The Riott Squad is no more, and they didn’t even get to break up on television. News of the faction’s split first emerged rather obliquely after Smackdown last night, when Liv Morgan was announced as an additional new recruit for the Blue Brand. That means she won’t be traveling and working with Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan anymore, and as the trio all made heartfelt posts on Instagram, it became increasingly clear that the Riott Squad is officially thing of the past. And even if the Squad never lived up to their potential in WWE, it’s obvious that they all had a profound effect on each other.
So what happens to the trio now? As a new singles wrestler on Smackdown, Liv has a lot of underdog babyface potential, although with Bayley, Ember, Charlotte, and sometimes Becky around, there’s most likely going to be some jobbing in her future, but hopefully that passes. She and Carmella (who she used to be accused of being a clone of, before they both changed their looks) could make a fun tag team. You could call them the Bridge and Tunnel Connection.
Sarah Logan now shares Raw with her real life husband Erik (formerly Rowe) of the Viking Experience (formerly the War Raiders). Considering she transformed during her time in the Riott Squad from a Kentucky hillbilly to a Viking herself, it would make a lot of sense if she became the third member of the Experience. She could still do singles matches in the women’s division while also playing Nikki Cross to the Viking Experience Sanity (Sanity’s a whole other tragic breakup, but that’s a discussion for another time). Considering she had her husband’s name (“Rowe” that is, not “Erik”) written in Viking runes on her gear at WrestleMania, you have to admit it wouldn’t be out of character for their relationship to become onscreen canon. The only question is whether they’ll change her name to Brunnhilde or Sigrid.
Ruby Riott, as those of us who remember Heidi Lovelace from the indies (or even Ruby Riot from NXT) know, has a huge upside as a babyface singles wrestler. Whether certain older men in charge of Raw will ever be able to look at her tattoos and general presentation and see her that way remains an open question, but with so much talent in the women’s division gone to Smackdown (and Ronda Rousey gone in general) this may be her best chance at getting a real push. After Lacey Evans loses to Becky Lynch, a midcard feud between Lacey and Ruby writes itself, if they find time for it.
Whatever happens, I hope it works out for all three. The Riott Squad spent a lot of time without a lot to do on Raw, but all of them deserve a moment in the sun.
