Face Value: Royal Rumble 2026 Edition

The Secret To Liv Morgan's Success

By Reverse Hipster

Liv Morgan took WWE by the balls. She’s been the Women’s champion twice, the tag team champion a record four times, a Money in the Bank winner, and now a Royal Rumble winner, and she has done it all in the last four years despite being with the company since 2014. But how did she take over the WWE as a fan favorite and competitor? To understand that, you have to understand who Liv Morgan really is. She’s more than a beautiful face. Liv Morgan is a savage, and much like the Marvel hero from her home state, she’s a fearless daredevil.

Liv Morgan started at the very bottom of the WWE. She wasn’t the most experienced. She was not the tallest, the biggest, the strongest, or the most athletic. She was always the runt of the litter. She was a member of the Riot Squad, but Ruby Riott was more experienced, and as the group's front woman, she was the one expected to break out. Sarah Logan, a tough woman who used to wrestle men on her wrestling team, was seen as second string to Ruby, leaving Liv as the third. When Rhea tag-teamed with Liv, she saw Liv Morgan as deadweight and ditched her to move to bigger and better things with Judgement Day, even putting Liv on the shelf. Becky Lynch played games with Liv in her first-ever shot at the world championship, and Becky screwed her out of it, dismissing Liv as unimportant in comparison to Bianca Belair.  Hell, even the woman Liv fell in love with, Lana, threw Liv aside like trash to run back to Russev.

But Liv Morgan thrives under pressure, and she never stays down. She will outwork, outlast, and outsmart you. She’s ruthless. When the Riot Squad got fired, Liv was the only one who put in enough work to keep her job. Lana, who abandoned Liv, was also ousted from WWE while Liv remained. Big-time Beckys who tried to big-time Liv ended up losing her title to Liv Morgan down the line. Rhea, who once shed Liv as deadweight and injured her, was, in turn, put on the shelf by Liv. Not only did Liv Morgan steal Rhea’s opportunity, she also stole her boyfriend and her group, launching a coo that forced out Rhea and Damian Priest out of the Judgement Day.

Liv Morgan found freedom in the phrase watch me and she’s been embodying it ever since. She will always steal the show and make sure you're watching Liv Morgan. Whether that means plotting her way to victory as she did with Money in the Bank and Rhea Ripley, or showing up no matter the odds like she did when she went to war with former UFC champion Ronda Rousey. It’s unclear whether Liv will go for Jade’s title or Stephanie’s title. Stephanie may not even be champion by the time Raquel is done with her on February 2nd. Even that might not stop Liv as she threw Raquel out to win the Royal Rumble, which seems to be a Judgement Day tradition (see the Judgment Day article below). One thing is for sure: Liv Morgan will make the biggest splash of 2026. Just watch her.

Do You Have What It Takes to Join Judgment Day?

By Connor Soar

Judgment Day is one of the most unique groups in WWE history. They are the Hyenas of the WWE. Typecast and misunderstood as opportunistic scavengers when they are really collaborative apex predators. The Judgment Day structure can be complex and even contradictory to understand. But when you peel back the layers, it makes perfect sense.  You have to have absolute loyalty to the group, yet you must also be willing to betray to earn your place in the group. This may seem contradictory, but it’s not. The Judgment Day prizes the group as a whole over individual members, so if one member is hindering the group's success, they are out. Think of the Judgement Day as the sword of Gryffindor; it only takes in what makes it stronger.

The Judgment Day has axed many members over the years, and added many as well. I call Judgment Day the Hyenas of WWE because they are highly collaborative in their approach. Also, like hyenas, the Judgement Day are matriarchal. They have alpha females like Rhea, Liv Morgan, and Raquel. Unlike other groups, Judgment Day isn’t all men or women. It’s a mixed collective, and they help each other out, always giving each other an advantage hunting their titles in packs.

The Judgment Day is collaborative, but they are also hungry. They demand loyalty and continuous growth. If you try to get bigger than the group, the group will turn on you. Edge was the first leader of the Judgment Day, but they determined he wasn’t doing a good job and betrayed him for the good of the group, bringing in Finn Balor instead, who is still part of the group. When Liv Morgan proved she was more valuable to the group and could beat her up, Judgement Day defected from one alpha female, Rhea, to another, Liv. The women have consistently brought world championships to the group. Even Damian Priest was thrown out of Judgment Day when he became champion and thought he was bigger than the group.

