WWE Hell in a Cell – September 16th 2018

WWE's run of having Ronda's matches early on the pay-per-view cards continued at Hell in a Cell. The logic behind it was that it would leave open the possibility of her reappearing later in the night to cash-in her Money in the Bank contract.

However, when Ronda entered the arena for her street fight against Elena D'Agostino, there was no briefcase in sight. Neither the briefcase nor its designated keeper, Zelina Vega, had been seen since the night of Elena's debut, where she had almost literally kicked Zelina's head off her shoulders.

"Ronda Rousey coming out alone," Clementine observed. "Still no sign of Zelina Vega, her manager, who was taken out several weeks ago by Ronda's opponent tonight, Elena D'Agostino, who will be making her official WWE debut."

"Who would ever have thought you would be saying those words?" Cole asked. "I for one had resigned myself to the fact that we would never see Elena in WWE, but you know what they say: never say never, especially in WWE."

"We can all agree that Elena is a fantastic wrestler; a show-stealer; one of the best female athletes in the world, and one of the most accomplished female wrestlers of all time," Coach said. "But with all of that notwithstanding, she has never competed in a WWE ring, or against an opponent like Rowdy Ronda Rousey. Daga needs to keep her focus away from the hype and on the fight she's about to get into."

"And it was a fight that Elena requested," Clementine added. "She was the one who asked Stephanie McMahon to book a street fight, and her request was granted."

Ronda was dressed for a fight, wearing black pants and boots, and her latest merchandise t-shirt with The Arm Collector written on it in the same font that had originally belonged to Rowdy Roddy Piper. With no Zelina to handle the announcement of her, it was left to Jojo to do the honours as Ronda entered the ring.

"The following contest is a street fight! Introducing first, from Venice, California, The Arm Collector, Rowdy Ronda Rousey!"

Some of the fans booed the introduction, but their main focus was on what was next to come: Elena D'Agostino's first ever entrance for a WWE match. It promised to be quite the spectacle. The fans had already taken to singing along to the tune of her theme music, in a similar way to the reactions that Sami Zayn often got.

Bad Reputation faded out. Everyone in the building appeared to be on their feet, looking toward the stage, waiting for Elena's entrance.

The lights in the arena went out, and the Italian flag with the name D'Agostino appeared on the screen as the female opera singer holding a high note served as an intro. The fans went wild for their new favourite female star.

"Listen to this reaction!" Clementine cried. "I swear, the building is shaking!"

A spotlight pierced the darkness, shining on Elena, who was crouched at the top of the entrance ramp. There was another loud cheer.

"Here we go!" Cole yelled as Elena leapt to her feet, the lights all coming back on at the same moment. That was when the part of the music began that the fans sang along to. It was close to deafening.

"I wish you could be with us to experience this atmosphere!" Clementine exclaimed.

"This is incredible, no doubt," Coach said. "For those who haven't seen Elena in action before, let me tell you that you're in for a real treat. She's tough, she kicks ass, and she puts on a great show while she's doing it."

"Here we go," Cole said, leading into Elena's entrance to the ring.

Standing on the apron, she took hold of the top rope and used it for leverage to summersault into the ring, drawing yet another loud cheer. With that, Elena took off her white sports jacket with the Italian flag on the breast and dropped it over the top rope.

"And her opponent," Jojo announced. "From Milan, Italy, La Virtuosa, Elena D'Agostino!"

Another cheer went up. The fans couldn't wait to see Elena in action, or to see what they assumed was going to be a brutal fight get underway.

Both women were ready. The referee called for the bell, drawing yet another cheer.

"The bell has sounded," Clementine said. "Rousey – D'Agostino. I've got a feeling only one of them is going to walk away from this street fight. Which one is it going to be?"

Ronda seemed a little surprised by the fact that Elena came forward with her fists up in a fighting stance.

"Daga really does want to fight Ronda," Cole said. "I'm not sure how smart that game plan is."

The two women had stalked each other around the ring for a moment before Ronda attempted a couple of jabs, not getting through Elena's defences.

Clearly annoyed and not respecting her opponent as a fighter, Ronda threw a big left hand, going for a knockout blow.

Elena simply swayed out of the way of the potentially devastating strike, even pulling a face at it in the process. The crowd cheered her on, loving the showmanship.

