Liv Morgan Defeats "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey to Retain SmackDown Women's Title at SummerSlam

In what might be considered a major upset victory, Liv Morgan retained her SmackDown Women's Championship against former champion "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey at tonight's SummerSlam pay-per-view.

Things started quick in this #SmackDown Women's Champion Match between @RondaRousey and @YaOnlyLivvOnce! pic.twitter.com/It4Q0SWc57

— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2022

 

😈#SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/aKvGLt0Mxm

— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) July 31, 2022

 

What are you doing, @RondaRousey?! The match is over!!!#SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/eYiY0JcyH2

— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2022

 

.@RondaRousey has SNAPPED at #SummerSlam!!! pic.twitter.com/AJaPCrPQZF

— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2022

 

RUTHLESS @RondaRousey sends a message at #SummerSlam! pic.twitter.com/H1e2ABiH04

— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2022

Match results from Matt Boone of Rajah.com:

SmackDown Women's Championship
Liv Morgan (C) vs. Ronda Rousey

With that said, the in-depth pre-match video package airs to tell the story of the events that led to this rematch from the recent WWE Money In The Bank 2022 pay-per-view, where Liv Morgan cashed in after winning the Women's Money In The Bank ladder match to earn a shot at either the Raw or SmackDown Women's title at a time and place of her choosing.

As everyone saw -- ended up being later that same evening, as she defeated Ronda Rousey after cashing in following "Rowdy" Ronda's title defense against Natalya -- where she would go on to defeat her and capture her first-ever title in WWE.

The video package wraps up and then we return live inside Nissan Stadium where the Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" blasts throughout the massive Nashville-based venue as the women's MMA pioneer and former Raw and SmackDown Women's Champion heads to the ring looking determined to win back what was once rightfully hers.

She settles inside the squared circle and her music eventually fades down. Now the theme for the reigning, defending SmackDown Women's Champion plays and out comes Liv Morgan ready to prove that getting her hand raised against Rousey at MITB was not a fluke.

Both ladies are in the ring, the music is done playing and it's time for these two to duke it out to decide the top dog in the women's division on the WWE blue brand. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with what is positioned as our co-main event of the evening.

We see some solid action in the early goings of this one, with Rousey dominating for the most part. Liv ends up fighting from underneath into competitive form and she starts to fire up, looking to finish this one in the early goings.

Unfortunately, things do get finished up quickly, but it isn't exactly beneficial to either Rousey or Morgan. Why? Because the referee "blew" the call, as we see Rousey go for one armbar attempt after another. She ends up locking in a tight one after applying a flying arm bar to the champ.

She lands on her back and cranks away at the arm of the title-holder hoping to get the tap. Instead, the ref counts it as a pin, ala Kurt Angle and Daniel Puder's shoot from yester-year, and Morgan is announced the winner. We see during the replays that Morgan appeared to actually tap out, and that Rousey should rightfully be crowned the champion.

That's now how this one ends though.

The match has just wrapped up, and the referee "blew" the finish. As a result, Rousey gets robbed of winning back her title. Instead, Morgan manages to retain it. The commentators show replay after replay as this one wraps up on that note.

Winner and STILL SmackDown Women's Champion: Liv Morgan

⚡ WWE SummerSlam Live Results (July 30, 2022)

The following is ongoing live coverage of tonight's WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view, courtesy of Matt Boone of Rajah.com: Raw Women's [...]

— Caylon Knox Jul 30, 2022 08:21PM