Gionna Jene Daddio, known to the WWE Universe as Liv Morgan, has captivated audiences with her high-flying maneuvers and unwavering determination. Born on June 8, 1994, this American professional wrestler and actress has carved a prominent place for herself in the world of sports entertainment. Currently signed to WWE, she performs on the Raw brand and is a member of The Judgment Day stable, though presently inactive due to a shoulder injury.
Early Life and Influences
Before stepping into the squared circle, Daddio was a competitive cheerleader. She also worked and modeled for the restaurant chain Hooters. However, it was the electrifying presence of Lita that ignited her passion for wrestling. "I would literally take pedigrees and powerbombs like it was my job," Daddio once said. "I always pretended to be Lita." Daddio was drawn to Lita's unique style, a stark contrast to the glamorous "Divas" of the time. "All the Divas were so glamorous and girly, and I was such a tomboy and didn't have nice clothes," she explained. "When I saw Lita come out in baggy pants and sneakers, wrestling the boys, I thought she was the coolest thing ever."
From NXT to the Main Roster: The Rise of Liv Morgan
In 2014, Daddio's journey to WWE stardom began when she signed a contract and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center, later appearing in developmental brand NXT under the Liv Morgan ring name. Her initial appearances involved portraying a planted fan, first at NXT TakeOver: Rival on February 11, 2015, where she jumped on Tyler Breeze during his entrance, and again at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable on May 20. By October 2015, she transitioned into a face singles wrestler.
Liv Morgan's main roster debut came on the November 21, 2017, episode of SmackDown, alongside Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan. The trio, known as the Riott Squad, immediately made their presence felt by attacking Becky Lynch and Naomi, establishing themselves as heels.
Navigating the WWE Landscape: Riott Squad and Singles Competition
The Riott Squad wreaked havoc on the SmackDown roster for over a year, engaging in numerous feuds and matches. However, the stable disbanded in 2019, leading Morgan to embark on a singles career. After a few months, she reunited with Ruby Riott until Riott's release in 2021.
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Defining Moments: Money in the Bank and Championship Glory
The year 2022 marked a turning point in Liv Morgan's career. On the June 13 episode of Raw, Morgan and Alexa Bliss qualified for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match. At the Money in the Bank event on July 2, Morgan captured the coveted Money in the Bank contract, guaranteeing her a women's championship match at any time of her choosing. Later that same night, she cashed in her contract on Ronda Rousey after Rousey's SmackDown Women's Championship match against Natalya, seizing the title and achieving her first championship victory in WWE.
A rematch between Morgan and Rousey was set for SummerSlam on July 30, where Morgan controversially retained the title. Despite tapping out to Rousey's armbar, the referee counted Rousey's shoulders down, awarding the pinfall win to Morgan.
The Judgment Day and Injury
Morgan entered the women's Royal Rumble match at the titular event on January 28, 2023. After a 6-month hiatus, Morgan returned at the 2024 Royal Rumble entering the Royal Rumble match at number 30. On the April 8 episode of Raw, Morgan attacked Rhea Ripley in a backstage segment, during which Ripley legitimately injured her right arm and was forced to vacate the Women's World Championship. Over the next few weeks, Morgan began to display more villainous traits. At SummerSlam on August 3, Morgan defeated Ripley to retain her title after interference from Dominik, giving Ripley her first pinfall loss since May 2022. After the match, Dominik turned on Ripley and kissed Morgan, officially becoming an on-screen couple and fully turning Morgan heel for the first time since 2019. On the following episode of Raw, Morgan officially joined The Judgment Day as Ripley and Damian Priest were excommunicated from the group. At Bash in Berlin on August 31, Morgan and Mysterio lost to Ripley and Priest in a mixed tag team match despite interference from Bálor, McDonagh, and Carlito, with Morgan being pinned by Ripley. At Bad Blood on October 5, Morgan lost to Ripley by disqualification after a returning Raquel Rodriguez attacked Ripley and allied herself with Morgan and The Judgment Day.
Tag Team Success and Shoulder Injury
After losing the title, Morgan began exclusively teaming with Rodriguez. At the Royal Rumble on February 1, Morgan entered the namesake match at #2, lasting over an hour and eliminating Natalya and Alexa Bliss before being eliminated by Jax. On the February 24 episode of Raw, Morgan and Rodriguez defeated Belair and Naomi to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship for a record-setting third time after interference from Mysterio. Morgan and Rodriguez lost the titles to Lyra Valkyria and the returning Lynch at Night 2 of WrestleMania 41, but regained them in a rematch the next night on Raw. They also defended the title on NXT on April 22, where they defeated Gigi Dolin and Tatum Paxley. On the June 16 episode of Raw, Morgan legitimately suffered a dislocated shoulder during a match against Kairi Sane, leading to Roxanne Perez joining The Judgment Day and replacing Morgan as champion.
Beyond the Ring: Acting and Personal Life
In addition to her wrestling career, Morgan has also ventured into the world of acting. In 2022, she made a guest appearance on the second season of Chucky. In 2023, Morgan made her first movie appearance in The Kill Room, starring alongside Maya Hawke, Samuel L. Episode: "WWE Women vs. WWE Men and Marcus Lemonis vs.
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Daddio has a tattoo on the back of her neck, reading "11-21-17", which is colored blue, red, and green. On December 14, 2023, Daddio was arrested for possession of cannabis (not more than 20 grams) and possession of a cannabis vape pen, thought to be containing synthetic cannabinoids, in Sumter County, Florida.
