Ronda Rousey and Nikki Bella will square off for the Raw Women’s Championship at Evolution on Sunday, October 28. WWE fans know this. But what they don’t know is how good this match will be, or should be. The fact is that Rousey, for all she’s accomplished, still has a lot to prove.

This match needs to be top notch and it needs to be memorable. WWE cannot simply throw the champ in the ring with the star of Total Bellas and expect that magic will happen. It’s up to both Ronda and Nikki to stand up and deliver.

This is what a high pressure situation feels like and both of these Superstars are surely aware of it. Evolution has caught so much heat from fans, mostly because of WWE’s failure to promote the event. Indeed, it’s as if the company has focused solely on Crown Jewel and nothing else.

But Evolution was supposed to be different. This was not a run of the mill pay-per-view, quickly forgotten the day after it happens. This was the first ever all-women’s pay-per-view, which meant it deserved every ounce of attention that WWE could give.

It also deserved a much better card, which has been another point of contention among the WWE faithful. Yes, all of the big names are booked. But none of the matches truly have a “big fight feel.” The only exception is Becky Lynch versus Charlotte Flair and that bout may very well steal the show.

It’s a Last Woman Standing Match, which means Lynch and Flair should hopefully have enough time to work in order to tell the story. The SmackDown Women’s Championship is on the line, which means the importance of the match is definitely high. Flair and Lynch have great chemistry and there’s every reason to believe that this match will be an instant classic.

But despite how great that match will be, it’s Rousey versus Bella that must make a lasting impression. This is especially true for Ronda, who has become the face of the Raw women’s division. She’s also become the face of WWE women’s wrestling, at least to the outside world. She is the former UFC champion that made the transition and took pro wrestling by storm. If she’s not on her game at Evolution, then everyone around her suffers.

For Nikki Bella, this match is her chance to prove she can still perform at a high level. Her ring work since returning has not been sharp, giving her critics ample opportunity to scrutinize not only her, but her place in WWE as well. Has the women’s division evolved beyond her? After all, The Bella Twins rose to prominence when the women of WWE still referred to as Divas.

Therein lays one of the major storyline points of this feud. Nikki Bella, for all of her stardom and mainstream crossover success, is a Diva and not a pro wrestler. She’s glam, she’s superficial and she’s commercial. Nikki Bella is a product of WWE’s star-making machine, rolled off the assembly line and presented as an empowered and highly confident woman. 

At one time, she and her sister were the best that WWE had to offer when it came to the women’s division. The Bella Twins were it. But everything changed of course when Charlotte, Becky, Bayley and Sasha Banks came to the main roster. From that point on, The Bella’s dominance in WWE was immediately challenged. 

So when Ronda Rousey arrived in WWE, the table had already been set. Expectations were high for her but most of the anticipation surrounding Rousey came from her level of ability. Could she work? Would she fit in? The desire to see how she would look in the ring overrode everything else. But when it comes to Nikki, many fans assume that the women’s division has already passed her by.

She is the veteran in this match and she will surely call the match. Ronda Rousey is in her hands. But even as Nikki is the ring general of the equation, Ronda is the one that has taken the torch of leadership for women’s wrestling in WWE. Rousey is a major star and the company trusts her to not only show up, but show off.

Rousey and Bella could not be more different and that is why they’re perfect together. WWE has written the narrative and each one is playing her part. All that remains is to step into the ring and give fans the kind of match that Evolution deserves. This is where the pressure comes in.

Evolution has indeed been poorly promoted and the card is weaker than it should be. The event did not sell out in record time as the company would have wanted. WWE is shining a spotlight on the event now but it may be too little, too late. However, none of this is on Rousey and Bella. 

All of the chaos is background noise for them and it should be. Nikki and Ronda have to focus on their match at Evolution and more importantly, they have get their match over. It’s not enough that Nikki Bella is one of the most recognized WWE performers outside of the company. It’s also not enough that Ronda Rousey is the most recognized female athlete in the world. 

All that matters is Evolution. The same rules apply here that apply to the male Superstars of WWE. Ego, pride and the need to shine are very real things. Fans have to assume that the same motivations driving men to want the best match on the card are driving the women of Evolution as well. Rousey and Bella may or may not go on last. They may or may not need to. 

But at the end of the night, the woman that has become the face of women’s wrestling must have established herself in the ring as the Alpha Female of WWE. The face of the Divas movement must remind everyone of just how good she is and why fans shouldn’t go to sleep on her. Each woman knows what must happen, just as they know how important Evolution is to women’s wrestling in WWE. They only get one chance to make it count.