Menu
People and Pop Culture

Rousey Hosts "SNL," But Show's Writers Criticized For Providing Poor Material

UFC fighter RONDA ROUSEY hosted NBC’s “SNL” this weekend and opened with a monologue set up like a fight, with a coach, announcers and rounds included. Rousey in her monologue said, “I am so excited to be here, because it's the first time I'll be live on television without getting punched in the face. It's also the first time I'm talking to my fans since my loss to HOLLY HOLM in November. Which, by the way, was a fight Holly deserved to win and I just wanted to take a minute to sincerely congratulate her. That's enough! All those who are worried I'm not ready to host the show because I, like, have brain damage, relax! I'm good. Besides, everything I need is on cue cards” (“Saturday Night Live,” NBC, 1/23). In Las Vegas, Adam Hill wrote the monologue was the "highlight of the night" for Rousey, as she "perfectly delivered an intentionally bad joke and even took a quick moment to congratulate" Holm. Rousey was "actually pretty good throughout the show when she was allowed to perform," though that "wasn't very often." She was often "reduced to supporting roles in sketches or even given just a line or two." Rousey gave an "adequate performance with the material provided and didn't have any major gaffes" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 1/25). ESPNW.com's Matt Eisenberg wrote outside of the monologue, Rousey's "big skit was a digital short that involved her beating up high school bully VANESSA BAYER and throat punching BECK BENNETT, the school jock she had a crush on but was betrayed by" (ESPNW.com, 1/24).

GOOD NIGHT FOR UFC, BAD NIGHT FOR WRITERS: YAHOO SPORTS’ Kevin Iole wrote Rousey's appearance on "SNL" brought "great mainstream exposure to Rousey and her sport, and that at the end of the day is what matters.” Saturday was “another victory for Rousey and, by extension, the UFC.” Meanwhile, the show’s writers “were clearly the losers on this night.” They “gave Rousey very little to work with and used her far less than they do most hosts.” Rousey “appeared comfortable and didn’t seem particularly nervous.” She “delivered what few lines she had reasonably well, but the issue was that the writers elected to use her as background scenery and didn’t write her many decent jokes” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/24). ROLLING STONE's Ryan McGee wrote some "lackluster material and an incredibly quiet live crowd" resulted in an episode in which the cast was "visibly sweating to get anything approximating a laugh from the audience." Instead of tapping into Rousey's "natural presence and charisma, almost every sketch had her acting meek (when she actually appeared at all, which wasn’t much) (ROLLINGSTONE.com, 1/24).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/01/25/People-and-Pop-Culture/Rousey.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/01/25/People-and-Pop-Culture/Rousey.aspx

CLOSE