WWE has had to make the tough decision to crown a new Women’s Champion at SummerSlam, given Rhea Ripley‘s injury.
Adam Pearce has announced ahead of WWE SmackDown that Ripley will not be able to compete at SummerSlam, so the decision has been made to crown an interim Women’s Champion in her absence, and in order for that to happen, it will be a multi-woman match at The Biggest Party of the Summer.
Thanks for the submission!
Pearce noted that there would be a ladder match to crown the new champion. This means that Ripley will retain her title, but an Interim champion will be crowned, and the qualifiers for the ladder match will take place over the next two weeks.
Rhea Ripley injured her knee in a title defence back at Clash in Italy
Rhea Ripley faced Jade Cargill back at Clash in Italy and suffered a knee injury while she was able to successfully defend her title. WWE later noted that she would be forced to undergo testing to determine the severity of the injury, before Tiffany Stratton was called in to replace her at Night of Champions.
The Women’s United States Championship has been pushed into the spotlight over the past few weeks, while Ripley has not been able to be part of SmackDown, but there was an expectation that she would be back at SummerSlam.
This announcement means that Ripley won’t be stripped of her title, but the new champion and Ripley will collide when she makes her return to determine who the real champion is. It will also allow several names in the division to be able to step up in Ripley’s absence and show that they have the ability to take it to the next level.
As of writing, it’s unclear how long Rhea Ripley will continue to be sidelined. She was recently a part of Fanatic’s Fest, where she held a lookalike contest, but it seems that while she was able to appear at the event and interact with fans, her injury is still a major problem, and it could keep her out of action for many more weeks.
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Edited by Phillipa Marie