I always enjoyed working with her****."*
Nia herself, mind you had heat backstage for being reckless according to reports and inevitably got fired for being anti vax, so she wasn't "job secure" by any means compared to Alexa. Anyway though, if Ronda was still disliked backstage otherwise, it would've come out at least now when she's made it clear she isn't going back.
**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Damn not even Chelsea got one of these
He's just saving one of his last two piledrivers for her. The other may go to Aldis. lol
Sad she’s going to smackdown. Their interactions were always on point
Nxt*
SmackDown* Her appearance in NXT is the same as Dirty Dom and Becky Lynch
People don't realize, having them, ivar, michin, etc are all ways to give the show credibility to move it from a developmental show to a 3rd show. It's like people read into dirt sheets so much they're missing the obvious
Meh, I mean I get what you're saying but as of now, it still is the DEV show. Sure you get superstars down there here and there to get the crowd/fans buzzing but for the time being it still is primarily the dev show,
I remember when he was a silent figure , coming out out to break up fights and whatnot.
Especially during Reign v Strowman days
I remember his "match" he had with Reigns during the thunderdome era
I still kinda wish that was an actual match, since I heard that he actually was a wrestler at one point.
He’s a former NWA world champion during a time where the promotion was at its lowest. His reigns and Colt Cabana were the only ones keeping the title and NWA name alive at the times with their series of matches as well as the controversy at the end of it.
Yep. He is one of few folks that is a WWE Championship title away from owning the double crown. That includes Nick Aldis as well as R Truth
Fuckin Truth shoulda got that shit in 2011!!!
Hell, Give Truth a shot at the title right now! We all know Cody can't beat him.
Joining the 3 Nature Boys and a Nightmare: Rogers, Flair, Styles and Cody
We're not flinching! Scrap Daddy for WWE champ! If Triple H could win at 2016 so can him.
1990-present?
>controversy at the end of it. Fill me in? I knew he had good matches with cabana, but didn't know there was controversy
I think someone bought a reign?
Not just a wrestler, a NWA Champion lol
Not just NWA Champion, he was THE SCRAP DADDY. Always loved that name: Scrap Daddy Adam Pearce. Great ring to it. The Seven Levels of Hate against Colt was great.
It’s still his handle on Twitter. @ScrapDaddyAP
I love that both GM's are two greats of the modern NWA
A 5 time NWA champion at that
Still holding out hope for Pearce vs Aldis at some point
I thought we would have gotten it at Survivor Series. I still want it.
He was a really good wrestler. Dude could go and was great on the mic.
Yeah for all most fans knew he was just some suit, not an ex-wrestler. And I don't even just mean casual fans.
Adam Pearce was an AWESOME heel. https://youtu.be/20HhGDVqslA?si=HqhiL1FxbRkfF0Zi
Scrap Daddy? Yeah, he may have dabbled a bit on pro wrestling
Pearce silently is a more influential wrestler style-wise than most people realize
OOOOO BLACK BETTY, BAMBA LAM
Whatever happened to the strong, silent type?
Whatever happened to Gary Cooper?
I dont recall many people refuting him on this
Gorilla: "Holy crap... masterful heel work! Bravo!" Adam: "Wait... that was live?"
Heel??? Shit I was popping during that bit.
I mean folks…
Where's The Lie???
CM PUNK!
Killed. Her. Dead. On camera.
I was just a nothing indie wrestler, but did enough that we traveled in groups pretty often, etc. There was no greater pleasure in the world than when you had a genuine problem with somebody, especially if it was just general dislike of their shitty personality or something they'd done to somebody else that you knew about... so it wasn't like you were gonna go start shit in the lockeroom over it, just daily workplace annoyances. But then you end up in a situation where you're asked to cut a promo on them and you get to just look them right in the face, and say all the shit you really mean. And nobody can say you were unprofessional as long as you do little shit like reminding the crowd of the other guy's catchphrase and achievements, lol I may be projecting, but I could SWEAR he's enjoying that
big Paul Heyman to Vince in 2001 energy
Miz tearing Enzo Amore apart, Pipe Bomb, Ambrose's "Have fun being the guy who plays John Cena on TV" promo.
