Liv Morgan on the Cover of PAPER Magazine

If a highlight is current, Liv Morgan will discover it.

Her profession as a WWE celebrity is full of alternatives given and alternatives taken. One second, she charms her means round a gaggle of wrestlers in the ring, and in the subsequent, she smiles and offers a swift kick in the nether area, as John Cena discovered in the fall of 2025.

Now she is a co-leader of a WWE heel faction The Judgment Day. Herself, Dominik Mysterio, Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez and JD McDonagh wreak havoc on a weekly foundation as the crowd erupts in boos each time.

“It’s so fun going to work every week and seeing what shenanigans we’re going to get into,” Morgan tells PAPER. The pint-sized punisher is on her solution to WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, the place she is going to battle Stephanie Vaquer in a single of the most anticipated matches of the weekend.

Along the means, Morgan has change into the excellent ambassador for the larger-than-life occasion, as there’s not a digicam lens she’s by no means favored. More importantly, she’s traveled throughout the nation to let individuals know she is combating for the WWE Women’s World title in the “Show of Shows.” “I’m obsessed with it all, and I want everyone to know that I’m the one that they can call when they need media appearances, or they need to send someone to a carpet,” Morgan says. “I want that responsibility within my role here. I want to be that person for them.”

WWE has began hitting extra eyeballs since shifting its flagship program Monday Night Raw to Netflix. Now, Liv is representing a reworked ladies’s division that survived an period of hypersexualization in the late ’90s, with extra alternatives to showcase their athleticism and storytelling than ever earlier than.

When Liv will not be chasing championships or slaying photoshoots, she’s supporting her boo, Dominik Mysterio, who is an element of a wrestling dynasty and the second half of PAPER’s WWE energy couple cowl.

For extra on how Morgan went from wrestling his older brothers in a small city in New Jersey, to gracing LED boards throughout the Las Vegas strip, learn that full cowl story under.

How did the photoshoot really feel?

I’ve by no means felt or seemed like that in my total total life. It felt very fashion-forward, like I used to be doing artwork. I used to be like, “Oh, this is something that the fans have never seen from either Dominic or I.” I used to be very excited to simply be concerned and honored to share this cowl with him.

For these assembly you for the first time, who’s Liv Morgan?

Liv Morgan is somebody, should you mess with me, I’ll spend a yr making your life a residing hell. I’ll come for you while you least count on it. But apart from that, I believe Liv is only a passionate girl. She clearly loves Dominik Mysterio. She loves her Judgment Day household. Loves inflicting chaos, loves being messy.

WWE has hit tradition differently and you’ve got seen that transition firsthand. What has it been like?

I believe it is superb. It’s a testomony to our bosses, Triple H and Nick Khan. WWE is now featured on Netflix weekly with Monday Night Raw. Our largest occasions are on ESPN, so simply throughout the board, we’re being highlighted and showcased differently that I believe brings in lots of viewers, lots of followers, perhaps lots of individuals who weren’t watching WWE earlier than, or individuals who used to look at WWE and now are selecting it up once more. Like, I believe WWE is unquestionably cool once more.

Have you felt that popular culture shift your self?

Absolutely. When I received informed about PAPER, I used to be like, are you fucking kidding me? Do they need me? And that is only a testomony, I believe, to all the work that everybody’s doing and the progress that WWE has. I believe it is becoming. We have Jelly Roll eager to be half of our reveals. We have Bad Bunny eager to be half of our reveals. Topanga (Danielle Fishel) comes by way of weekly. We have all these individuals in music and leisure and popular culture who wish to be half of the occasions. And so I positively seen a distinction.

Have you ever been stunned to study a specific celeb was an enormous WWE fan?

No, as a result of I really feel like WWE is for everybody. You know what I imply? I really feel like the attain is so broad that you do not know who will probably be into it. Like, we’re speaking about WWE, this iconic World Wrestling Entertainment firm, that is been round endlessly. I’m by no means stunned at who needs to come back by way of, or who’s there, or who needs to participate, as a result of it is a film, it is iconic.

What attracted you to WWE and to wish to be a wrestler in the first place?

So I grew up with 4 older brothers, and so I used to be very a lot a tomboy rising up. Anything my brothers beloved, I naturally beloved. I spent lots of time hanging out with my brothers, they usually launched me to WWE after I was 5 years outdated. I had by no means seen something like that, ever. I actually beloved watching the ladies. There had been these robust, highly effective ladies who had been wrestling with the boys. They had been sporting saggy pants and sneakers. And that simply actually resonated with me.

That was my dream rising up. It wasn’t to be a ballerina, it wasn’t to be a trainer, it wasn’t to get married; it was to be a WWE celebrity. Following by way of on that and altering my life and my household’s life has been the largest blessing. Like, I’m eternally grateful.

That in-ring wrestling between ladies and men has principally disappeared, however you your self nonetheless have an opportunity to work carefully with males like Dominik and Finn Balor as a result of of the Judgment Day faction. What’s that dynamic like?

