Original Plans Revealed For WWE Raw Tag Team Contest

Ruby Riott and Bianca Belair vs. The IIconics wasn't the original plan...

Liv Morgan Raw
WWE.com

After Ruby Riott had been berated and beaten by The IIconics on WWE Raw over these past few weeks, many presumed that this would all lead to former Riott Squad pal Liv Morgan teaming up with Ruby to tackle the obnoxious Australian duo.

Instead, last night’s Raw saw Bianca Belair joining forces with Riott – but that wasn’t the original plan.

According Wrestling Observer Radio, like we all expected, it was indeed meant to be Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott re-teaming to battle Peyton Royce and Billie Kay.

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Those plans were obviously changed, and that’s down to Morgan having been absent from WWE programming since late June. There’s no word right now on just why Liv is out of action, but her absence from TV came at a time when WWE was looking to bring these former Riott Squad members back together.

As for Bianca Belair, it’s fantastic to finally see the EST back on main WWE programming, with her appearances having been few and far between since Belair debuted on Raw the night after WrestleMania 36. In fact, Belair hadn’t competed on Raw for nearly three months – her last in-ring activity coming in a squash win over Santana Garrett on April 20.

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Whether Ruby Riott and Bianca Belair becomes a permanent arrangement, we’ll have to wait and see. Likewise, it remains to be seen what WWE will do with Liv Morgan as and when she returns to TV.

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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.