WWE Rumors on Liv Morgan's WrestleMania Status, Sympathy for Cody Rhodes and Nikki Bella's Injury

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Morgan's WrestleMania Status Reportedly in Question

After bumping heads with Judgment Day stablemates Roxanne Perez during Monday night's episode of Raw, it reportedly isn't yet known if Liv Morgan will be cleared to compete at WrestleMania 42.

According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), both Morgan and Perez were placed in concussion protocol by WWE after their heads collided during a backstage segment that saw women's world champion Stephanie Vaquer attack Morgan from behind.

Alvarez added that WWE is in "wait and see" mode with Morgan, noting that if WrestleMania was this weekend, she likely would not be cleared to wrestle.

However, WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas is not until the weekend of April 18 and 19, and Morgan vs. Vaquer is scheduled for Night 1 on April 18.

Shortly after the spot happened on Raw, Morgan posted photos of herself on X, showing off a massive goose egg on her forehead. The swelling went down significantly in a subsequent photo, though:

Morgan won the women's Royal Rumble for the first time in January, earning her a choice between a Women's World Championship or WWE Women's Championship bout at WrestleMania.

After a few weeks of deliberation, Liv chose Vaquer and the women's world title, and they have been engaged in a heated rivalry ever since, featuring verbal barbs and physicality.

They have done a great job of drumming up interest among fans in their match, and while there are now some questions regarding whether it could be in jeopardy, Morgan luckily has nearly two weeks of recovery time at her disposal between when the injury happened and when her match is scheduled.

McAfee's Inclusion Reportedly Creating Sympathy for Rhodes

Pat McAfee's sudden and confusing inclusion in the WWE Championship program between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton has reportedly created some strong feelings among other WWE Superstars.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Cultaholic.com's Aidan Gibbons), some WWE talents have "thrown their hands up" over McAfee getting thrown into the mix because of it "not making storyline sense."

Many of those WWE talents reportedly also feel sympathy for Rhodes since the WWE champion must now "carry that additional weight" of accommodating McAfee into the feud leading up to WrestleMania 42.

Despite many questioning the move, Rhodes reportedly didn't "sell" McAfee's involvement, meaning that even if it bothered him, he didn't let anyone know it.

On last week's episode of SmackDown, McAfee interrupted a segment between Rhodes and Orton by hitting Rhodes with a low blow and then cutting a scathing promo about the state of WWE while Orton viciously battered Cody.

It was revealed that McAfee was the mystery person who Orton had been talking to on the phone for weeks in backstage segments, and McAfee stated in his promo that his goal was top help Orton "save" wrestling.

Given that McAfee hadn't been seen on WWE programming in months, primarily served as a babyface commentator in the past and had little to no interaction with Rhodes or Orton, it was difficult for fans to make sense of his involvement.

Per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Mukherjee), TKO CEO Ari Emanuel was the one who pushed for celebrity involvement in the Rhodes vs. Orton feud with McAfee being his top choice.

Now, Rhodes finds himself in a somewhat similar position as last year when rapper Travis Scott interfered in his WrestleMania match against John Cena, helping Cena win.

While McAfee's presence makes a bit more sense given that he has at least been in WWE for years, it felt unnecessary since Rhodes and Orton already had a ton of history to pull from in order to make their rivalry compelling.

WWE's Reported Backup Plan if Nikki Bella Misses WrestleMania

If Nikki Bella is not cleared to compete in the Fatal 4-Way tag team match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 42, the creative team reportedly has a backup plan in place.

According to Alvarez (h/t Mukherjee), The Kabuki Warriors are slated to replace The Bella Twins in the match if Nikki is unable to wrestle.

During Monday night's episode of Raw, play-by-play announcer Michael Cole confirmed the previously reported news that Nikki was nursing an ankle injury.

Nikki's twin sister, Brie Bella, returned to WWE as a surprise entrant in the women's Royal Rumble match, marking her first WWE bout in four years.

On the ensuing episode of Raw, Nikki and Brie announced their intention to go after the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships since they have never held them before.

The Bellas are one of multiple teams to have stepped up to reigning champs Nia Jax and Lash Legend in recent weeks, leading to the announcement of Jax and Legend vs. The Bella Twins vs. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria for WrestleMania.

It has also been rumored that a singles match between Iyo Sky and Asuka is going to be added to the WrestleMania card, and the likelihood seemed to grow on Raw when Asuka vowed in a vignette to teach Sky a lesson.

While 13 matches have officially been announced for WrestleMania with seven on Night 1 and six on Night 2, Asuka vs. Sky is not among them.

Per Alvarez, WWE is holding off on announcing Asuka vs. Sky because it plans to have Asuka and Kairi Sane replace The Bella Twins in the tag title match if Nikki isn't ready.

Should that happen, it is unclear what Sky will do at WrestleMania or if a different match will replace Sky vs. Asuka, but Iyo could simply be involved with the WWE Women's Championship match between Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill since she has come to Ripley's defense on recent episodes of SmackDown and Raw.