Ronda Rousey: Five possible challengers after WWE SmackDown Women's title win

On last week’s Friday Night SmackDown Ronda Rousey defeated Raquel Rodriguez in the first defence of her SmackDown Women’s Championship.

Rousey beat Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Title earlier this month at WrestleMania Backlash, in a I Quit match that has since ruled Flair out of action ‘indefinitely’.  Therefore, a new challenger needs to be found for The Baddest Woman on the Planet and her blue brand crown.

GiveMeSport looks at five possible candidates to be Ronda Rousey’s next opponent. 

Bayley 

The most credible challenger to Rousey’s title is someone who isn’t even on the roster right now. Bayley has been out of action since last July with her torn ACL injury, however reports suggest she is ready to return imminently. That return needs to be big – especially given the constant teases we’ve been getting across social media from Bayley herself – and what bigger way is there then for her to challenge the current champ?

Rousey and Bayley have never worked a proper programme opposite each other, with their only clash coming on an episode of Monday Night Raw during Ronda’s first run, where Rousey successfully defended her Raw Women’s Championship against the hugger face version of Bayley. A return for SmackDown’s longest reigning women’s champion in a big money feud with The Baddest Women on the Planet is exactly what the blue brand needs right now. 

Shayna Baszler 

Here’s an interesting twist, why not play into the real friendship of Rousey and Baszler and turn Shayna into a legit threat to Ronda’s championship. Baszler has spent far too long in the tag team ranks on the main roster and it’s time we saw the kind of displays that made her such a dominant force on NXT, where she reigned as champion on two