Angered by the disrespect, Ronda game flying back in with more jabs. But then things changed quickly. After blocking one of Ronda's strikes, Elena suddenly came out firing with her own offence. Her first punch got through, and Ronda was immediately rocking.

"Oh, Rousey's in trouble! Rousey's in big trouble!" Clementine shouted as punch after punch connected, Elena's hands moving at lightning speed.

The fans could barely believe what they were seeing. They roared Elena on as she battered Ronda with rights and lefts. The Arm Collector had been backed into the corner, just trying to cover up and defend herself. Even so, damage was being done.

With Ronda stuck in the corner, the referee stepped in to separate the two women. He backed Elena off into the middle of the ring, but as soon as Ronda came stumbling out of the corner, Elena rushed back over there and hit her with a thunderous right hand that Ronda barely even saw coming. She went down like a bag of wet sand as the crowd erupted.

"Rousey's down!" Coach yelled. "If this was a boxing match, that would be a knockout."

It was a knockout in WWE, too. Elena got down and made a cover, and the delighted fans all counted along.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"It's over!" Cole called in shock, over an absolute eruption from the fans.

"It happened so fast!" Clementine yelled. "Ronda Rousey just got knocked out by Elena D'Agostino! The fight lasted barely a minute! I can't believe it!"

"I'm in shock!" Coach added. "I don't think anyone saw this coming!"

Elena's hand was being raised by the referee. As befitted her character, she accepted the victory with an arrogant demeanour. The arrogance was one of the things people loved about her. She snatched her hand away from the referee before rubbing her hands together in a dismissive gesture that indicated she had dispatched Ronda easily.

"Mark tonight down as the night the game changed in the Raw women's division," Cole said. "Ronda Rousey had previously been unstoppable. We thought this street fight was going to be an absolute war, but it ended almost before it got started."

Elena left the ring with an unflattering look back at Ronda, who was only just starting to come round after the punch that had put her down.

"Here we see the way the match ended," Clementine said as a replay began. "Rousey had already taken some heavy blows before the referee backed Daga off. Ronda comes out of the corner, and I don't think she knows where she is. She doesn't even have her hands up, and then..."

"Boom!" Coach finished for her as the right hand connected in super slow motion. Ronda had done a great job of selling the supposed knockout, going limp the moment Elena's not quite clenched fist had hit the side of her face.

"Honestly, I think Ronda Rousey underestimated Elena D'Agostino," Cole said as the replay ended and Ronda was shown sitting on the mat, looking up towards the stage where Elena was standing. She looked stunned by either the punch, or the fact that she had been beaten, or both.

On the stage, Elena showboated by kissing her right fist, the one that had done the damage, and raising it in celebration for her final cheer of the night.

"I have to wonder how big a role the absence of Zelina Vega played in this," Clementine said. "Vega is the strategist; the mastermind behind The Arm Collector. Did Rousey come into this match underprepared, possibly even complacent?"

"You might be right, Clem," Coach said as Elena was shown leaving the stage. "But whatever the reason, Ronda Rousey got knocked out by Elena D'Agostino. La Virtuosa could not have made a bigger impact on her WWE debut."

The final shot of the segment was Ronda glared up at the stage, looking like she had murder in mind.

"It was a great victory," Cole said. "But looking at Ronda's face, I think she's going to want revenge."

The lights above the ring went off, telling Ronda that her segment was over. She slowly got up and left the ring, making her way up the entrance ramp to the back.

Off-screen, Elena D'Agostino had none of the arrogance that was synonymous with her character. She was waiting for Ronda in Gorilla and immediately offered a hug when she came through the curtain. "Thank you, Ronda," she said, her Italian accent rolling the R as always. "The crowd was on fire!"

"It was great," Ronda smiled broadly, walking into her new colleague's arms. "If the rest of our run gets that kind of reaction... Holy shit."

"I really hope so," Elena grinned as they parted. "I can't wait to find out what's next for us."

Later that night, Ruby Riott pinned Bayley in the second ever women's Hell in a Cell match to retain the Raw Women's Championship.

Before the match, Ruby had ordered the other two Riott Squad members not to try and interfere in any way, wanting to win the match on merit. That had given some people the impression that Bayley might get the win, but it hadn't gone that way.

Another popular theory had been that Ronda Rousey would cash-in her Money in the Bank contract on the winner after the match, but that had not happened either. Ruby Riott left Hell in a Cell as champion.