Where’s Liv Morgan? Where’s Shayna Baszler?

Honestly, Shayna Baszler and Liv Morgan are two performers I don’t have very strong opinions about. They each have obvious strengths and some holes in their games. Both have fans who love them, and ones who don’t think they have what it takes to be big stars.

Another thing Morgan & Baszler have in common? They both recently delivered a performance on Raw which made supporters, detractors and folks on the fence go, “that was good, I think I’d like to see more of that.”

Then WWE didn’t follow-up.

For Liv, the moment came when she went ten minutes with Charlotte Flair on the episode that aired on May 4. She went into the match with momentum, having beaten Natalya on one of WrestleMania 36’s Kickoff shows, made a strong showing against Asuka, then won a quick feud with her old faction mate Ruby Riott.

Since then?

May 11 - not on television
May 18 - interview about her mother believing in her
May 25 - cuts a promo about finding herself when she got her first ring gear
June 1 - not on TV
June 8 - not on TV

I have more doubts about Morgan’s new “young woman trying to find herself” gimmick than I do about her overall skills & potential. Maybe it can work as a wrestling character? It certainly won’t if she only delivers occasional minute-long empowerment anecdotes and never wrestles, though.

With Baszler, she came up short on PPV twice. But she stood out as the one character to rain on Becky Lynch’s pregnancy parade while winning two straight against Nattie. Natalya went from those losses into a #1 contenders match. Shayna?

May 25 - not on TV
June 1 - not on TV
June 8 - not on TV

Given the way WWE played up Asuka and Becky’s bond after The Man informed The Empress she was the new champ, Baszler seemed perfectly positioned as a rival for Asuka. Instead, it’s looking more and more like Charlotte will be the next challenger after the Japanese Superstar deals with Nia Jax at Backlash.

And I don’t want to get into yet another argument about The Queen. But even folks who acknowledge her prodigious talents and believe she deserves to be one of the main faces of WWE (groups I’d include myself in) should realize that the amount of screen time Flair gets represents less opportunities for Baszler & Morgan, and Naomi & Bianca Belair, and many other women & men.

Setting Charlotte aside, though, Fightful recently reported that for Shayna her disappearance is a case of the dreaded “creative had nothing for you”s. How can that be? She’s a heel bully. Liv’s an underdog trying to climb the ladder. This isn’t rocket science!

I don’t really have a way to wrap this up... just something I noticed, started thinking about, and decided to vent from this platform I’m lucky enough to have.

If I’m this frustrated as a fan, imagine how the performers cooling their heels in the back must feel.