WWE's Royal Rumble is scripted chaos at its best | Opinion

We all have moments when simple questions freeze us. Liv Morgan had one Wednesday when she was asked to spell her name.

"G-I ..." she began. She stopped. A moment of realization hit. She was spelling the wrong name.

Gionna Daddio is a New Jersey native, a former competitive cheerleader, a fan of horror movies and a one-time Hooters employee. Liv Morgan is her creation, the fulfillment of her dreams, and perhaps a fanciful version of herself.

Professional wrestling is a unique stage in which authentic and fictional identities blend to create a merged persona. Whatever differences might exist between character and self, though, Daddio and Morgan share a reality: being one of the world's best professional wrestlers.

Briggs: Indianapolis' WWE deal is bigger than the Super Bowl

Morgan is heading toward Indianapolis for the Feb. 1 Royal Rumble as the WWE women's world champion. The Royal Rumble is one of the most popular wrestling shows of the year and the biggest to hit Indianapolis since WrestleMania in 1992. The Royal Rumble also is the first part of a long-term deal with WWE that will bring another WrestleMania and SummerSlam.

In addition to being one of the largest shows, period, the Royal Rumble is also perhaps the greatest showcase for women's wrestling.

Let me back up.

The Royal Rumble is named for the event's signature match in which a new participant approaches the ring every two minutes until 30 wrestlers have entered. The last person standing after 29 others have been thrown over the top rope is the winner. Yes, it's scripted. It's also chaotic. It's scripted chaos at its best.

WWE held the first Royal Rumble in 1988. But the annual event didn't include a Royal Rumble women's match until 2018. Morgan was in that match. Earlier this month, she also became the first-ever WWE Crown Jewel women's champion in Saudi Arabia, a string of words that would have been impossible 10 years ago because of that nation's cultural views toward women.

Morgan's wrestling career has coincided with a transcendent period for women's wrestling. The women's matches have gone from popcorn breaks to main event draws. Morgan is atop that movement now as WWE begins its string of stadium shows in Indianapolis.

I met Morgan as she visited Indianapolis to promote the Royal Rumble. Tickets are on sale now . I've already bought tickets. Morgan explained why you should, too. Our conversation is edited and condensed for clarity and brevity.

Question: You grew up a wrestling fan. Pretend for a moment that you are not going to have a starring role in the Royal Rumble and that you're talking to friends about why they should go. What would you tell them? Out of all our premium live events (the modern term for pay-per-views), I think it's the most chaotic and the most unpredictable and the most fun in a way. It's chaotic and high energy and a lot of fun. You never know who's going to show up. You never know who's going to win. No. 30 is usually a special treat and the winner secures a spot for WrestleMania, which is our holy grail. We work all year to hopefully get a spot at WrestleMania (in April).

Q: During the past decade, you've gone from wrestling fan to WWE women's champion. You've gone from a horror movie fan to getting killed by Chucky in a TV show. Did you have some deep-seated confidence that you were destined to live your dreams, or do you constantly have moments now where you ask yourself, "How is this real life?" Every day I have pinch-me moments. I wouldn't call it a deep-seated confidence, but I was just very hopeful. I was very hopeful that I would be able to one day grow up and be in this WWE. I wasn't really hopeful about being killed by Chucky. That was more so of a pipe dream and we made that happen, too.

Q: What's the horror movie character most similar to your character? You know, not just because I was murdered by him, but I think Chucky and I kind of have a lot of similarities. We're both petite. We both are a little bit cheeky with our attitude, both really relentless and ruthless at the end of the day.

Q: You're a heel now, but you're also kind of relatable. You just declared the end of the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour , because you beat Rhea Ripley (by cheating) and then attacked her and put her out of action indefinitely. People boo that, as they should, but who wouldn't want to go on a revenge tour? Is part of your success creating this character who people want to vicariously live through? I was out on injury (last year). Rhea Ripley tore my shoulder; I tore my rotator cuff, my first injury in WWE. I had lots of time off and I was just sitting there thinking, "What do I want my comeback to look like?" And I came up with the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour, where the sole purpose of it was to come back and take away everything that Rhea Ripley loved and then some. And, so, if people do relate to wanting to exact revenge on their enemy, then cool. But, yeah, the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour is now over. Rhea Ripley is gone, she's done, and now we're on to the Liv Morgan World Tour.

Q: Something that's interesting to me — and maybe I'm reaching with this question — is that women in wrestling for decades served as arm candy for men. You stole Ripley's boyfriend , Dominik Mysterio, and now he's with you. But you're the champion, you're the one sitting here doing interviews. He's basically your arm candy, right? I think Dominik and I are very equal in our relationship and our partnership. We both bring 50-50, to the table, and I think that's what makes us so great. Or, so terrible, however you want to put it.

Q: Do you like trying to win people's hearts, or is this more fun? This is so much more fun. You can't do anything wrong. It's hard to try to get people to like you naturally. It's so much easier to get people to hate you. There's just a freeing feeling. There's a freedom in knowing that it doesn't matter what they think of me. I don't need your acceptance or approval. I can quite literally do and say whatever I want.

Q: How do you think Caitlin Clark would do as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble? She's super athletic and she's super great. I think she'd do well. You know, maybe for her, she doesn't want to do well, because I am the women's world champion. And I don't know if Caitlin Clark wants to step into the ring with me, even though I'd be happy to.

What about Pat McAfee? This is his city. He's been in the Royal Rumble before. I'm interested to see. Is he going to enter the Rumble this year? Who knows.

Contact James Briggs at 317-444-4732 or . Follow him on X and Threads at