Add as a preferred source on Google Liv Morgan has now gone 87 days as WWE Women’s World Champion without a single title defense, despite being a full-time performer who’s been showing up on Monday Night RAW on a regular basis. The reign began on April 18, when she beat Stephanie Vaquer on night one of WrestleMania 42.
This isn’t a champion who’s been out with an injury, working a reduced schedule, or only appearing on the promotion’s biggest premium live events. Morgan has kept wrestling throughout, competing in the Queen of the Ring tournament and staying involved on a weekly basis with Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez and the rest of Judgment Day.
By June, when the reign reached the 57-day mark, Liv had already worked two singles matches with the title not on the line and won both. Even so, no challenger had gotten a shot at the Women’s World Championship.
That’s what makes this hard to defend.
There’s no rule saying a world title has to be defended every single week. Random defenses with no build or predictable finishes don’t do a champion any favors, either. But going nearly three months without a single defense, while Liv was available to wrestle, turns the belt into little more than a prop for entrances and post-match beatdowns.
Morgan’s run through Queen of the Ring only made the issue more visible. Instead of defending her own title, the champion entered a tournament that could land her a shot at a different world championship at SummerSlam.
She made it all the way to the final at Night of Champions, but IYO SKY got the better of her there. After the win, IYO chose to go after Morgan’s title at SummerSlam, set for August 1-2 in Minneapolis.
WWE SummerSlam Needs to Be a Turning Point
There’s actually a case to be made for how WWE has handled it. The company held off on Liv’s first defense to build toward a match that matters, against an opponent who already beat her and earned that opportunity in the ring. IYO is a top-tier challenger, and the rivalry picked up even more heat on the most recent RAW, when Morgan attacked her and cracked her across the face with the title belt.
Even so, that doesn’t erase the months before it.
Morgan could have defended the title against names like Lyra Valkyria, Bayley, Sol Ruca or any other wrestler from the RAW roster without taking anything away from the IYO match. If anything, those defenses could have built her up as champion and raised the stakes for a future loss.
The problem doesn’t fall on Liv Morgan, either. She’s worked with what she’s been given, shown up for the shows, and remained one of the most important characters in the women’s division. That responsibility falls on the creative team, which has booked a reign with no real progression and spent more time using the champion as a member of Judgment Day than building up the Women’s World Championship.
If the match with IYO doesn’t happen until SummerSlam, Liv will walk into the event with more than 100 days as champion before her first defense.
A convincing win over IYO could kick-start a turnaround. But after 87 days, WWE has already wasted a good chunk of Liv Morgan’s reign. SummerSlam needs to be the start of a run of defenses that finally gives the title a purpose.