Major Heel Turn On WWE Raw, Tag Team Splits Up!

Big loss yields big heel turn for this former WWE title-holder on Raw.

by Scott Carlson
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After months of sputtering about in odd couple tag teams, Rhea Ripley could be poised to break out after turning heel Monday night.

Ripley teamed with Liv Morgan to unsuccessfully challenge for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship on Raw, with The Nightmare taking the fall after succumbing to a double-team onslaught from Sasha Banks & Naomi. Afterwards, Ripley lashed out at Morgan, asking where she was during the climax of the match (she'd been laid out with a Backstabber) before finally turning on her partner, dropping her with a Riptide.

The turn comes after an underwhelming debut year on the main roster, with Ripley winning the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 37 but losing it three months later. From there, Rhea floundered a bit, landing in an odd couple tag team with Nikki ASH. The duo captured the women's tag titles, but they weren't defended regularly, and then Nikki turned on Rhea, which was an odd dynamic.

Finally freed up, Ripley instead landed in another tag team with a smaller partner, this time Morgan. The tandem was unsuccessful at capturing gold, leading to Monday's heel turn, which was accompanied by the WWE trope interview comment that she didn't owe anyone an explanation for her actions.

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A heel Ripley might finally get to be a singles star. At the very least, she would make for a formidable challenger against Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair.

Contributor
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.