15 WWE Break-Ups That IMMEDIATELY Backfired

The best storylines in wrestling have time to breathe. There's an excellent kickoff chapter at the start, a satisfying (and hopefully lengthy) middle portion that builds camaraderie then tension, and a steam-filled split that leads to a blistering feud. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler can only claim to have the first part down. Their union in October 2022 made a heck of a lot of sense.

Both Ronda and Shayna had cut their teeth in the MMA world, and they were believably badass. Together, fans believed this no-nonsense pairing would deliver some realistic matches that rescued the women's tag division from its frequent slumber. On the 29 May 2023 Raw, Rousey and Baszler became the brand new Women's Tag Team Champs, and they were off to the races.

WWE chose a 100m sprint, not a 10k.

The submission-based pals held those belts until Money In The Bank in July when Baszler nonsensically turned on Rousey. Their follow up feud was a dud, and the ‘MMA Rules’ match at SummerSlam was brutally bad. It might even be one of the worst gimmicked bouts in WWE PPV/PLE history.

Sadly, Shayna didn’t even benefit from beating Ronda and effectively sending her packing from WWE. The creative squad forgot about her overnight after SummerSlam, and her Pure Fusion Collective stuff with Sonya Deville and Zoey Stark pre-release was nothing to write home about.

Since leaving the company, Rousey has also badmouthed it at every turn. Sorry, 'Rowdy', but you take some of the blame for how woeful your second run turned out. Some, but not all. WWE themselves fumbled what should've been some cool MMA-inspired content.