Rhea Ripley turned heel on Liv Morgan two weeks ago after they lost their Women’s Tag Team Championship match against Sasha Banks and Naomi. Ripley has been stuck in the tag division with Nikki ASH and Liv Morgan ever since losing the Raw Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair last year, so it’s been a long time coming for her to turn things around and pursue her singles career again. The following will analyze the pros and cons of Rhea Ripley’s nascent heel turn on WWE Raw.
Pros:
Rhea Ripley can use this heel turn on Liv Morgan to establish herself as a main event player again. She has been unnecessarily held back in the tag division when she should be in the same conversation with top singles stars like Bianca Belair and the Four Horsewomen. There have been rumors of her potentially joining Edge’s stable to solidify her heel turn and pursue a more ‘edgy’ character. This should fit her quite suitably, develop her character on a more sophisticated level, and help propel her into a title match against the babyface Bianca Belair once she defeats Morgan on the road to SummerSlam.
Cons:
Rhea Ripley could also be subject to the vices of WWE’s booking methodologies. If WWE micromanages her character and strictly scripts her on a weekly basis, she will sound like a robot and her character won’t develop as organically as it should. The WWE should allow Ripley to have creative freedom here because this is her big opportunity to turn things around after getting buried by Charlotte Flair on two separate occasions in her singles career. However, it is more likely that she will have to take the chicken crap that is handed to her and convert it into chicken fajitas with extra sauce and a dash of salsa.
Conclusion:
Consequently, despite the potential fallbacks that has a proclivity of being at play in WWE’s flawed booking system, Ripley will still do wonders with her nascent heel turn on WWE Raw. She is a trailblazer who has all the potential in the world to make her character resonate with the fanbase and translate that connection to her in-ring work and mic work. Also, like has been done with Damian Priest, she will also learn a lot from being under the wing of the experienced veteran, Edge. The seeds are planted for her long term success, and she would be an exemplary candidate to dethrone Belair down the line.
