Rhea Ripley is enjoying a dominant run in WWE, but she should run into a major foil in Liv Morgan post-WrestleMania.
Liv Morgan fans are loud with their push for their favorite performer to be included in the WWE Women’s Championship picture heading into WrestleMania 40. Becky Lynch versus Rhea Ripley is firmly the match set and there will not be any changes to that. But coming out of the March 11 edition of WWE Raw, it is clear that Morgan does have a place in the title scene and she perhaps is the one to defeat Ripley for her championship.
Morgan dropped an excellent match to Lynch, continuing the latter’s push to WrestleMania 40. But as Morgan left the ring, Ripley walked out to mock her. Morgan let her know that she’s coming to take everything from her, just as Ripley did to her when she injured her shoulder. WWE has frequently used these “ramp faceoffs” as foreshadowing within their title picture.
Few expect Lynch to defeat Ripley. Ripley’s a power-player on the WWE roster. She’s a foundational piece for the future of the women’s division and the entire company as one of the few superstars with crossover, mainstream potential. Becky Lynch has spent much of the last year involved in important feuds that have helped build the future of the roster. She’s battled the likes of Zoey Stark, Lyra Valkyria, Tegan Nox, Tiffany Stratton, and others. Lynch is doing the work necessary to build the future of this division. Valuable work that few “veterans” are seen doing on a consistent basis. Even with her placement as an icon in wrestling, Lynch shouldn’t be the woman to beat Ripley for that title.
That is where Morgan comes into play. Morgan is one of those individuals who is on the cusp of a breakthrough. Reports point toward her being one of the top ten merch movers in the company, and the only woman in that group. Even though she’s a former champion, the booking that she experienced against Ronda Rousey didn’t help her credibility as a main event competitor. This is why WWE should look at booking Morgan as the woman to defeat Ripley at some point in 2024.
WWE needs more stars within both the men’s and women’s divisions. Ripley’s rise during the last two years shows that it is possible to build stars. WWE creative has improved to a point where sustainable, consistent, coherent booking is shown to work. Morgan going on the “hunt” to take down Ripley should be the next storyline for her once WrestleMania comes and goes. Perhaps alone the way she should get a win over Lynch as well, another that would be a big boost to her career. Giving Morgan a two to three month story arc where she finally overcomes Ripley on a major stage like SummerSlam would be the perfect test to see if Morgan can become the star that her fans claim she already is. It’s a test that WWE should undertake because the more top performers, the better.
The WWE Universe loves Liv Morgan. That love has become more apparent since her return at the Royal Rumble a few months ago. Will that support be enough to push her to a run as a champion on Monday Night Raw? Only time is tell but there’s value in testing out the idea with Morgan picking up a title win over Ripley.
