We’re two days into Women’s History month and the “SmackDown” locker room is in shambles online, and Liv Morgan is cutting racist promos. Add in Rhea Ripley being brought out while clearly upset about what’s been transpiring online, RHIYO breaking up, and a weird segment with brand latest Women’s IC Champion, AJ Lee, and it was not an important night for the ladies’s roster.
In a pre-taped promo (which was smart because the gang would’ve not reacted well), Morgan agreed that she’s privileged before saying she was sorry Stephanie Vaquer “grew up in a mud hut and trained in flea-infested rings for 10 years.” What are we doing here? This promo was followed by a match featuring two fake luchadors with two more fake luchadors ringside, by the best way.
In case you’ve been on social media the last 48 hours, you’ve got likely seen the exchanges between Ripley and Jade Cargill. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven got involved. In a now-deleted post, Ripley stated “not having fun. Not friends. Learn to work and never misinform defame someone’s real human character by breaking the fourth wall.” WWE trotted Ripley out, together with IYO SKY. When asked in regards to the last 48 hours, Ripley clearly looked upset. Then, RHIYO split as SKY told Ripley she’d be effective by herself on “Raw” and to go win the Women’s Championship.
Roman Reigns, of all people, looked as if it would reference the web drama in his promo with CM Punk. He asked Punk if his tweet hurt his feelings and told him he was too thin-skinned for a champion. Reigns and Punk were saying similar things that Cargill got in trouble for online. It was unnecessary, especially with Ripley backstage. (The entire promo sucked, but I digress.)
What must have been a positive with a promo from Lee turned out to be an ungainly segment. It began off okay with the champion admitting she didn’t know if she still had it, however the fans’ belief reminded her that she did. She is now focused on WrestleMania and issued an open challenge. As a substitute of anyone coming out, she left, and OG El Grand Americano made his technique to the ring. We briefly saw former IC Champion, Lyra Valkyria, hype up Bayley to reply the challenge (why is not she difficult for the title she held?). They went to Pearce’s office, only to seek out SKY leaving.
On a really weird episode of “Raw”, they managed to be extra weird with the ladies. Unfortunately, having Morgan say and do questionable things is not latest, and neither is having wrestlers say petty things in relation to other Superstars (especially when those Superstars are women). Every little thing I talked about here is totally on brand for WWE. I mean, they’re bringing back Brock Lesnar on a weekly basis through WrestleMania (and he’s named 44 times in a former worker’s lawsuit) after said worker spoke publicly about what’s happened to her since filing said lawsuit. But hey, at the very least Corporate Officer #3 – I mean, a lady – is getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this 12 months.
Written by Samantha Schipman