8 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (15 April - Results & Review)

3. Liv Leans Into Heel Reaction

Liv Morgan
WWE

The moment Rhea Ripley announced she was vacating her championship due to injury and placed the blame squarely on Liv Morgan, it was clear how fans were going to react.

Regardless of her status as a villain, Ripley is immensely popular, so the crowd made sure to viciously boo Morgan when she appeared onscreen to gloat and celebrate her “revenge tour.” During a backstage promo, Morgan wisely didn’t pretend to ignore the boos, instead saying she was confused by the reaction, noting she wasn’t the bad guy and plaintively asking where that sympathy was for her when Ripley injured her.

Morgan doubled-down on laying into Rhea, calling the injury karma and saying that her revenge tour doesn’t end until she’s champion. This was a simple way to lean into the fans’ reaction and present an edgier version of Liv’s character. Whether she fully turns heel or just remains a situational villain whenever Ripley is mentioned, at least WWE was smart enough to not try to force a white-bread babyface promo down everyone’s throats.

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.