'It almost felt like therapy': Liv Morgan on 'real and raw' WWE Network special 'Liv Forever'
Liv Morgan dropped out of high school a decade ago to chase her professional wrestling dreams. The journey continues for the World Wrestling Entertainment competitor, but it hasn't always gone smoothly or quickly.
"I'm crawling to the destination," Morgan candidly reveals in the trailer for "Liv Forever," the WWE Network Documentaries special premiering Sunday on the streaming service.
Days before the film's launch, Morgan told Asbury Park Press, a part of the Paste BN Network, what keeps her pressing on.
“I think it’s just the same drive which got me started. (It) was just wanting to make my dreams come true and complete the vision that I had for myself in my head and to help support my family," said Morgan. "It’s always been that same motivation. It’s always been that same drive.”
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Shot over 18 months, "Liv Forever" captivatingly charts the life and career so far of Morgan — also known as Gionna Jene Daddio.
"Liv Forever" looks back to Morgan's difficult early years as one of seven siblings raised by a widowed single mother who worked 60 hours a week as a waitress to make ends meet.
Professional wrestling provided solace, with Morgan taking her first bumps in a makeshift ring constructed in the family's North Jersey backyard.
With dreams of squared circle stardom, she dropped out of high school in 2010 during her sophomore year, worked as a waitress at Hooters, trained and tried out for the WWE at 19 in 2014, signing with the company later that year.
Morgan made her debut with WWE's NXT brand in 2015 and was called up to the company's main roster in 2017.
What was it about her New Jersey roots that gave her the resolve to power through hard times?
“There’s just a certain mentality when you come from New Jersey," said Morgan, "a never-say-never attitude. It’s almost like a chip on your shoulder to prove yourself.”
"Liv Forever" documents a particularly rocky time in Morgan's career, starting with WWE's April 2019 Superstar Shake-up which saw the break-up of The Riott Squad, her faction with Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan.
Throughout all of the ups, downs, twists and turns that followed, the WWE Network cameras were rolling.
“As it went on, it almost felt like therapy," said Morgan. "Every week I would go meet with the awesome crew I was working with and they’re going to talk to me about my life. It ended up being way more real and raw than I thought.”
This summer, The Riott Squad reunited as a duo minus Logan — who'd been released by the WWE in April and announced she'd "stepped away from wrestling for the foreseeable future" in June. At last weekend's Survivor Series pay-per-view, both Morgan and Riott were on the team representing WWE's "SmackDown" brand in the women's tag team elimination match.
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Looking ahead, Morgan said things feel "completely different" for the current iteration of The Riott Squad.
“The first time The Riott Squad was around I feel like we disbanded before we were ready. We were just hitting our stride and then it was taken away," she said. "And so to have the opportunity again, Ruby and I kind of feel like we have a chance to re-write history and to create whatever we want.
"And so we can go at it this time around doing everything that we wished we could have the first time. And so we’re not taking it lightly at all. We know this might be the last time, and so we are completely focused and have our sights set on becoming the next WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions and we just know we have to make the most of it.”
"Liv Forever," a WWE Network Documentaries presentation, premieres on the streaming service Sunday, Nov. 29, watch.wwe.com.