But don’t feel too bad, every member of the Judgment Day has had to betray someone. Damian betrayed Aj to join. Rhea betrayed Liv to join Edge. Finn Balor betrayed AJ Styles to join the Judgment Day, helping them betray Edge. Dominik Mysterio betrayed his own father to become part of the Judgment Day. Carlito and JD McDonagh were part of the group that betrayed Rhea and Damian. Even for R-Truth's brief attempt to join Judgment Day, he had to betray Miz, constantly putting their tag team titles in danger to impress Judgment Day. But with every betrayal of a single member, the group got stronger. Every member of the Judgment Day, except Carlito and Edge, held championships while in the group.

Raquel and Roxanne stand out as the members with the least blood on their hands. Both of them turned to the dark side to enter, but neither betrayed anyone to do so. Raquel helped Liv cheat Rhea out of the title, and Roxanne entered by seducing Dominik and demonstrating her usefulness to the group. She did such a good job that, when Liv returned, instead of trying to force Roxanne out of the group, they worked together to become an even bigger force. That’s why Judgement Day works as a more matriarchal group. The women hold the group together and can command their soldiers when needed, while also making the group feel like a collective rather than a single leader and a bunch of goons.

The Judgment Day may be the greatest collective in WWE history. The group doesn’t depend on a single person. The group isn’t separated by gender or division. The group constantly evolves. In theory, the Judgment Day could keep evolving, never having to end. But the group endures because it’s a hungry collective that will do anything to elevate and ensure its success. Are you willing to leave your ego at the door? Could you betray your family, your friends, even your significant others, for the sake of the group? How far are you willing to go?  Could you give everything you have to elevate the group, even if it meant one day you might be in its crosshairs? Do you have what it takes to join Judgement Day?

WWE Zodiac Signs

By Ethereal Eres

Carpricorn

Saturn rules the Zodiac sign Capricorn. Saturn is about Task Rules, Responsibility, and Time. If you are a Capricorn, you play the long game. On the outside, you may seem calm, even restrained, but inside, you are a wildcard. Capricorns are determined people, so focused and determined that sometimes it can seem like they don't feel emotions or care about others. But that's just because they are already fast-forwarding to when the problem is solved, the goal is accomplished, and none of the small stuff matters. Here are some Capricorn Traits and the WWE Superstars that best exhibit them.

Ambitious/ Money Minded

Shane McMahon 1/15/1970

Capricorns are exemplary businesspeople. Shane McMahon was born into money, and it would have been easy for him to rest on that. However, whether in the business world or in the ring, Shane always wanted to achieve ultimate success and put himself on the line. In the ring, he faced top stars like Undertaker, AJ Styles, and Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle.

In business, Shane bought WCW and ECW with his sister Stephanie and tried to take over WWE from his father. When the company was on the line in a 5-on-5 elimination match, Shane wrestled as part of the team to try to save his company and end WWE.

Persistent

R-Truth 1/19/1972

You could ask different people what R-Truth is known for and get a different answer every time. All because R-Truth is persistent. He never gives up. He's wrestled for multiple wrestling promotions. He has 59 Title reigns in WWE alone and went from the bottom of the ladder to the very top, setting the all-time record for reigns in WWE.

When R-Truth had his 24/7 title taken away, he hatched scheme after scheme to get it back. He never gave up. When Judgment Day refused to accept R-Truth into the group, he wouldn't take no for an answer, even as Damian Priest couldn't remember whether he was in the group or not. When WWE fired R-Truth, he took to the internet, which started a wave of fan outcry. Not only was R-Truth reinstated, but he also got to face his hero, John Cena, in a title match.

Self Starters

Zelina Vega 12/27/1990

Zelina is the ultimate Capricorn. She's never given up on herself and always had a long-term goal. She started in NXT as Andrade's manager. WWE wasn't interested in her as a wrestler, but she didn't care; she was going to get in anyway she could. Well, after saving Andrade in NXT numerous times with her wrestling skills, more and more people wanted to see her get a chance to fight.

She was able to move on from Andrade and eventually become a serious singles competitor. Zelina won the inaugural Queen of the Ring and became a serious world heavyweight champion contender. She even got to represent her culture in an emotional title match in Puerto Rico, cementing her as world championship material.

WWE Through the Ages:

Has WWE Gotten Better or Worse?

