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Dutch Mantell has speculated that backstage politics may have negatively influenced Liv Morgan's recent booking in WWE. The SmackDown Women's Champion controversially defeated Ronda Rousey at SummerSlam and has since seen her popularity take a drastic hit on TV.
Morgan was greeted with loud boos on this week's SmackDown despite being a babyface. This reaction stemmed from the way she beat Rousey a week back in their title match.
Dutch Mantell said there was no need to panic as WWE still has time to fix Morgan's on-screen image. However, he questioned whether WWE deliberately made her look weak to protect Ronda Rousey.
The former WWE manager opened up on his theory on Smack Talk, as you can read below:
"The good thing about it is they have 51 more weeks this year to fix that. That's all they got to do. I think when you bring that up to me, they may have had to do a little bit of politics in the dressing room because Ronda was going down, and they kind of had to fix it with her," explained Dutch Mantell. "So they come up with that, and she agreed to it, you know, as long as we can see that. So she didn't really get beat, it didn't really hurt her, and she got suspended. I think she, I think there were some politics played in that one. And it wasn't the right move." [15:10 - 15:48]
Ronda Rousey is inarguably the WWE's most valuable superstar in the women's division due to her mainstream appeal. For this reason, Mantell felt the company might go out of its way to keep Rousey happy.
He also didn't rule out the possibility of Rousey "pulling off a Brock Lesnar" by threatening to walk out if she wasn't pleased with the creative direction.
He added:
"To get Ronda maybe to go for it, because you know, she could pull another Brock Lesnar too and say, 'I'm not doing it, I'm walking out.' So, who knows what went on in hindsight? It was maybe a mistake. But that's the thing about wrestling, 51 weeks more this year to fix it." [15:49 - 16:07]
When will Ronda Rousey make her WWE TV return?
The former SmackDown Women's Champion is currently suspended as she attacked the referee following her loss to Liv Morgan at SummerSlam.
As seen on SmackDown, Shayna Baszler emerged as the #1 contender for Morgan's championship, which raised concerns over Rousey's status. The latest backstage report revealed that Ronda is still internally listed to compete at Clash at the Castle.
The former UFC star is expected to return to TV and continue her storyline with Morgan; however, it will be interesting to see Baszler's role in the entire situation moving forward.
Do you think WWE made a mistake with Morgan vs. Rousey at SummerSlam? Share your views in the comments section below.
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