It’s been lots of enjoyable. I got here into The Judgment Day with Finn Balor, a seasoned veteran on this enterprise. JD McDonagh, who was educated by Finn Balor. Dominik Mysterio is a generational wrestler. He’s been in the enterprise since he was, like, seven years outdated. My finest buddy, Raquel Rodriguez, and now, my little prodigy, Roxanne Perez. I believe that all of us simply love WWE in the beginning. We love the tales we get to inform with The Judgment Day. We have lots of enjoyable collectively. We belief one another. It’s actually a tight-knit group, even by way of all the modifications throughout the completely different iterations over the final 4 or so years. I do know I can belief them. I do know that they will give me sincere suggestions. I do know that they need me to succeed, and I would like them to succeed. Well, perhaps not Finn anymore, however everybody else.

Do you suppose the storytelling facet of wrestling would not get talked about sufficient?

I really feel like typically when individuals hear WWE, they simply suppose of the leisure and the wrestling and never all the different points that fall into it, like the character work, like the storytelling, like these loopy arcs of character that we offer.

What is the hardest factor about being a WWE celebrity?

I do not know should you’ll imagine me, however for me, nothing. I adore it all. I like the journey, I like the physicality, I like the schedule. I like the duty. I’m not saying it is not exhausting. It’s very exhausting, bodily demanding, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

You have been entrusted with an important deal of duty.

If it had been some other means, I’d be upset. This is strictly the duty and the position I would like inside WWE.

How did the power-couple dynamic between you and Dom develop?

I really feel like the crowd may be very invested in us, they usually wish to know what is going on to occur subsequent with us. Like, are they going to interrupt up? Are they going to get married? Like, is he going to cheat on her? They’re so enthralled by what may very well be. And in order that’s tremendous enjoyable for me, as a result of we would like that funding. We need them to care about what we’ll do subsequent. To have so many individuals emotionally invested in my relationship is the coolest feeling.

How do you’re feeling about your upcoming match at WrestleMania 42 and the means it has been constructed?

I adore it, as a result of truthfully, Stephanie and I actually haven’t any enterprise collectively apart from: I would like your championship. And so I believe that we have made it actually private and actually bodily. They know we don’t like one another. I believe they know it is on web site after we see one another. Like, I’m speaking about her mom. I known as her mom trash final week.

Looked such as you discovered some combating phrases in Spanish, too.

One factor about me is I’m gonna adapt, bitch. I’ll determine a solution to talk with you. I’ll open up my little Spanish dictionary. [Laughs] Actually, Raquel helped me that day. I wished to say one thing out of pocket. And I assumed, like, your mom is trash. That’s how I’m going to get her to come back out and face me, as a result of nobody’s gonna keep in the again after they’re calling out your mom. If you speak about my mom bitch, I’m coming for you. I do not give a fuck what I’m doing in that second, I’m coming for you. So I knew that I used to be going to get her.

As somebody who speaks Spanish, I used to be shocked while you stated all that.

But did I eat it up?

You completely did. Was there ever a light-weight swap second the place you knew your life was going to alter endlessly?

I really feel like I’ve had a pair moments the place I knew my life was going to alter endlessly.

When I received signed to WWE, I knew that was sufficient for me. Being there was sufficient for me. Also, getting known as as much as the essential roster. Going from NXT to SmackDown, that was one other second the place I used to be, like, all proper, I made it to the main leagues now. I believe after I received the Money in the Bank match and beat Ronda Rousey for my very first ever championship, that was additionally a really pivotal second for me. I used to be like, holy shit. I simply beat all these different ladies on this Money in the Bank match, and I simply defeated Ronda fucking Rousey for my first-ever WWE Championship.

I grew up as simply one other fan in the stands, similar to our viewers. And so to have this second of intense, intense success and achievement was very surreal to me. The Liv Morgan revenge tour in opposition to Rhea Ripley. Me stealing Dominik from her, me stealing The Judgment Day from her, me stealing the Women’s World Championship from her. And we’re speaking about Rhea Ripley, you realize, one of the prime ladies in WWE. And I did that. And in order that was one other second the place I simply was like, I really feel like I may be tapping into one thing completely different and new and one thing that I wanted to faucet into.

Do you suppose little you, combating together with her older brothers in the yard, may you’ve got ever imagined the heights that Liv Morgan has reached right now?

It actually makes me cry. No, you realize, I believe that was all the time like my hopes and my goals, however rising up in a household with no cash, no connections, [WWE] feels very very like pipe goals, like issues that you just sometimes will not be going to have the ability to accomplish. When you have a look at my life on paper, I should not be in the WWE. I should not be filming for the cowl of PAPER Magazine. And yeah, I get up each single day with pinch-me moments, feeling blessed and simply so grateful for the issues I get to do on this life. My household thinks it is so insane. You know what I imply? Like, WWE was all of our goals. Now they will go to WrestleMania and hopefully watch me change into the new Women’s World Champion.