The Ru-ster has returnerd!
After many months away for double-shoulder surgery and recovery, Ruby Riott made her return this past Monday after a brief blow-off between Liv Morgan and the formerly Russian Lana. Which then led to this -
Ruby's smile, instantly fading into a cold look of disgust/determination, Liv's perfect selling of a betrayal - we've got ourselves a best friends feud, everyone!
Enter WWE, which put out the following video over the weekend -
.@RubyRiottWWE is BACK!
— WWE (@WWE) February 9, 2020
Go behind the scenes of the riotous return! pic.twitter.com/wMDnuQJ1os
How is that video anything but a babyface return? To hear Ruby discuss her real-life injuries, rejoice in her new health and range of motion, as well as discuss the mental health issues she faced and has found treatment for - all in a direct, honest manner - her natural likability shines through. She's a woman being honest about her problems, admitting her previous efforts to avoid them and then explaining what she's done to come to terms with them.
All of that is very good stuff! Let's be happy for Ruby being healthy and back at work! Let's be happy for her finding the help she needed. It's a brave and wonderful thing she's done, and as a fan, I am extremely glad for all of it.
But why is she attacking Liv, her former squad member and real-life close friend?
Make no mistake, Liv's return - while quite welcome, has been no less murky.
After her initial re-debut, in which she professed a claim of love for Lana during the absurd wedding scenario, WWE quickly backed away from that angle. We never got a segment of Liv detailing her complaints - only vague things like "Lana knows what she did". Similarly, Lashley never seemed inclined to follow up with Lana on what any of that had been about - no segments of Lana trying to explain herself.
Instead, we were given a fairly one-sided feud with Liv eventually winning two victories in a row, followed by her best friend returning after a long injury and attacking her for no reason.
Liv and Ruby are back. They are fighting. I have complete faith in the performers to make the matches good.
But can we get some clear story here?