Bianca Belair's Struggle with Bulimia and Depression
Bianca Belair discussed her struggle with bulimia and depression in high school and college, and overcoming it. On how her struggle with bulimia began: “So in high school I was probably around 155, and I wanted to run fast, I wanted to get a scholarship, so it was drilled in me that if you lose weight, you’ll run faster. So I went on a diet, I did lose weight, but I got to a plateau and I couldn’t lose anymore weight, so I started throwing my food up, so I became bulimic. I became bulimic. And I lost weight and I actually ran faster which is crazy but I ended up getting hurt because I didn’t have the right nutrients and I wasn’t keeping the vitamins down, the nutrients, I’m getting hurt, but I already got my scholarship to South Carolina. So I went to South Carolina my freshman year and I decided I don’t want to do this anymore, I’m not going to do this anymore. I’m starting over, I’m starting fresh. I got what I wanted. On continuing to struggle with bulimia in college: “In my mind I was telling myself I’m not going to do this anymore, I’m here, I’m going to try to start new, and I ended up having this obsession with food where I was now binge eating at night, I wasn’t eating in front of people but I would go and binge eat at night and I was gaining all this weight, and then I had the coaches tell me, ‘What happened to the Bianca from high school, we need the same Bianca from high school.’ So instead of seeking help and figuring out the healthy way to get back there, I went back to throwing my food up again. So now, I’m binge eating and throwing it up, binge eating and throwing it up. And of course, I’m not going to perform well doing that. Mentally I wasn’t there. I got depressed and I ended up being prescribed medication and things just didn’t work out there. But at that time, I felt like I was young, my first time being on my own, and I was blaming everyone else. On becoming depressed after transferring to another college: “I transferred to Texas A&M and tried to do the same thing where I’m gonna start new, again, this time I stopped throwing my food up for the most part but then I stopped my medication cold turkey which you’re not supposed to do. You’re supposed to wean off of it. And I was taking it and my parents didn’t know, my friends didn’t know, I was just taking it and not telling anyone because I was embarrassed about it, I didn’t understand depression. Things were going OK at A&M until all of a sudden I just felt like I just was losing grip on everything and I couldn’t catch up and I didn’t know why and I started getting emotional and I started isolating myself and I was having these emotions that I didn’t understand, and I started trying to tell my parents and tell my friends but they didn’t understand because they didn’t know I was on medication and quit cold turkey and I didn’t understand what was happening to me. So it got to a point where I couldn’t even explain it, I was just out of it. On being hospitalized after taking pills: “I felt like I wasn’t being heard, I was trying to tell people I needed help, I felt like nobody was listening. I’ve never really talked about this. I ended up taking a bunch of pills and my roommate took me to the emergency room, it wasn’t super life threatening bad but the fact that I did take that action, they sent me to a mental overnight hospital to try to get me together, try to get myself together, ended up spending a week there, getting therapy. And afterward, I had to make the decision if I wanted to go home or try to come back and finish out my semester. So I decided to try to finish out my semester, I did, not very well.
Athena's Journey to WWE
AEW star Athena is currently making a splash after capturing the ROH Women’s Championship from Mercedes Martinez at ROH Final Battle, but prior to signing with AEW in May of 2022, the star competed as Ember Moon for a number of years after signing with WWE in 2015. The star reached great heights during her time in WWE NXT, capturing the NXT Women’s Championship in 2017 and going on to win the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship alongside Shotzi Blackheart after returning to the brand following an uneven stint on the main roster. Speaking to Chris Jericho on a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho, Athena opened up about her journey to become a professional wrestler, saying that her parents weren’t keen on the idea of her pursuing her dream and didn’t take the job seriously until she got to WWE. “My parents didn’t really support the wrestling career until I got to WWE. My parents have always been supportive but I think they were hard on me because they wanted me to succeed and they were like school is the way to do that.” “They are both extremely successful in their professions and when I’m like, ‘I want to be a pro wrestler’ and they go to the first show in Marshall, Texas, 20 people in the crowd and they’re like, ‘what is this going to pay for?’ So, I get it, you know, I ended up getting kicked out and I learned to survive on my own.” AEW’s Athena Detailed Her Early WWE Tryout Experiences. Continuing, Athena explained that she was so dedicated to the idea of wrestling that she used her college tuition money to pay for a WWE tryout years before she would eventually sign. “I dropped out of college because I had a WWE tryout, I think it was like the first one at FCW, and I used my tuition money to pay for the way to get there.” The star’s initial tryout came before the days of WWE’s Women’s Evolution, and the feedback she received about her performance pointed out suggestions to change her look. “I remember getting this form that said ‘doesn’t have the Diva look, work on that.’ They had this whole pamphlet on what you did well, what you didn’t do well, what you need to work on. Main critique was ‘doesn’t have Diva look’ and then it had some suggestions like maybe get hair extensions, maybe get new gear, maybe get this.” She later had a private tryout, but recalls being told that in order to sign, she would have to lose weight. She did as she was told, but admits she didn’t take the healthiest route and heavily restricted her eating. “I remember just being told ‘I just don’t know if we should sign you or tell you to lose some more weight.’ That was kind of what it came down to and I was like, ‘I can lose the weight, just sign me.’” “So, I lose the weight. I’m like, ‘yes, alright we got this, we hit that number’ but it was not in a healthy way because I wanted it so bad. I had a cup of strawberries in the morning, I would run three miles, and then I would have a cup of strawberries at night.
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