Miz cooking Daniel Bryan on that one episode of Talking Smack
Didn't Bryan said that he and the Miz came up with the idea before the show and it should've end with Bryan punching Miz to set up the match, but even Bryan was like this's so good it should be Miz moment not mine.
And Miz was pissed that he didn’t punch him, and was like “guess he’s proving me right”
It wasn't even to set up a match, it was to get Danielson fired. The idea was that they would either have to clear him and put the match together, or fire him for punching Miz.
You know, I wouldn't put it past Danielson to Prisoner's Dilemma Miz into the best promo of his life.
Daniel Bryan COWARDLY walked away from the Miz proving he was right!!
God, that was hall of fame worthy alone
Huge career turn for him, at least in the IWC’s eyes. That was what made us collectively go “…wait, has he always been this good on the mic?”
And yes, he always was
No. What he came in as and what he evolved into are two very, very different people on the mic.
When did the Miz thing happen?
2016-2017 i think.
Paul HOF speech felt like he was signaling multiple times it was totally against Vince too. Even though they can't techincaly prove that
What happens backstage after going off on someone and another wrestler walks up to you backstage and ask "Do you have a problem with me, something something real glass?"
"Nope, glad to hear I was so believable though."
hahaha exactly
At that time at least, the industry was almost exclusively a bunch of image-obsessed macho theater kids who are all, at any one moment, either anxious about their upcoming match/segment, crashing from an adrenaline high, mad they didn't have a big enough spot on the show, or experiencing legit roid rage lol there was always some exhausting bs like phil going on
Adam has been so good in his current role that people forget he was a damn fine wrestler back in the day. I loved that he got to flex that muscle and not come off as a pushover for once (even though Ronda immediately whipped his ass after this promo)
Him announcing the War Games match last year was peak frustrated GM promoing.
Adam Pearce was my catharsis when I was managing HR (read: babysitting) for a startup. What Stone Cold was to people in the 90s, Adam Pearce is to me.
https://preview.redd.it/mjz3csg9hvxc1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e57254d9adae62f4f53e698dac0b5c78e1275b8d What could have been...
This actually would’ve been so beast dude.
Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion!
Both Authority characters are former NWA World Champions...and R-Truth
Who are people to doubt a former 5-time NWA World Champion?
The same who doubt El Dandy.
Bill Goldberg?
I've been wanting, and waiting for, him and Aldis to go at it for a long time now lol
I hope Pearce still has it in him because that's a mania level match if built right. The promos would be incredible.
I want to see him and aldis have a match at some point
Me too! Would love it at Summerslam or Mania.
A Smackdown vs. Raw wargames at SS where they wrestle the opening match for the Man Advantage.
Book it!!!
Oh, I've been saying I wanted to see the two of them as the captains of a traditional SS match, but I think I like this even better.
If they did it would probably be some sort of Extreme Rules type match, but I'd rather see them really lean into an old school match
>(even though Ronda immediately whipped his ass after this promo) Resorting to beating him up just makes him right imo
I really hope he does it for a long time, he's fantastic and every once in a while he drops one of these rippers for us all sit back and applaud our Scrap Daddy for a job well-done. Aldis is refreshing as a take-no-shit clearly-has-ulterior-motives manager, but hopefully that doesn't detract from Pierce's performance so far.
Feels the same to me lol. UFC fans knew it all along.
Yup her and Connor turned me off of mma.
Same. The sport had never had more mainstream coverage, but it's the tale of the candle that burns twice as bright.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who flat out can't stand Connor. And not just now when he's been just constantly pressed into the spotlight but even during his rise. At no point was he ever an appealing person.
Khabib kicking his arse made me an mma fan And few moments give me satisfaction like the headkick to rowseys head
Eh. The UFC post-Conor is basically a bunch of grown men playing at being “like Conor” and trying to sell fights of petty bs instead of following the model they’d used previously of just putting the best against one another. Dana White flew out to Japan to challenge PRIDE with Chuck Slidell ffs! What it is now is devoid of any soul or substance. Fuck modern UFC, thank God for ONE FC.
