Big news coming out of WWE Survivor Series: WarGames, as we have a new men's intercontinental champion and a major return — Liv Morgan is back after being away for several months due to a shoulder injury, and while many people would have assumed she would turn on Dominik Mysterio upon her return, she's actually helped him beat John Cena to regain the title.
How did this go down tonight, what led to this, and what could be on the horizon? Let's break it all down!
How We Got Here:
Liv Morgan suffered a dislocated / separated shoulder injury on June 16th in a match on Monday Night Raw against Kairi Sane. This forced her to vacate her half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, which was taken over by Roxanne Perez, who had joined The Judgment Day and was in a rough spot of not necessarily being on Morgan's good side.
Throughout this time, Dominik Mysterio's Intercontinental Championship reign eventually came to an end when he lost the belt to John Cena in Boston on the November 10th episode of Monday Night Raw.
Match Details:
Several times throughout this match, Mysterio tried to cheat to win. That included faking a shoulder injury to distract the referee while Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez beat up Cena and left him vulnerable.
Finn Balor and JD McDonagh also interfered on Mysterio's behalf, attacking Cena when the referee was incapacitated, but that still wasn't enough.
Upon her return, Liv Morgan ran out to a huge pop from the crowd, slapped Mysterio, and jumped into the arms of Cena, only to then low-blow Cena, hit him with the championship belt, and help Mysterio score the pinfall to regain his title.
Personal Reactions & What Happens Next?:
Frankly, I'm surprised. I thought that there was a good chance Mysterio could win the title back, with WWE not wanting Cena's final match to have the IC title associated with it (both because that distracts from the retirement and because they might not want to put that title on the winner). But I didn't see Morgan's return coming, and even so, I would have bet that she would return as a babyface.
My guess is WWE doesn't want to do the simple route and wants to try to tell that story over the course of the next few months leading into WrestleMania. Morgan will probably slowly but surely turn and split from the group, eventually setting up a feud against Perez. Meanwhile, Mysterio will continue defending his title and may very well go into WrestleMania with the title.
Tell us what you think about this title change by leaving a comment below! Who do you think will be the next in line to challenge for the title, or possibly even win the belt next? Keep the discussion going!