Photo Credit- WWE
In an age where wrestling heels are sometimes cheered more than the babyfaces themselves, portrayed as more in depth characters than the babyfaces themselves, and are seen as a more suitable face for the company than the babyfaces themselves, Liv Morgan is a shining beacon of hope for organic babyface runs. Never since the hair tying and wacky waving inflatable tube man impersonating days of Bayley’s NXT run has such an outright joyous character been beloved by the fans. How did a wrestler seemingly so destined for the lower mid card manage to work her way to fan favorite and championship contender status?
Blessing in Disguise?
Liv Morgan was part of the ill-fated Riott Squad for the majority of her WWE tenure. Aside from random spurts into the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship scene, the team was mainly relegated to showcase matches in order to help build other stars. However, at WrestleMania 37 this all seemed to take a turn for the better. During night 1 of WrestleMania 37, the Riott Squad competed in the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Tag Team Turmoil match where the team lasted all the way to the final round. The team put up an outstanding effort that immediately made them feel like bonafide competitors in the women’s tag division. Although the Riott Squad did fall short of the No.1 contendership, they reigned supreme in the eyes of the fans. Fast forwarding to June 2, 2021 and WWE saw another set of releases that included Riott Squad member Ruby Riott. This would have spelled disaster for any other tag team in the lower mid card, men’s or women’s. WWE’s perception of tag team members is akin to a pair of sneakers, one is useless without the other.
Quite shockingly however, this instead catapulted Liv Morgan to single’s stardom.
Photo Credit- WWE
Liv. Laugh. Learn.
The SmackDown following Ruby’s release (June 4th) saw Liv Morgan again put up a spirited effort but fall short to Carmella’s Code of Silence. The week after however (June 11th), Liv Morgan pinned Carmella clean as a whistle. Moving onto June 25th (June 18th saw more time allotted for a Hell in a Cell match), Carmella was bestowed upon a position in the Women’s MITB match. Liv Morgan took issue with this decision since she beat Carmella the week prior. Given that they were now 1 a piece against each other, a rubber match was created to determine who would move onto MITB. Liv Morgan won this match on the very same night and after another impressive win against Zelina Vega the week following (July 2nd), she was awarded the MITB position on July 9th.
Six weeks of storytelling was just told in a single paragraph.
Photo Credit- WWE
Keep it Simple.
Liv Morgan’s rise to fan favorite status was successful because it was simple. Liv Morgan’s wins not only made her a viable competitor in the women’s division, thus making her seem strong in the eyes of the fans, but showcased to us her talent in between the ropes. Supplementing this was believable promos that she cut both to Carmella and Sonya Deville. There was no “suffering succotash!” or “sparkle crotch!” that made the scripting blatantly obvious but instead logical and reasonable frustration from Liv Morgan having to constantly prove herself to corporate authorities. Daniel Bryan’s “You don’t listen for their obvious desire to see somebody like me succeed!” is along the same wavelength of reason and relatability as Liv Morgan’s “How many times do I have to beat Carmella to earn the opportunity? This is blatant favoritism! This is absurd! And honestly honestly honestly it’s inexcusable!”
Photo Credit- WWE
Everyone can relate to Liv Morgan and her desire to finally reach the top, everyone can understand her frustration to constantly prove herself to management, and everyone can respect her skill in the squared circle. All of this combined with the genuine tears that she sheds when seeing the admiration in which the WWE Universe gave her on July 16th makes Liv Morgan the unanimous choice for future championship opportunities.
– Danraj Gangaram
