WrestleMania season officially kicks off in just a few weeks, and possible matches are actively being discussed. Over the past few months, Becky Lynch has been arguably the most popular name on the WWE roster, with implications that she could be heading into the first-ever women's main event at the "grandest stage of them all" on April 7. Her opponent is slated to be the current Raw Women's Champion, Ronda Rousey.
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Since her official debut at WrestleMania 34, Rousey has been exceeding expectations, showing the WWE Universe that she is serious about the jump from MMA to pro wrestling. Just a little over four months after debuting, Rousey defeated Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam to win the title and became one of the fastest women in WWE history to start a reign as champion after debuting.
Since the two people who she has engaged in intense rivalries with over the past month — Becky Lynch and Charlotte — are both on the SmackDown Live brand, Rousey has been concentrating on her Raw rival, Nia Jax. At TLC, Rousey was able to force Jax to tap out to her arm bar.
While the expectation for Rousey vs. Lynch is high, there were surprising alternative matches slated for WrestleMania. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Natalya was once considered to headline the show against Rousey.
Rousey vs. Natalya was to be the women's main event, but the two things that took that out of the picture were that Lynch and Flair got hurt, and that Jim Neidhart died, and once Neidhart died, Vince didn't want to turn Natalya heel on Rousey any time soon." — Wrestling Observer Newsletter
A reluctant victory, but @RondaRousey defeats @NatByNature to retain her #RAW #WomensTitle. #RAWChristmas #AndStill pic.twitter.com/DK9cjiHAkX
— WWE (@WWE) December 25, 2018
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This may come as a surprise to many, especially since both Becky Lynch and Charlotte has been the rumored names to compete against Rousey over the past few months. Based on the previous episode of Raw, it looks like her feud with the Riott Squad has ended, since the trio attacked Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Ember Moon. Rousey was also able to retain her Raw Women's Championship against Natalya, but there have been subtle actions over the past few weeks to indicate a possible heel turn from the former champion.
"I think we are gonna headline WrestleMania this year," she said. "I feel strongly that we will do that. The Women's Evolution right now in WWE- it's on fire. Women have never been involved as they are right now in the company, and we're doing things every single day to show that women are at the forefront. We have women behind the scenes that are in charge, like Stephanie McMahon and Michelle Wilson and so many different women taking on leadership roles in the company. We had our first-ever all-women's pay-per-view. I've been a part of so many first-ever, incredible female moments in the company, like the first-ever women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match, the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble, the first-ever Women's Table Match..."
— Natalya, via The Wrap
While the unfortunate death of Natalya's father, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, halted plans of a heel turn and feud with Ronda Rousey, WWE could be resuming this soon. However, the possibility of Natalya competing against Rousey at WrestleMania 35 is very low, especially since both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair are a bit higher on the popularity totem pole than she is.
