Getting a grip: Ronda Rousey schedule; WrestleMania card; WWE Fastlane preview

Brian Fritz

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Getting a grip: Ronda Rousey schedule; WrestleMania card; WWE Fastlane preview image

Each week, Sporting News runs down the biggest stories in the world of professional wrestling.

Ronda Rousey schedule

While WWE is going with the storyline that Universal Champion Brock Lesnar is entitled and doesn’t care about the fans, they are doing the exact opposite with “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey.

WWE announced that Rousey will be appearing at every “RAW” leading up to WrestleMania 34. That includes next week’s show in Detroit followed by Dallas, Cleveland, and the go-home show in Atlanta on April 2.

MORE: Could WWE programming be headed to Fox?

Rousey officially has a WrestleMania match as she’ll team with Kurt Angle against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. This past Monday, Rousey stated that she wanted McMahon one-on-one before Angle, who noted that Stephanie could not back out of the match, then said he wanted a piece of him and announced the mixed tag team bout.

While this match won’t close out WrestleMania, expect it to get the most hype and television time leading up to the big event. WWE has made a substantial investment in Rousey and her debut match at the grandest stage of them all will earn the company an incredible amount of coverage on entertainment and sports outlets around the world.

As for Rousey, she is already looking more comfortable, especially when it comes to the physical part of the job. Make no mistake about it — she is under a microscope with people ready to pick her apart once she steps between the ropes at WrestleMania. WWE is making the right call in easing her in with the mixed tag team match. She is a star under heavy pressure but she is also a wrestling rookie and will make mistakes like everyone else.

WWE Fastlane preview

There is one more pay-per-view before WWE goes full-on WrestleMania hype with this Sunday’s “SmackDown”-only Fastlane event.

Here is the card that has been announced so far:

— AJ Styles vs. John Cena vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship
— Bobby Roode vs. Randy Orton for the WWE United States Championship
— The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) vs. The New Day for the WWE "SmackDown" Tag Team Championship
— Charlotte Flair vs. Ruby Riott (with Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan) for the WWE "SmackDown" Women's Championship
— Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev
— Becky Lynch and Naomi vs. Natalya and Carmella

MORE: WWE Fastlane — what you need to know

This could be one of those under-the-radar shows come the end of the night but don’t expect a lot, or any, title changes with 'Mania right around the corner.

Quick predictions: AJ Styles remains WWE Champion keeping alive the “dream” match against Nakamura, Roode retains the United States championship after Jinder Mahal interferes, Flair defends the women’s championship, Nakamura beats Rusev, and Becky Lynch and Naomi score a victory.

New WrestleMania matches

“RAW” on Monday night saw more matches announced for WrestleMania including the mixed tag team match along with a Triple Threat between The Miz, Seth Rollins, and Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship.

While all of these have not been made official, we now have a good idea at how most of the card is expected to shape up.

— Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship
— AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship
— Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H
— The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship
— Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair for the “SmackDown” Women’s Championship
— Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax for the “RAW” Women’s Championship
— Bobby Roode vs. Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal for the United States Championship
— John Cena vs. The Undertaker
— Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
— Bayley vs. Sasha Banks
— The Usos vs. The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The New Day for the “SmackDown” Tag Team Titles

If those are correct, that would be 11 matches for the show even before adding one for the “RAW” Tag Team Titles and a possible “Final Deletion” match between “Woken” Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt. PWInsider.com is reporting that the match is being taped today at the Hardy compound in Cameron, N.C.

“Final Deletion” could run on an episode of “RAW” rather than WrestleMania where the best fit would seemingly be to air during the kickoff show. As for the tag team titles on the red brand, Sheamus and Cesaro look like a team without any dance partners right now. Maybe that could be Matt Hardy along with his brother Jeff, who could be cleared from injury for a return by then.

So where does Braun Strowman fit in? WWE could add him to the Universal Championship match but it looks like that will remain a one-on-one match without him. He could also be added to the Intercontinental Title match but the storyline around it makes more sense without him.

There has been no word about an Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but Strowman looks to above that now. Maybe the show will simply have Strowman lurking over it, causing dismay and destruction backstage throughout the night.

And there is still the question of whether or not The Undertaker will be on the show. I’m still betting he will be but WWE and Cena are really trying to sell that Cena could miss the show if he doesn’t win the WWE Championship at Fastlane.

Notable injuries

Rey Mysterio may have to put his upcoming plans on hold.

The former WWE Champion looks to have suffered at least a partially torn biceps this past weekend at a show for Northeast Wrestling. There is still no final word on the severity of the injury and if he’ll require surgery.

Mysterio is scheduled to face Jushin “Thunder” Liger at the NJPW Strong Style: Evolved show in Long Beach on March 25 but that match may have to be scrapped. The lucha star has also reportedly been talking with the WWE about a return. Even if a deal is reached, it’s unknown when he will be back in the ring.

