Bethe Correia, 2014 — UFC 177, Honorable Mention for Goading the Four Horsewomen
“I want to say that I’m the one that’s going to take that belt, I’m the one that’s going to beat Ronda. She’s not going to take away my invincibility.”
As far as heel promo’s go, Bethe Correia’s post-fight interview at UFC 177 wasn’t one. Part of that, however, is the language barrier, as Correia clearly wanted to speak, but had to rely on her translator.
Her antics during the build-up to her fight with Ronda Rousey, however, were classic heel. Correia, knowingly or not, took a page out of the pro wrestling playbook when she targeted Rousey’s “stable,” the Four Horsewomen, consisting of Jessamyn Duke, Shayna Baszler, and Marina Shafir, plus Rousey herself. The very name of the group was a play on pro wrestling’s Four Horsemen, while Rousey’s nickname “Rowdy” was borrowed from the late, great “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
Correira knocked off two members of the Four Horsewomen, Duke and Baszler, on her way to securing the Rousey fight. After defeating Baszler by TKO at UFC 177, she would hold up four fingers, and drop two. The message was clear: two horsewomen vanquished. Since Shafir didn’t compete for the UFC, Rousey was next.
Correia wound up as little more than cannon fodder for Ronda, but selling the fight was a breeze thanks to Bethe playing the bad guy. And three of the Four Horsewomen are now professional wrestlers, with Rousey and Baszler in the WWE, and Shafir competing for rival AEW. Duke also worked for WWE for a time, shifting to a behind-the-scenes role before being let go in 2021.
