Matt Hardy Speaks the Ugly Truth
Pull up a chair, grab a cold drink, and let's talk about the state of the WWE women's division. Right now, Matt Hardy is speaking gospel on his podcast, and some of you are actually trying to argue with him. On the latest episode of his show, the wrestling veteran called out the booking of our current Women's World Champion, Liv Morgan, describing her lack of title defenses as flat-out neglect.
Hardy is not just some random internet critic screaming into a webcam, but a multi-time tag team champion and a veteran who has spent decades working in every major promotion from WWE to TNA. He understands the mechanics of how a championship draws money, sells merchandise, and builds new stars. When someone with his resume says a title is losing stock and equity, the creative team should probably listen.
Hardy made a point that anyone who understands the business should agree with. He argued that once someone is crowned champion, they must defend it regularly, or else the title itself loses stock and equity. As Matt Hardy pointed out on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, this booking model is actively hurting the division, and he is absolutely correct.
Once someone is crowned champion, I think there has to be regular title defenses in there. That's kind of the whole point of it. If you have someone win a championship and they don't end up defending the title, it kind of loses stock and equity.
We are currently watching WWE treat one of its top championships like a glorified belt buckle. While fans are debating dream matches at tonight's Forbidden Door 2026 pay-per-view, WWE has its own booking problems to solve. Liv Morgan has become a paper champion whose reign is all about backstage drama and soap opera antics instead of actual wrestling.
The Curious Case of the Missing Champion
Let's look at the cold, hard numbers because the stats do not lie. Liv Morgan won the Women's World Championship back on April 18, 2026 in Las Vegas by defeating Stephanie Vaquer. Since that night, she has held the title for 71 days without defending it a single time on television or premium live events.
To be fair to the creative team, some of this holding pattern was caused by bad luck backstage. Liv was originally scheduled to enter a long feud with Stephanie Vaquer, whom she defeated for the championship in Vegas. However, Vaquer's sudden injury completely derailed those plans, leaving the writers to put the entire division on pause.
In any other sport, if your star challenger goes down with an injury, the league does not stop playing games. You do not freeze the championship and tell the fans to wait four months for a defense when you have one of the deepest rosters in history. You find the next person in line, build a quick feud, and let the champion defend the belt on Monday Night Raw.
Instead of defending the richest prize in the division, Liv spent the last month grinding through tournament matches in the Queen of the Ring. Why is the top titleholder in the company fighting in a bracket where the ultimate prize is a championship shot they already possess? It is illogical booking that makes you want to yank your hair out, akin to Patrick Mahomes playing in a wild card game just for the vibes when he already has a first-round bye.
This tournament run culminated yesterday at the Night of Champions event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Liv Morgan made it to the finals only to lose to Iyo Sky. Because she lost, Iyo Sky is now the official number one contender and will challenge Liv at SummerSlam in August. That means Liv's first actual defense won't happen until August, which isn't just a slow start—it is a complete abandonment of what makes a championship feel like a prize.
Historical Precedents of Championship Hostage Situations
This is not the first time WWE has put a major title in a holding pattern, and it almost always ends with the fans growing resentful. Look at Roman Reigns going months without defending the Undisputed Championship, or Brock Lesnar disappearing for half the year. Those guys were booked as god-tier monsters who did not need to show up to look dominant.
But Liv Morgan is not Brock Lesnar, and she is booked as a cowardly heel who relies on Dominik Mysterio to bail her out. When a dominant monster does not defend the title, it feels like they are looking down on the division from a mountain. When a cowardly heel does not defend, it looks like the creative team is hiding them, which makes the entire division look weak.
We can also look at Dean Ambrose and his run with the United States Championship in 2013, when he held the belt for 351 days but barely defended it. It became a shiny accessory for The Shield's entrances, and by the time he finally dropped it, the championship had lost all its value. That is the exact trap WWE is walking into with Liv Morgan right now.
The Judgment Day Soap Opera Problem
The real issue is that the Women's World Championship has been completely swallowed by the Judgment Day romance storyline. WWE is so focused on the love triangle between Liv, Dominik, and the rest of the faction that they forgot the championship is supposed to be the main focus of a wrestling division. While Dominik Mysterio is running around as the AAA Mega Champion and defending it in Mexico, Liv sits on her title while the faction goes through massive changes like Finn Balor leaving and Roxanne Perez stepping in.
Yesterday's loss in Riyadh was a perfect example of this soap opera booking, with Liv losing the final after being cursed by Danhausen. Dominik has been complaining about the curse on social media, which keeps the storyline going but does absolutely nothing for the championship itself. When a top tournament final is decided by a comedy curse, the belt becomes a secondary prop to a romance storyline, which is a massive disservice to the locker room.
If she won the title back in April and hasn't defended it until now, then that is way too long. That is neglect.
The contrast with the rest of the product is incredibly stark right now. Yesterday in Riyadh, Oba Femi ran through the King of the Ring bracket and defeated Jey Uso to look like an absolute star. In the main event, Sami Zayn won the Undisputed Championship in a triple threat war against Cody Rhodes and Gunther. Those titles feel like the center of the universe because they are treated as prizes to be fought for, not backstage romance props.
This is not a criticism of Liv Morgan's talent, as she has worked incredibly hard and her character work is some of the most entertaining on television. But character work should not come at the expense of the wrestling itself, because a world champion needs to defend the title. Keeping the top belt on ice when the locker room is packed with performers like Roxanne Perez, Raquel Rodriguez, and Iyo Sky is a waste of everyone's time.
Looking Ahead to SummerSlam
Now that Iyo Sky has won the Queen of the Ring tournament, she has earned her title shot at SummerSlam in what could be a classic match. But it highlights the issue that we must wait until August to see the champion defend her title in a singles match. In the meantime, the division is left in a holding pattern, waiting for the champion to finally step up and compete.
A championship needs to be defended to maintain its value, and when a champion goes months without a defense, it sends a message that the title is not important. Matt Hardy was right to call this situation neglect of the title, the division, and the fans. Let's hope that once we get to SummerSlam, WWE will finally start treating the Women's World Championship like the prize it is supposed to be.