Bobby Fish, one-half of the NXT Tag Team Champions with Kyle O’Reilly, also suffered a knee injury last weekend. He is expected to have knee surgery later this week and could miss a significant amount of time depending on the severity of the injury.

Alberto Del Rio and WWE?

Never say never when it comes to wrestling.

PWInsider.com reports that former WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio is talking to WWE about yet another return. Despite his rocky relationship with the company over the past few years, Vince McMahon has always been extremely high on him as a performer.

Del Rio, currently working at Impact Wrestling and elsewhere under the name Alberto El Patron, was released from WWE in 2014 following an altercation with someone on the social media team who made a racist joke. He was back with the company a year later but negotiated his release in August 2016 following a violation of the Wellness Policy and how he thought it was handled.

Add to that some public rants towards WWE Executive Vice President Paul “Triple H” Levesque and some drama in his personal life that saw him and his now former fiancée Paige get into a public incident last summer.

Del Rio has apologized to Levesque and he could possibly have one more WWE run once his current Impact Wrestling contract expires in late April. That company would also like to keep him around, as he’s one of their top stars.

MLW Spring Break ‘18

Major League Wrestling is back in action Thursday night at the Gilt Nightclub in Orlando, Fla. with its “Spring Break ’18" event.

The show will include Low Ki vs. MVP in an unsanctioned match along with the semi-finals of the MLW Heavyweight Championship tournament in which Matt Riddle faces ACH and Shane Strickland takes on Jimmy Havoc. For those who cannot attend the show live, it will be available online 72 hours after it ends via internet pay-per-view at MLW.tv.

MLW CEO Court Bauer told Sporting News that the show is the start of bigger things for the promotion.

“March 8 is the beginning of Stage 2 for us,” said Bauer. “I have to be cryptic at the moment but I am excited by what is on the horizon for Major League Wrestling and our fans. You have to find a way to distinguish yourself as a league and for us, it’s promoting a genuine sport driven product and showcasing a variety of styles featuring wrestlers with a distinct vibe and journey.

"I love seeing the fusion of fighting styles. I know fans do too. Same goes for diverse talent. We have super heavyweights, brash big mouths, badass fighters from the UFC, top-level luchadors.”

Since MLW began running live events in late 2017, each show has seen a mix of styles and talents to give fans a unique show and experience.

“We're assembling something that has the ingredients to be a big mover in 2018 and beyond,” said Bauer. “We’ve had the good fortune of a passionate home team fan base behind us along with national advertisers as partners.  That helps us ensure we can move down the road.  March 8th is sort of a "big bang" for us on many levels.”

MORE: Andrea Ocampo on how wrestling has embraced her 'crazy'

Ring of Honor celebrates anniversary

ROH’s also has a big event on Friday night with its 16th-anniversary show taking place in Las Vegas and available on pay-per-view, the FITE.tv app, and VIP members of its newly launched Honor Club streaming service through the ROHWrestling.com website.

There is a certain level expected from ROH events and this has some potentially great matches including The Hung Bucks — made up of Bullet Club members Matt and Nick Jackson (Young Bucks) and Adam “Hangman” Page — against So Cal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) along with the The Motor City Machine Guns against the The Briscoes with both expected to wild affairs.

Also on the show is Dalton Castle defending the ROH World Championship against Jay Lethal, Bullet Club’s Cody against Matt Taven, and Flip Gordon squaring off against NJPW star Hiromu Takahashi in what should be a high-flying spectacular.

News and notes

— “RAW” announcer Jonathan Coachman has been accused of inappropriate behavior by a former ESPN female co-worker in a discrimination lawsuit filed against the sports network. WWE released a statement about that matter saying, “We take these matters very seriously and are investigating.” Coachman took to Twitter himself to vigorously deny the allegations.

— As expected, The Young Bucks and Cody announced this week on “Being The Elite” that the Sept. 1 “All In” event will take place in Chicago at the Sears Centre Arena. No word yet on when tickets will go on sale or matches but it should be a stacked card as they try to reach their goal of selling 10,000 seats.

— If you’re a fan of more championships, this will make you happy. PWInsider.com reports that WWE is planning on introducing Cruiserweight Tag Team titles for the “205 Live” brand after WrestleMania. And at the most recent NXT TV tapings, general manager William Regal announced that the brand is introducing an NXT North American Championship with the first winner being crowned at the NXT Takeover: New Orleans show the night before Mania.

— WWE is increasing its presence and partnership in Saudi Arabia and the Saudi General Sports Authority. That includes a huge event at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, April 27. The show at the 62,000-seat stadium will include the “Greatest Royal Rumble” match, a first-ever 50-man battle royal.

— Now matter how big he gets, The Rock always has a great sense of humor.

Brian Fritz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and listen to his Between The Ropes podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

Brian Fritz

Brian Fritz Photo

Brian Fritz is a contributor with The Sporting News covering the NBA and NFL who previously worked at BasketballNews. He is a 20-year veteran of sports talk radio in Orlando, Florida, after graduating from the University of Central Florida. He now resides in Durham, North Carolina.