Bengaluru, Jan 31: Ronda Rousey made her triumphant return to WWE programming at this Saturday’s Royal Rumble event. After winning the 30-Woman Rumble match, she’s apparently going after the women’s title on the blue brand.

Reports from Wrestling Observer have noted that it looks like “The Queen” Charlotte Flair and “The Baddest on the Planet” Ronda Rousey will lock horns at WrestleMania 38 over the Smackdown Women’s Championship.

Rousey’s return and the subsequent Rumble match win obviously indicated the much-anticipated singles bout against Becky Lynch over the Raw Women’s Title in April.

However, the speculation is that WWE pushed back this mega match for a year. Rousey vs. Lynch is reportedly set to serve as one of the main events for next year’s WrestleMania at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

At Rumble 2022, the current SmackDown Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair voluntarily put herself into the Rumble and claimed to win so that she can choose her challenger for her title match at The Biggest Event of the Year.

That would have been the case if it wasn’t for Rousey who victimized Flair to be the final elimination from the 30-woman melee. Apparently, that was the angle to set up the upcoming Wrestlemania 38 match.

Recent reports already suggested that Ronda Rousey is expected to be with the WWE for more than a year. While contract specifics have not been revealed, the current stint started at the 2022 Royal Rumble and it should last up to Wrestlemania 39 in Hollywood in 2023.

It was noted that the UFC Hall of Famer will have a substantial run with numerous appearances on the Smackdown brand throughout this year. For the time being, she's booked for a one-off appearance on tonight's Raw from Cincinnati.

FOX officials will be happy with this as they’d receive two 2022 Rumble winners in Lesnar (for a storyline with Roman Reigns) and Rousey (for a storyline with Charlotte Flair) on Friday nights en route to Wrestlemania 38.

Reports also mentioned how Rousey is currently under contract with the WWE. Her original deal expired in April 2021. She either signed a new deal or WWE just froze her original three-year deal since she only worked the first year and then headed for a long hiatus.

The former Raw Women’s Champion dropped her title to Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 35 main event in 2019 in a Triple Threat which also featured Charlotte Flair in it.

Rousey took the time-off as she wanted to build her family. She and her husband Travis Browne welcomed their first child, a baby girl named La’akea Makalapuaokalanipō Browne in September, last year.