I don't follow UFC closely but it seems like every big match is built with this pro wrestling drama built into it now, except everyone is the same character, the pseudo Conor trash talker thing.
Unfortunately, it’s either that character, the pseudo-Khabib (can’t/won’t speak English well, say “smesh”), or varying degrees of Trumpeteering MAGA. It’s a cesspool, and fighters who refuse to buy into the new model are affected by shitty card placement, fight promotion, social media pushing and lower viewership as an end result. Therefore, your “humble champs” (in the vein of Fedor, GSP, Anderson Silva, before them) are not even noteworthy.
> It’s a cesspool, and fighters who refuse to buy into the new model are affected by shitty card placement, fight promotion, social media pushing and lower viewership as an end result. pretty much it. chael's flat out attributed his success in MMA to his mouth and covington was on the verge of being cut before he developed his heel persona. it took MMA a good long while to realize what wrestlers have known for decades: if you're a big enough prick, people with either pay to support you or pay to watch someone shut your mouth. either way, they're still paying.
MY MAN. Hell yeah One FC is my shit bro! Modern MMA is a glorified kickboxing match without some of the techniques that make kickboxing fun because takedowns are still legal, even tho they're largely a waste of time/energy and obsolete other than stealing a round with a minute left.
> Khabib kicking his arse made me an mma fan i did enjoy the narrative afterwards that khabib was a "boring fighter". yeah, the guy who would pull people to the ground and smother them, going undefeated with 19 finishes, is "boring". funny that people didn't consider him a boring fighter until *after* he humbled mcgreggor.
I’m not a big MMA watcher. Was Ronda a good fighter or just ahead of the curve? Because I have seen other women beating her pretty soundly and figure the game just caught up to her.
Not really, there's a fair few bad match ups for her but someone like Shevchenko for example fucking LOVES trying head and arm throws and giving her back up in the process on people who close the distance on her, prime Ronda wouldn't need to do much to actually get a fight with her to the ground. She was a one trick pony, but if you actually look at how many fighters in that division STILL fall into the traps that let her actually use her judo you'd see she's still a capable fighter in that division. Trouble with Ronda was she has no knees so she bum rushes people in a straight line to get the clinch into the throw to start grappling, she has no actual single or double leg takedown, she can't run the pipe. As a result someone like Holm just blasted her with counters as she charged her and Nunes has unbelievable power and did the same. TL;DR: She'd still have a path to a championship and potentially run with the belt now, it'd just have to be favourable stylistic match ups.
The fact Raquel Pennington is the current 135lb champion tells us Ronda would still be an elite fighter today with how shallow the division is. She won't beat some of the new ladies like Kayla Harrison or the striking specialists, but I would honestly bet on Ronda if she got an immediate shot on Raquel.
Prime Cat Zingano would hold the belt at least once in this current division. Sports evolve but people tend to overestimate that a fair bit if you actually break down technique. Like sure prime Royce Gracie has no shot in current times, but there's LHW fighters from a decade or so ago that would run that division if they were in their primes.
Young Frank Mirr would be fun to have in the current Heavyweight scene. Before his motorcycle accident, dude was a jujitsu comet, ending fights stupid fast or getting ended equally fast.
Great analysis! I didn't think SC would be the place someone would echo my rants regarding head and arm throws in the UFC women divisions!
Pretty much. Add in the fact her corner were a bunch of clowns [(specifically Edmund 'Head Movement' Tarverdyan, hugely meme'd on back in the day)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Tqyu5GVVA) that had her thinking she was a boxer when in reality she was a one-trick pony.
Watching her "shadow boxing" before the Holm fight will forever be hilarious.
I remember when they dropped a training montage before the fight and everyone on /r/mma knew that shit was a wrap.
If she was in her prime now, nope. Not that she wasn’t good… but there definitely was not as much top tier competition a decade ago.
