Photo credit: WWE.com

Liv Morgan Retains Title Over Rhea Ripley at WWE Bad Blood as Rodriguez Interferes

Mike Chiari

Liv Morgan defeated Rhea Ripley at WWE Bad Blood on Saturday, retaining the Women's World Championship in a DQ loss with Dominik Mysterio confined to a shark cage.

Bad Blood marked a rematch between Morgan and Ripley at SummerSlam, which saw the former retain the women's world title thanks to Mysterio's decision to turn on the Australian.

Morgan's former tag team partner, Raquel Rodriguez, made her return to the ring after being sidelined since February following a mast cell activation syndrome diagnosis.

The timing couldn't have been better as Ripley approached Mysterio, who was dangling by his feet from the elevated cage and began to rain down on him with kendo-stick attacks.

Rodriguez's surprise appearance, as she attacked Ripley, prompted the referee to call for the bell, resulting in a disqualification and allowing Morgan to retain the title.

Coming off a win over Becky Lynch to retain the Women's World Championship at WrestleMania 40, Ripley got attacked backstage by Morgan, who was out for revenge after The Eradicator previously cost her several months of her career due to injury.

That attack resulted in Ripley getting injured, and she was forced to vacate the title consequently, ending her yearlong title reign.

Lynch won a Battle Royal to claim the vacant title, but her run was short-lived, as Morgan went on to beat her thanks to help from Dominik, who claimed he accidentally aided the enemy.

In the weeks that followed, Dom helped Morgan on numerous other occasions, but it always happened in a fluky way, which made it seem like he truly didn't mean to do anything on her behalf.

Even so, Ripley was furious with him upon returning from injury, although he was eventually able to get back on her good side and accompanied her to the ring for the match against Morgan at SummerSlam.

That proved to be a mistake on Ripley's part since Dom removed any doubt regarding his allegiances by slipping a steel chair to Morgan and then kissing her after her victory.

The Judgment Day imploded that night, as Finn Bálor cost Damian Priest the World Heavyweight Championship later in the night during his match against Gunther, prompting Priest and Ripley to seek revenge.

The Terror Twins took the first step toward doing that at Bash in Berlin by beating Liv and Dom in a mixed tag team match, which set the stage for the title rematch between Ripley and Morgan at Bad Blood.

In an effort to add even more intrigue to the contest, Raw general manager Adam Pearce announced that Mysterio would have to watch it from inside a shark cage.

Ripley's size and strength advantage perhaps made her the favorite to win back the title, but Morgan had the backing of The Judgment Day and Rodriguez, and she used her resourcefulness to retain.

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