Real Reason Liv Morgan Vs. Ronda Rousey Was So Short At WWE SummerSlam 2022
The SmackDown Women's Title contest was given just four minutes.
With Liv Morgan getting the controversial win over Ronda Rousey to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship at SummerSlam last night, one of the major talking points of that match is just how short it was.
That contest clocked in at just over four minutes, with Liv countering a Rousey armbar into a pinning combination to get the 1-2-3. Where the controversy comes into it, that's in how Morgan actually tapped out to the armbar before the referee finished his three count.
According to Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, Morgan vs. Rousey had "a lot of time" cut from it due to the Miz and Logan Paul's match running long.
That match had a lot of time cut because Miz and Logan went long. HOW ABOUT WE CUT SOME VIDEO PACKAGES INSTEAD OF TIME OFF MATCHES?
— Bryan Alvarez (@bryanalvarez) July 31, 2022
Miz vs. Paul was the second contest of the night, timing in at just over 14 minutes.
Prior to the SmackDown Women's Title being on the line, SummerSlam featured US Champion Bobby Lashley defeating Theory, the Mysterios toppling Finn Balor and Damian Priest, Pat McAfee overcoming Happy Corbin, and the Usos retaining the Undisputed Tag Team Titles against the Street Profits. Lashley vs. Theory was likewise a four-minute offering, but the rest of those matches all easily clocked in at over ten minutes.
Of course, the Morgan and Rousey contest was immediately followed by what appears to be a heel turn for the Rowdy One. Irked at the referee's decision to award Liv the pinfall victory, Ronda put her opponent back in an armbar before then doing the same to the ref.