By Old Timer

I decided to go back in the old time machine and watch a Raw from 2025, 2015, 1995, and a Smackdown from 2005, all at the beginning of November, to see if WWE is better than it used to be. SmackDown ended up being my highest-rated show, but statistically, they weren't that far apart. The biggest change you can see right away is the women.

In the 90's episode, there were zero women around. In 2005, we had Melina, Jillian , and Sharmel, all valets, mixing it up with the men to help their guys. In 2015, we are seeing the start of the divas' revolution with women taking up more of the show. Paige won a fatal four-way match to face Charlotte for the title after betraying Charlotte and Becky. Becky and Brie were talking crap to each other backstage. The women could have legitimately main-evented in 2015, but I will come back to that. In 2025, women are fully equal to men, taking up even more of the show. They have more titles, more time to talk, and are both on their own in their own teams and in factions with men like Judgment Day.

However, the biggest mistake of modern wrestling is that they won't quite give the keys to the women, and you can really see this in the 2015 and 2025 episodes. Paige's Fatal Four-Way with Brie Bella, Sasha, and Becky was the best match of the night, and it had a decisive winner with big championship implications. The men of that night, on the other hand, had a team Roman vs. team Seth Survivor Series-style match with no stakes, which ultimately ended inconclusively when Seth Rollins just attacked Roman and Dean with a chair, resulting in a DQ and ending the show.

1995 and 2005 Raw didn't feature their women in the main event (except for Melina), but they had the best rivalries on display, men dominated the rosters, and they had the best feuds. Razor Ramon had his best friend, the 123 kid, turn on him in the main event of Raw in 1995. That's a worthwhile ending that makes you want to watch next week. MNM found a way to cheat their way past Batista and Eddie Guerrero in a tag team title match that was one hell of a tag match, and SmackDown had the formation of their all-star team vs. Raw's all-star team on deck to be decided next week; that's worth tuning into.

Meanwhile, Raw 2025 also had a great tag team title match, but it was not the main event. The main event was a different tag team, with the world champion CM Punk, just like Batista fought with Eddie, and Razor fought with Shane Douglas. Every one of these cards had its world champions in tag/multi-man matches at the end of the night. But the 2015 and 2025 ones were much less satisfying and didn't spark further intrigue.

By 2015, the women were the draw in WWE. But WWE's refusal to consistently feature them as the main event left the men in the main event despite their rivalries being weaker overall. It's not that WWE can no longer match what they used to do, it's just that they need to do that with the women, but aren't willing to fully hand over the top spot to them, even though they have earned it, and it hurts the show.

Also, WWE has yet to replace the Undertaker in the modern era. In 1995, Undertaker had been attacked and was sending ominous messages to King about his return at Survivor Series. In 2005, ten years later, Undertaker was sending ominous messages about his return at Survivor Series. In 2015, Undertaker and his brother were kidnapped by the Wyatts in preparation for a showdown at Survivor Series. In 2025, there was nobody in that role. WWE has candidates like Alister Black and Uncle Howdy but WWE doesn't let these supernatural wrestlers run wild they did back in my day.

Overall, over the years, wrestling talent has gotten better and better, making the hierarchy unclear and the top stories more muddled. Has WWE gotten better in some way, yes. WWE has become more athletically gifted than it's ever been. However, the outdated male-centered approach has held the WWE back from fully leveraging what it has. Also, with WWE, more superstars have led to an unfocused result. One great story will keep everyone tuned in to see any other good ones along the way. But the epic rivalries and dramatic turns are becoming fewer and farther in between.

Steam Queen

by Thurston Yowie

These are looks that had steam coming out of the ears of the WWE Universe. But one woman took it to another level this month. Roxanne Perez earns two entries on this list. All the looks and all the beautiful women in WWE, and Roxanne is in the top 5 twice. However, of the two looks, it was her red-hot gear that has immortalized her as the inaugural Steam Queen.

Beauty Betrayed

By Mark Steria

Don't meet your heroes! Maxxine is a cautionary tale. Young, beautiful, and striving to be the best. Many doubted her when she arrived. She started as eye candy for Robert Stone's talent agency in NXT. However, she worked her way up the ladder and started her own modeling agency, Maxium Male Models. Her Clients are no longer in the WWE, and her brother, Max Dupri, who was supposed to be her partner, changed his name to LA Knight and abandoned her to chase his own dreams. This should have been the end of Maxxine Dupri.

