4 Ups & 10 Downs From WWE Raw (Dec. 13)

4. Trying To Make Us Care After The Fact

Typically when you’re building a feud, you set the table before you eat at it. You establish your heel and hero, lay out the grudge between them, slowly build things up, and finally begin the match(es) between them.

But in the case of Liv Morgan versus Becky Lynch, they set up the title match with only Liv’s second singles win in four months, then made her look like a geek by claiming that physically holding the title was the same as winning it. She looked like she was going to cry every week until she finally punched Big Time Becks the week before the bout.

Then WWE put together a solid video package that aired hours – not weeks or even days – before their match, which Liv lost. Monday, they tried to continue the sympathy train by having Morgan issue a rematch challenge and attack Becky, only to have Lynch injure her arm and then accept the challenge.

It’s reverse storytelling, and it doesn’t really work entirely. It’s not really bad, per se, but it’s frustrating that they’re putting in the work now, after making her the #1 contender and having her lose the first title shot. Shouldn’t all of this have been done earlier?