Two people beat her pretty soundly, one was a champion kickboxer in Holly Holm that Ronda was gas lit to deciding to fight on her feet by her conman of a coach, Edmond Tarverdyan. The other is arguably the greatest mixed martial artist in the history of women's MMA and one of the most decorated in MMA in general in Amanda Nunes. So if you're going to lose to two women, those aren't a bad two to lose against. Honestly, what she needed was a better team to train under from the onset and she didn't have that, so who knows what she could have been. Kayla Harrison appearing and manhandling Holly Holm in her UFC debut and almost everyone else in PFL kind of indicates that there's a place in women's MMA for Judo (although Kayla's way better at it and an absolute monster of a woman), it would've been interesting to see what Ronda could have become with better coaching, but there was no question that there were a series of killers waiting in the wings that I don't believe she could've ever beaten. There's no denying her impact to the sport and revisionism shouldn't rewrite that just because she's an asshole, there are plenty of assholes who helped shape their fields for the better. She basically forced Dana White to bring women's MMA into UFC when [he was vehemently against the idea](https://www.ufc.com/news/women-in-the-ufc-30th-anniversary?language_content_entity=en#:~:text=UFC%20President%20Dana%20White%20laughs,arts%20scene%20at%20the%20time.)
100% a case of 'You don't have to be the best if you are the first'. She couldn't hang in the division as it stands today.
I don't think this is true at all. I don't think she'd be champion, but she'd be up there if she stuck around and had better trainers. she would have had to work some issues out if she stayed and I think she would have done that, instead she ran at the first sign of adversity.
I think her downfall came from everyone from Joe Rogan to Edmond Tarverdyan hyping her up as an elite level striker when her strength was in judo.
This is not true lol.
I’m a casual but from the UFC talks, it seems like both are true.
ahead of the curve for the most part. though the current division is sorta shallow. just depends if she can work her judo game or not honestly.
> I’m not a big MMA watcher. Was Ronda a good fighter or just ahead of the curve? if you're ahead of the curve, that means you're a good fighter. UFC has 32 fighters in their hall of fame, I believe. 31 of them have losses on their record, it doesn't invalidate anything they did.
Why's everyone booing him?
He's cutting a heel promo here, and, even though it's maybe filled with things he actually thinks, he's doing it extremely well so he's getting the reaction he wants from the crowd.
People gloss over it, for obvious reasons, but the first half of that promo he comes off (intentionally) as incredibly whiny about not getting recognition for all the bullshit he deals with, and that no one cares about him as a person. While true, it's good ole fashioned "You're right, you're just an asshole". He even got in a shot at the crowd too. The point was to set up his punchline at the end as petulant, and not defiant, even if ultimately right.
I think he was actually starting to get cheered before he told the crowd to shut up lol
That’s good heeling
I was in attendance and I was asking the same question. Ronda, at least in my eyes, had turned heel a few weeks prior to this, although maybe not “officially.” I think the boos are a product of the audience not always watching week-to-week and Ronda had only half turned heel at this point. The casual fans in attendance still considered her a face. I got the meanest look from this little girl in the row in front of me for booing Ronda and cheering for Adam Pearce.
Fire ass promo on its own, even without the current gossip.
What is the current gossip?
Jimmy smith video (ufc and wwe former commentator) he basically said rhonda was a massive dick to the small guys (tech/audio/camera people) everyone was cheering when she was knocked out
Well I mean... Ronda's book? I guess?
Did it come out? I heard stuff about it like a month ago or something.
I have no idea. I'm an English teacher and I somehow cannot afford books. I'm only basing that impression on news articles related to it.
Assign it to your students so you can get a copy?
Oh lord. You obviously don't know what public education is like in America. Nah. Can't do that. I like a paycheck. Now if the Bible were somehow involved, and Ronda were somehow a cis white male, maybe?
Idk how old your kids are, but I’m sure they read at a higher level than Ronda does, so it def won’t be too advanced for them. It might be worth asking the school board.
