Posted in: Pop Culture, Sports, WWE | Tagged: ronda rousey, wrasslin, wrestling, wwe

What Was Up with Ronda Rousey's "Millennials" Promo on WWE Raw Last Night?

We've been so preoccupied with Becky Lynch today (and can you blame us?) that we almost forgot about the other thing we wanted to talk to you readers about from the world of wrasslin' today, specifically: what the hell was up with Ronda Rousey's "millennials" rant on last night's episode of Monday Night Raw?

Rousey, who most agree has progressed pretty quickly both in the ring on the mic compared to how new she is at wrestling, started off strong with a basic wrestling promo.

"She's 'The Man' and she really can dish out," Rousey began. "But Becky should know that I wasn't trying to offend her or mock her past or her path to becoming champion or anything like that. I mean, I was just trying to point how ridiculous her threats of ripping my arm off are. While she was learning the alphabet, I was learning armbars. While she was learning how to juggle, I was learning armbars. While she was learning that the exit is sometimes behind you, I was learning armbars. I really can't believe that I have t take the time to point all of this out. Yeah, Becky can dish it out, but she sure isn't that good at taking it."

Ok, fine. Standard stuff, delivered well. But here's where things went off the rails.

"Becky, you are so hypersensitive," Rousey continued. "You're not just 'The Man.' You are the Millennial man."

Wait, isn't that Chris Jericho?

"You are the skinny jeans wearing, v-neck sporting, avocado toast munching, wingtip wearing, Millennial man, with a bubble-wrapped ego and a porcelain self-perception," she went on. "Someone needs to tell 'The Man' that I am not Charlotte Flair, Raw is not Smackdown, and being offended doesn't make you right."

Uh, what? We'll preface this by saying that, as a Gen-Xer, we have no horse in this race, but what the heck is Ronda even talking about?

In-character, Becky Lynch has always been something of a populist hero, even after her "heel turn," which has only served to make her even more popular. She just won the championship from Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match with big violent action that harkened back to WWE's Attitude Era. Before the end of the night, Lynch would be standing triumphantly over Rousey after getting her nose broken in the ring, her face, arms, and hands covered in her own blood. Out of character, Lynch is an elite athlete who worked her way to the top. No matter how you look at it, Lynch doesn't fit the wimpy hipster image Rousey ascribed to her here. It's the kind of promo that might make sense against a character like The Miz or maybe even Alexa Bliss, but it just didn't make any sense used against Becky Lynch.

We can only conclude that Rousey, who has reportedly had a lot of creative input on her promos, shoehorned this rant in as a general critique of Millennials. Or Vince McMahon did. It does sound like something a crotchety old man would say. Or maybe they both came up with it together. Either way, it felt out of place in this context, and the live audience seemed to be mostly confused about it as well. Perhaps it's because they know Ronda Rousey herself is actually a millennial? Maybe it's because a significant portion of the crowd are, and another significant portion are children who don't particularly care about that sort of thing.

Rousey closed with a strong ending to the promo, saying: "So you can put the violins away, Champ. You are not Oliver Twist, and I am not some trust fund baby golden child. Okay? Every fan that I got has watched me sweat for every single ounce of their respect. They've watched me bleed for every single inch of progress. And they've watched me mourn every single setback, and I sure as hell didn't pour my heart and soul into changing the meaning of 'fight like a girl' so the leader of the Women's Evolution (TM) could call herself 'The Man'!"

Watch the promo below for yourself and let us know what you think.

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