For the first time since April, Liv Morgan appeared on WWE television on this week’s episode of SmackDown LIVE.
After getting into a verbal tussle with Charlotte Flair during Shane McMahon’s Town Hall Meeting, Morgan looked to seize an opportunity by taking down “The Queen” in one-on-one competition.
#SmackDownLIV. FINALLY. ??#SDLive @YaOnlyLivvOnce pic.twitter.com/rSlvZPjXUr
— WWE (@WWE) July 17, 2019
Morgan came at Flair early, showing some impressive quickness that threw “The Queen” off her game. After slowing the pace and regaining control, Flair caught Liv with a ring-rattling powerbomb and soon locked Morgan in the Figure-Eight for the submission victory.
.@YaOnlyLivvOnce is NOT backing down from @MsCharlotteWWE on #SDLive! pic.twitter.com/B3UcDhdDd0
— WWE (@WWE) July 17, 2019
Following the match, an emotional Morgan lashed out by snatching Corey Graves’ headset off his head and letting everyone know that “Charlotte was right.” Morgan said the next time we see her, she’s “gonna be real.”
.@YaOnlyLivvOnce will be back. pic.twitter.com/QRP2sKRbAE
— TDE Wrestling (@tde_wrestling) July 17, 2019
According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, her post-match outburst is supposed to lead to a new character as well as a new look. She’s also likely coming back as a full-fledged babyface.
“Morgan’s promo time, loss to Charlotte and promo after losing about how she’s got to be real is to lead to a new character and a new look. I always saw, dating back many years, marketing similarities between Morgan and Paige VanZant in UFC, and even though VanZant was a mediocre fighter, UFC was able to market her into a major star and drawing card (her getting on Dancing With The Stars helped but she was on the way either way) while WWE, which can control outcomes, never got anywhere with Morgan. Part of it was Morgan debuting as a heel when that character has to be a babyface to work.”
In this post-match interview with Sarah Schreiber, Flair had a harsh message for Morgan.
