WWE Weekly Takes: The ‘Real’ Liv Morgan should face Bayley

Friday Night SmackDown’s first episode on FOX is coming soon and it will feature a WWE Championship match between Kofi Kingston and Brock Lesnar that has the entire fanbase on the edge of its seat.

This week’s feature of weekly opinions around WWE’s programming will focus on the WWE Championship match between Kofi Kingston and Brock Lesnar on SmackDown, a title on the blue brand that has yet to receive a match at Hell in a Cell on Sunday, and the importance of 205 Live in the context of the promotion’s larger plan.

Liv Morgan should face Bayley at Hell in a Cell

Bayley and Sasha Banks are back together again as a force in WWE, with The Hugger holding the SmackDown Women’s Championship and The Boss ready to claim the Raw Women’s Championship for a fifth time at Hell in a Cell.

While Banks has a title match secured as part of her acclaimed rivalry with top star Becky Lynch, Bayley has yet to receive her opponent for WWE’s first Pay-Per-View in the FOX era.

Since Hell in a Cell already has at least two marquee title matches in Becky vs. Sasha and Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt – with a possible title match involving Kofi or Brock – it’s OK for Bayley to face an up-and-coming star instead of a big name.

Her title reign has been all about elevating other women on the SmackDown roster, which is something she made clear about from the get-go. WWE could have done more with her one-off match against Ember Moon at SummerSlam, but the good intention behind the match was to simply get Ember in the ring with Bayley and use the match to elevate her as a future champion.

Bayley recently defeated Charlotte Flair at Clash of Champions by cheating to win, exposing the turnbuckle to her advantage before fleeing the scene of the crime. It was a fitting way for this “new” (I would say, more resourceful) Bayley to defeat Charlotte, whom she cashed in on at Money in the Bank to win the title.

Charlotte was a tough test and a big name for Bayley to face, and with so little time to build to a big match at Hell in a Cell, it makes sense for Bayley to defend her title against a returning opponent who also falls into the “rising star” category.

Enter Liv Morgan.

Since we last saw her, she lost to Charlotte Flair, but got over in the process. As she exited the arena, she told the fans she was going to come back and get “Real.” That comment suggested she would return with a gimmick change, and there may not be a better place for a return than the first episode of SmackDown on FOX.

Morgan would make a huge splash in her return by facing Bayley, and she’d get to show the entire wrestling world how much she’s improved in the ring over the years. She has looked like a future world champion for about a year, showcasing excellent character work and selling as one of the three members of the Riott Squad.

Now that she’s on her own, it’s time for her to get a taste of the spotlight, and it seems like WWE are quietly high on her potential. A match with Bayley at Hell in a Cell would be impromptu, but that might be the best way for Liv to return. And even if she loses, there’s no shame in falling to Bayley, who has been one of WWE’s MVPs this year; a loss would also give Liv even more motivation to get a second crack at winning her first title.