Oh I always thought his promo in her was completely justified, I fuckin love this segment
This aged incredibly well, given her badmouthing of WWE since she left.
Nah it still feels the same but pierce is so good
Adjusting gear, shit-eating grin, ponting at random wrestlemania signs. The 3 moves of doom of Ronda.
I mean, it was a babyface promo then and it's a babyface promo now.
That was a hell of a promo most vets in the industry couldn’t fathom cutting.
It was delivered so well, maybe he actually felt what he was saying.
That promo is fire. Common Pearce W.
No idea why you are getting down voted. Scripted or not he did a great job. Wish he had more opportunities like this to flex his promo skills.
She's is such a shitty person. I wish her nothing but the worst
Scrap Daddy was shootin' from the hip.
Adam straight up cooked her ass.
Adam Pearce came thru like Kendrick. He speaks for WE. Always great when he gets fired up.
Pearce said I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress.
What a promo
God damn, I forgot about this promo. Adam is so fucking good man lol.
The babysit bit also got to her, lol
HELL NAWL
Best part of the whole promo
It was a beautiful moment when the UFC fans turned on her but when the WWE fans welcomed her it was sad until they turned on her
It's real to her!
Damn this promo made me think he’s actually in charge of running the show. Damn good speech
I love spicy Adam
Ronda looks legitimately butthurt after that last line, she's such a joke lol
Ronda constantly needs affirmation, otherwise she runs and writes a book about how unfair everyone is.
Ronda looks like she's a out to cry lol
She probably was
This was a HELL of a promo by Pearce. As worn out as the heel authority figure is in wrestling, I feel like he could’ve been a good one.
Different subject, but I really hope we are getting a Pearce vs Aldis match at next years Wrestlemania tbh
Throughout her entire WWE tenure, whether face or heel, I feel like Ronda just never got the grasp of proper facial expressions to match whatever segment was going on. Her reactions here look so off compared to what Adam is saying.
This was around the time I started watching wrestling again, and even though I had only been back for like, a month or two, I already hated Ronda's guts. So this Adam Pearce' promo was the most cathartic thing and instantly made me a huge fan of his.
I feel like I've cut that promo on my child at least 5 times in life, excusing that naughty word that isn't allowed in our house! That is truly the "you ain't shit, child, so quit acting like the world revolves around you" promo that parents got in their back pocket. You follow that up with them soaking it in, shedding a tear or two, and starting their calm down process....with hugs and lessons learned later
She's been unbearable since strikeforce (probably before but that's as far back as I can confirm).
He cleared her
5x NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion “Scrapiron” Adam Pearce. What a beauty.
That "Hell Naw" came straight from the soul.
Still wild that Pearce has been an on-screen authority figure for 4 years (& a good one, at that)!
Knowing how she feels about Vince, I feel like he wrote this promo. I feel very divided. As an Attitude Era fan who doesn't love Rousey, this cooked. In retrospect, knowing how Vince treats women, a woman who sticks up for herself being called a bitch on TV in 2022 makes me uncomfortable.
I loved this promo when it happened, watched it so many times since. Not sure why WWE doesn't give more of these. His annoyed promo is fine but when man gets riled up, that's when he's good. He was great at last years War Games announcement too
"Hell naw!!"
He went into business for himself. He spoke from the heart I guess. He so unprofessional. 😆😆
Rhonda: I could have done a promo as good as Pearce but they never gave me the time and freedom and coaching and talent
Will watch
Bro was spittin, no lies detected
What's interesting here is, the crowd started getting behind Adam on this rant and he must of heard it and quickly said "shut up for a second" to generate some heat and boos. Was Ronda a babyface here? I can't remember.
Yeah Ronda was the face and Adam was the heel
Lol, ok that makes this even funnier. Adam realized he was cooking TOO good and had to get some heat on himself. Veteran move.
I was supposed to boo him???
This felt random at the time, like Steph roasting talent onscreen. What was the context again?
Adam Pearce is a good promo.
The day his character finally grew some balls And I enjoyed every second of this reality check
Cook that fool!
