After being bullied up on by the heelish Shayna Baszler the for the better part of a month, Liv Morgan came into WWE's Clash at the Castle with everything to lose and nothing but legacy points to gain.
Facing off against a submission specialist who continued the work Ronda Rousey started at SummerSlam on her left arm, Morgan made it a point to prepare for her bout versus Baszler via some on-the-fly counter training from none other than Matt Riddle, who similarly began his fighting career in an MMA ring before transitioning over to professional wrestling. Though it was a rather limited in-ring tune-up, Morgan learned how to counter the armbar, a signature maneuver of Baszler, and even learned the move herself, in the hopes of returning the favor and breaking her foe's arm.
Fortunately, even if she leaves Cardiff with an injured arm and bloody lip, she can at least know that the SmackDown Women's Championship belt will be returning in her carry-on, too, as Morgan broke the Kirifuda Clutch with riddle straight-arm counter, broke free of Baszler's best pinning predicament of the match, and secured the 1-2-3 via an ObLIVion off the ropes.
.@YaOnlyLivvOnce walks out of @principalitysta with the #SmackDown #WomensTitle!#AndStill pic.twitter.com/QANDSTZs8o
— WWE (@WWE) September 3, 2022
Finally, Morgan secures a clean title defense of her SmackDown Women's Championship on the company's programming, and after weathering the assaults of two straight MMA performers, the pride of Paramus, New Jersey, can hopefully turn her sights to non-submission wrestlers in order to diversify her title defense portfolio and hopefully let her arm rest up following a month's worth of punishment.
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