New SmackDown Women's Champion Crowned At WWE Money In The Bank 2022

And NEW...

by Andrew Pollard
Liv Morgan WWE Money in the Bank 2022
WWE

With last night's Money in the Bank premium live event seeing Ronda Rousey defending her SmackDown Women's Title against Natalya, your new SmackDown's Women's Champion is... Liv Morgan.

In that aforementioned title bout, the Rowdy One managed to get the better of Natalya in a back-and-forth offering where the two both focussed on submissions. The victory for Ronda would come after locking in her patented armbar, which in turn forced the Queen of Harts to tap out.

As part of the story of the match, Rousey had her right leg worked over by her opponent as Natalya looked to ripen Ronda for the Sharpshooter. Post-match, that work from Nattie had a major part to play when Liv Morgan - who had won the women's Money in the Bank contest earlier in the night - made her way to the ring to cash-in her championship opportunity.

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While it looked as if this may be the first ever unsuccessful women's cash-in after Rousey locked Morgan in an ankle lock, Liv countered this by kicking at Ronda's injured leg and rolling her up for the 1-2-3. Following that win, the Baddest Woman on the Planet handed over the SmackDown Women's Title and gave Morgan an emotional hug.

This win marks Liv Morgan's first ever piece of WWE gold, with the 28-year-old bringing Rousey's reign as SmackDown Women's Champion to an end at 55 days. Of course, the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion defeated Charlotte Flair for that prize in an I Quit match at WrestleMania Backlash in May.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.