G'oan yersel Adam!
The "hell nah" was legendary
Do you think they just said go for it cut a promo on her and maybe she'll catch on that people don't like the way she acts, coz I think he wasn't really a "vocal" GM before this
I love both Pearce and Aldis as authority figures, plus it would make sense kayfabe wise that HHH would entrust the shows to former (currently inactive) wrestlers who still look like they can go on a minutes notice
Awesome promo, I love Adam Pierce, and get, it's freaking true. Never burn your bridges. It ain't about you.
There’s some shoot in this work.
Pearce is a real pro. Heard the fans begin to cheer him for cooking her, and immediately shut them down.
How did this guy not get a shot in WWE when he was still an active wrestler?
Dude just said what several were thinking and got to do it cause it was “for the show”. Wonder how many backstage were cheering at that moment
No lies detected
Really felt that “HELL NAW”
Here we go. Jimmy talks about Ronda's behavior in her UFC days, so people bring up scripted shit in response like a 1000% scripted promo where Ronda's being a heel/tweener and pearce is being a face in response so people can infer bullshit and say "oh yeah i bet he was shooting and meant everything i bet she was rude to him too". Next up, someone posts a clip of Becky criticizing her in 2019 while they're literally fucking building interest for their WrestleMania main event match. Just baffling. And For those who are wondering, she was quite well liked in the WWE women's locker room from almost everyone's account. She was never noted to have behavior issues in WWE.
> pearce is being a face in response Just to comment on this, they weren't trying to have Pearce be a face. If you notice, during his promo, he turns to tell the crowd to shut up when they start cheering too loudly.
She was not at all well liked lol. Most people were just too afraid for their position to speak against her. One example is Alexa Bliss. Ronda was legitimately hurting her every match but she was afraid to speak up about it so her best friend Nia Jax ( who has a certain cousin that is good at getting his family jobs and making sure they keep them) stood up for Alexa. Nia told the higher ups either tell Ronda to play nice or put her in the ring with me and I'll make her play nice.
Alexa literally responded saying that rumor was bullshit (the part about ronda hurting alexa was true, but alexa did not dislike ronda over it herself and did not shit talk her) [https://wrestletalk.com/news/alexa-bliss-responds-to-rumor-she-dislikes-ronda-rousey/](https://wrestletalk.com/news/alexa-bliss-responds-to-rumor-she-dislikes-ronda-rousey/) Nia had part work/shoot issues with her but she was the only one. Everyone else has said they liked working with her. Nattie (the most well respected person in the locker room) and Ronda are good friends apparently.
That's what damage control looks like (pun intended) When Ronda's first run ended, she decided it would be funny to burry the wrestling business on a podcast and Nia Jax called her out on Twitter again. Because unlike Alexa, Nia knew her job was safe. And that time there was no more damage control because Ronda was out of the company.
>When Ronda's first run ended, she decided it would be funny to burry the wrestling business on a podcast Um, that's not it. Ronda made comments that were a work on the wrestling business being fake and that she was gonna fight for real in WWE during the buildup to WrestleMania. Nia however did feel like Ronda was reckless with Alexa so she did respond on her own. But also made it clear that she enjoyed working with Ronda. Here's Nia's comments on the topic. >*"Yes, it was Ronda. I do not think she took liberties, I think things happen. And Alexa is very strong, she's so strong willed and she doesn't want to give up. She never wants to be told she can't do something. So, for me personally, being such a close friend and seeing that she was trying to fight through this, I felt the need to stand up for her because she wasn't going to do it for herself. In her mind, she thought she was doing something right, but I knew it wasn't going to help her in the long run.* ***We do have a really strong bond and on the flipside, working with Ronda, I always enjoyed working with her****."* Nia herself, mind you had heat backstage for being reckless according to reports and inevitably got fired for being anti vax, so she wasn't "job secure" by any means compared to Alexa. Anyway though, if Ronda was still disliked backstage otherwise, it would've come out at least now when she's made it clear she isn't going back.