However, Maxxine didn't let her failures define her; she picked herself up by her bootstraps and went back to wrestling school. She joined Alpha Academy, and even after her instructor, Gable, lost his mind and abandoned the school, she stayed. She stayed through wars with Gable, Gunther, rival school Diamond Mine, and even the Wyatt Sicks. She was rewarded with a prestigious internship with the world-famous B.O.A.T Natalya. She sat back, learned, and honed her skills until she could stand toe to toe with another of the Greatest of all time, Becky Lynch. It's not just Becky who says that other people say it; even Face Value is saying it.

Maxxine finally had her moment. Against all odds, she defeated Becky lynch and became Intercontinental Champion. From eye candy to champion. Heartwarming story. Except, The Man Becky Lynch wasn't all she was cracked up to be. She wasn't the competitor we all watched go to war with Charlotte and Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 35. She cheated Maxxine out of the Intercontinental Championship.

After all that hard work, Maxxine gets to the woman who's supposed to be one of the best competitors, and she cheats. Then, when Maxxine comes back for the Championship, she is betrayed by Nasty Natalya. Natalya even went as low as betraying her own pupil, the very woman who trained and looked up to her, because of jealousy. Nasty Natalya helped Becky win back the Championship, and then she mercilessly mauled Maxxine after a grueling emotional loss to Becky. Maxxine won't give up. She will find a way to rise above because that's what she has always done. Still, it's disappointing that women who are supposed to be the best are just cheating, jealous divas, trying to keep the next generation down by any means.

Why Roman is a Threat to the WWE

By Reverse Hipster

History works in cycles. Just as the Patriots make the Super Bowl again after everyone thought their dynasty would end with Tom Brady. Roman Reigns wins the Royal Rumble after we thought his run ended when he lost to Cody. Roman Reigns isn’t a wrestler or entertainer, he’s a conqueror. It’s not enough for Roman Reigns to win. He doesn’t seek to win, he seeks to dominate, and unlike 99% of the roster, he has the ability to win it. When he arrived in the WWE with the Shield, they took WWE over from the inside, picking out the biggest stars of the day and knocking them on their back. Even Evolution's generational team of  Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton wasn’t enough to stop Roman and the Shield. The Shield was only ever stopped by the Shield when Seth Rollins sold them out to become the face of WWE.

Still, even on his own, Roman Reigns' ascent couldn’t be stopped. He main-evented four WrestleManias in a row. He been a tag team champion, United States champion, Intercontinental champion, World heavyweight champion, WWE champion 4 times, WWE Universal champion twice. One of those was an undisputed title reign that lasted 4 years. He’s one of the most well-known members of the WWE roster, and his list of beaten opponents might be the greatest. Undertaker Bryan Danielson, Edge, John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Cody Rhodes.

The bottom line is that when Roman is at the top, there is not enough air for the rest of the locker room to breathe. Winning isn’t enough; he conquers everything until there’s nothing left, and once he gets rolling, it could take years to stop him. Last time Roman rose to the top, the WWE had to make a new world championship just to give the other guys something to fight for. The last time he was on top, even the legendary hero Cody Rhodes failed to beat him the first time. Much like Thanos, Roman took over and built an army through the Bloodline, and it took a team of Avengers to stop him. It took Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Undertaker, John Cena, and Jey Uso to bring him down. That was a once in a lifemtime moment. If Roman rises again, the stars will most likely not align like that again.

The WWE needs to stop Roman Reigns's rise at all costs. 29 other Men in the rumble weren’t enough. Now, Roman is one match away from conquering the WWE all over again. Roman will most likely look to the strongest rather than the one he has an advantage over. This year’s field of champions is strong, though. CM Punk is the best in the world, a future Hall of Famer still sitting on top over a decade after his debut. Then there's Drew McIntyre, the Scottish psychopath. He’s big, he’s tough, he is ruthless on the mic and in the ring. Drew McIntyre is our best hope at stopping Roman, in my opinion. Drew rose in the shadows of Roman Reigns ' year-long conquest of WWE, defeating Brock Lesnar after winning a Royal Rumble of his own, and he’s only gotten better since then. Roman and Drew crossed paths once at Survivor Series in a champion vs. champion match, and Roman had to cheat to steal a cheap victory. But this time, Drew is every bit as tough, and he isn’t afraid to fight just as underhandedly as Roman does. Plus, Drew has something Roman wants: the Universal Championship that Roman lost.  Regardless of who Roman picks for WrestleMania, the truth remains. That champion will be the only thing that stands between the WWE Universe and another multi-year Roman Reigns of terror.