Backstage News On WWE Changing Plans For Liv Morgan On SmackDown

Shotzi officially turned babyface this past Friday on "SmackDown" when she rescued Raquel Rodriguez from a three-on-one attack at the hands of Bayley, IYO SKY and Dakota Kai of Damage CTRL. However, WWE reportedly had a different creative direction for the segment prior to the show.

According to Fightful Select, Liv Morgan was "originally listed internally" to do the run-in to save Rodriguez from Bayley's heel stable, until Triple H & Co. decided to go with Shotzi instead.

Morgan did appear on Friday's show, interrupting Ronda Rousey's backstage interview prior to their "SmackDown" Women's Title bout at the upcoming Extreme Rules premium live event. The heated exchange between the two ladies ended with Morgan challenging Rousey to an Extreme Rules Match, which Rousey accepted before pronouncing the October 8 event as the "funeral" of Morgan and her reign as champion. 

Meanwhile, in the lead-up to Friday's show, there was speculation of Shotzi undergoing a character change after reports suggested that WWE had plans to bring back her tank entrance. As such, Shotzi's babyface turn wasn't a huge surprise, considering she portrayed a babyface character in "NXT" while stepping out with a tank. According to Fightful, Shotzi's tank was delivered to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, the venue of Friday's show, but was not used. It would appear Shotzi will be bringing back her old "NXT" entrance going forward.