Big plans reportedly in place for Rhea Ripley following heel turn on WWE RAW

Rhea Ripley turned heel following her Women's Tag Team Championship loss this week on WWE RAW.

Liv for Brutality faced Sasha Banks and Naomi on the show for the Women's Tag Team Championship in a losing effort. The former Women's Champion attacked Liv Morgan after their match and delivered The Riptide before exiting the ring, confirming the duo's split.

According to a report by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, Ripley turned heel in order to insert herself into the WWE RAW Women's Championship program.

“With Ripley, her being heel right now makes sense because Bianca Belair’s a babyface. She’s got one opponent which is Becky Lynch. They don’t want to go back to that right away."

Meltzer went on to note that this could be the reason why Sonya Deville's match against Bianca Belair has been pulled forward.

"That’s why they’re doing Sonya Deville right now. If you notice, the Sonya Deville thing was supposed to be on the pay-per-view and they moved it up a couple weeks to be on TV next week. So, maybe that’s to move Rhea Ripley into that spot sooner. But, Rhea Ripley right now, because of Bianca Belair and everything like that, she should be a heel right now.” (via Ringsidenews)

Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan were once close friends on WWE RAW

Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan were known as Liv For Brutality throughout their time together on WWE RAW, but their split has been teased in recent weeks.

Two weeks ago, Ripley walked out following her match with Morgan and later confirmed that she was able to secure a Women's Tag Team Championship match. The championship angle allowed them to remain together for an extended period.

Check out Ripley's comments about her team with Liv Morgan, among other topics, here:

Ripley was then missing from last week's episode of the show before they were able to cash in on their opportunity last night. The loss obviously became too much for The Nightmare, who is used to winning as the only female Superstar to have lifted the NXT UK, NXT, and RAW Women's Championships in WWE history.