How to Improve Ronda Rousey Before WWE WrestleMania 38 Match vs. Charlotte Flair

WWE WrestleMania 38 arrives April 2, yet plenty of work remains as far as getting the audience invested in the build to Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair on Night 1 of the event.

The announcement of the match following Rousey's return at the Royal Rumble didn't generate a ton of excitement. From a storyline standpoint, it made more sense to go with Rousey vs. Becky Lynch given the unfinished business between the two.

Moreover, Rousey proved during her initial run with the company that she is best suited to being a heel. With Charlotte Flair being positioned as the top female heel on SmackDown, WWE had no choice but to turn Rousey face for the feud.

While it hasn't gotten off to the strongest start, the rivalry can be improved with a few small tweaks to Rousey's character. She's been away from the squared circle for three years, so it's hardly surprising that it's taken her time to find her footing again.

This is how WWE can go about improving The Baddest Woman on the Planet ahead of her marquee SmackDown Women's Championship clash with Flair on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Rousey didn't wrestle for long upon her return at the Royal Rumble, but it was clear she had ring rust. Her strikes didn't look too devastating, and some of her transition spots came off as awkward.

Her ring rust was once again evident in her tag team match alongside Naomi against Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville at Elimination Chamber. Having one arm tied behind her back didn't help matters, but even so, her offense didn't have the same sense of smoothness it did a few years ago.

Thankfully, that's something that can be improved upon with the more matches she has. Considering she's coming back after giving birth quicker than likely anyone else in WWE history, she shouldn't be blamed for her in-ring game not being what it once was just yet.

She's only had two matches this year, and both were multi-woman affairs, which was wise so she could gradually ease herself back into the swing of things. It was also smart of WWE to book her in a singles match against Sonya Deville regardless of how long it ends up being.

That's in addition to her upcoming appearance at WWE's Madison Square Garden house show and any other potential matchups that may come up on SmackDown between now and WrestleMania. WWE is taking the right steps to ensure her outing with Charlotte is on par with their Survivor Series encounter from 2018.

One of the biggest problems that plagued Rousey's original run with WWE was that she booked to look too strong, which caused the fans to turn against her.

It worked well when she turned heel and she was portrayed as the bully of Raw's women's division, but it wasn't as effective during her time as a babyface. That's what WWE must avoid now that she's back in the babyface role.

Her feud with Charlotte Flair has been one-sided so far. She tossed her out of the Royal Rumble with ease, laid her out on SmackDown during Friday's contract signing and won a tag team match with one arm tied behind her back at Elimination Chamber.

If the idea is for Rousey to win the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania (and she should), then putting heat on Flair so that it looks like she at least poses some sort of threat to Rousey is imperative. The Baddest Woman on the Planet will need to look vulnerable so that fans will want to rally behind her.

It's believable that Rousey would run roughshod over the entire roster given her history in the UFC, but if her streak of dominance continues, the audience will have more of an incentive to boo her, much like what happened in 2018.

Even after all these years, Rousey's mic skills are still her Achilles' heel. That said, she's already shown improvement on this front during the month she's been back in the company.

Her mic work wasn't much of an issue early on in her initial WWE run because she came off as genuine and likable. It wasn't until WWE started to overly script her promos that they became a problem. They did, however, pick up again when she turned heel and had the chance to lay into the audience.

Giving her a few minutes to talk without any direction on the post-Royal Rumble Raw wound up being the worst thing WWE could have done. She has thankfully sounded a lot less robotic in recent promos, but she shouldn't be cutting promos as much as she has been.

It's one thing for Rousey to engage in a war of words with Flair when necessary or to explain why she returned, as she did on Friday's SmackDown, but Rousey has traditionally let her fighting do the talking.

She should need to know how to cut a proper promo, but giving her a live microphone every week is unnecessary. Less is more is the approach WWE must take with Rousey on the mic so that she can maintain her mystique and come off as intimidating as possible.

A common criticism of WWE is that Vince McMahon instructs the babyfaces on the roster to smile more than they should. It tends to come off as phoney, but with Rousey, her contagious smile is the key to her babyface appeal.

Crowds were a lot less inclined to cheer her when she first returned and didn't play to the audience whatsoever. Rather, she looked disinterested in being back, when in reality she worked tirelessly to return because she's a legitimate fan of the business.

That's the Rousey we will need to see more of if this babyface experiment is going be a success. It worked the first time around, and it led her to becoming one of the most popular stars on the roster.

The thrill of her being back will wear off soon—if it hasn't already. So it's important she engages with the audience and lets it be known that she returned for them. Having a fantastic foil in Flair will help tremendously, but Rousey will need to hold up her end of the bargain by not giving the WWE Universe any reason to turn against her.

The more personality and charisma she shows in her matches and promos leading into WrestleMania, the bigger the babyface she will become.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.