5 Backstage stories you need to know about Liv Morgan
WWE Superstar Liv Morgan is currently living the dream in front of her fans. After a slow start to her career, Liv gained a lot of attention and a fan following that ultimately led her to her first women’s championship victory in the company.
With no prior professional wrestling experience, Liv walked into WWE with a lot of hopes and dreams and has proven herself in every way possible to become one of the top women in the company today.
Even backstage, she is known to be a very likable character. After the Riott Squad split, she remained focused and worked on becoming a top name in wrestling.
Here are five interesting backstage stories regarding Liv Morgan that we have come across over the years.
#5. Joe DeFranco helped her find a place in WWE
Liv Morgan had a difficult childhood since her father passed away when she was very young. However, she always wanted to become a professional wrestler. Liv grew up idolizing Lita and many other legendary WWE Superstars.
After she started working in Hooters, Liv decided to join a gym and see where the experience would lead her to. She joined Joe DeFranco’s gym in New Jersey, and the decision changed her life forever.
Joe has helped WWE Superstars Triple H and Stephanie McMahon get in shape in the past. He spotted something special in Morgan and decided to forward her resume to the company.
“I told Joe I was a huge wrestling fan, and that I loved WWE growing up. He took a chance on me, and gave me a really cool opportunity to work out with him. He sent my information along to WWE, which led to my tryout. DeFranco’s is still based out of New Jersey, so every time I go home I make sure I get in with him at the gym.” Liv Morgan told NorthJersery.com.
In the same interview, she also said that she might still be working at Hooters if it wasn’t for Joe’s faith in her.
#4. She enjoyed her controversial storyline with Lana
In 2020, Lana and Rusev (now known as Miro in AEW) entered a controversial storyline involving Bobby Lashley. Lana and Lashley were set to get married on WWE RAW towards the end of the year, but things didn’t go smoothly.
Liv Morgan entered the storyline by revealing herself as Lana's lover during the latter's wedding ceremony segment. Many fans did not enjoy the storyline as much, as it wasn’t heading in any direction.
The controversial storyline continued for weeks after which it ended abruptly. In an interview with Inside The Ropes, Liv Morgan revealed that she enjoyed her love angle with Lana. She further went on to state that she wouldn’t mind revisiting the storyline.
“Me personally, I would love to touch on that story again, because I think it’s so important just to show not different people but, you know, ‘Hey, maybe I love this girl,’ you know, like, I think it’s important just to show that. But I don’t think you ever can ever say never in WWE. I think anything and everything is open to being visited again. Is that happening? I have no idea. But would I like it? For sure. But it was a very crazy experience.” Liv Morgan said.
Rusev and Lana were later released by the company. Liv Morgan, who is good friends with Lana in real-life, hopes to revisit the storyline once again if the two superstars return to WWE.
#3. Enzo Amore claims Carmella picked up Liv Morgan’s real-life character
It’s no secret that Liv Morgan was once involved in a relationship with Enzo Amore. The two superstars worked together on WWE NXT before Amore moved to the main roster.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass worked with Carmella as part of a faction in the company for some time. The controversial superstar has claimed that he wanted Liv to work with them instead of Carmella at the time.
What’s more interesting is the fact that he claims Carmella took Morgan’s real-life character and played it on television. According to the former WWE Superstar, Morgan is the actual “Princess of Staten Island” as she belongs to the area. Meanwhile, Mella is from Massachusetts.
“The real her is Liv Morgan. Liv Morgan is from here. Where we are right now, North Jersey, that's really her. I know it was difficult for [Morgan] in the beginning stages, watching Carmella doing her schtick knowing that she's not from our area." Enzo Amore revealed.
Carmella went on to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship much before Morgan. However, she has still managed to build a huge fan following and is finally living her dream.
#2. Liv Morgan’s blue tongue was “something magical that happened by accident.”
Morgan rose to prominence as a part of The Riott Squad, alongside Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan. The faction was loved by many fans.
Morgan had a very different character and gimmick in the faction. One of the most distinctive things about her character was her blue tongue. The color of her tongue made her a hit among fans who were able to connect it to her electric on-screen personality.
WWE decided to ask the superstar why she came out with a blue tongue and how she got it. A video was posted on the company’s YouTube channel where she revealed the origin of the blue tongue look.
"I’ve been doing the blue tongue since I’ve been on Raw. Really, what had happened was I was backstage and I kind of just wanted a piece of candy. So I found a jolly rancher and I popped it in my mouth. I’m like, going backstage, I’m getting ready for my match, I’m getting all pumped; and then I look in the mirror and I see my tongue’s blue. And I was like ‘oh, well, that’s weird.’ But I was like ‘I don’t know, it’s kind of cool, let me just go out there.’ So I go out there and I fully expect coming to the back and them being like ‘Liv, what’s wrong with you, why is your tongue blue?’ But no one said anything. So I was like ‘okay, I’ll just keep doing it until they say no.’ But they haven’t said no, so I just keep doing it." Liv Morgan revealed.
The SmackDown Women’s Champion has gone through a couple of character changes since her Riott Squad days. However, many die-hard Liv Morgan fans will still remember the blue tongue and hope that she brings the look back one day.
#1. Paul Heyman wanted to push her
Throughout her career, Liv Morgan has received several pushes that ended up in nothing. After splitting from The Riott Squad, Liv got into a few big matches but soon faded away from WWE TV.
After Paul Heyman took control for some time, he began to push the young superstar. Heyman backed Morgan for some time before deciding to make her a part of the Bobby Lashley-Lana-Rusev love triangle.
Ryan Satin interviewed Morgan, who spoke about her experience working with Paul Heyman. She said that Heyman was in her corner at the time and wanted to see her succeed.
"It was great because I had someone that was in charge completely in my corner and wanted to see me succeed and was finding opportunities for me to show what I can do and show what range I had. So, coming into work every week, I didn't know what to expect. But, I knew that it was for my greater good, you know? It was very cool. He's one of the best ever. To have him to talk to and to go to for advice, or just see something more clearly than I was understanding, it was great." Liv Morgan said.
While she did not have many top matches during that time, Liv managed to make a great comeback in 2021 and finally went on to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Money in the Bank 2022.
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