Devastating Update On WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley
Things are not looking up for Rhea Ripley, at least for the moment.
The current WWE Women’s Champion last competed at Clash in Italy, where she successfully defended her title against Jade Cargill. Unfortunately for Ripley, she did not come out unscathed from the fight.
On the June 5 episode of SmackDown, she was featured in a non-wrestling segment, which she showed up for with a limp and a knee brace on her right leg.
WWE confirmed on the show that she had sustained a legitimate injury.
Yesterday, WWE hosted Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. One of the matches on the show featured the final of the Queen of the Ring tournament, where IYO SKY faced Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan.
As she had done in the semi-final match against Charlotte Flair, Morgan worked on SKY’s leg, hoping to weaken it, thus reducing the chance of aerial maneuvers from her opponent.
However, the Genius of the Sky held her own and won by hitting her Over The Moonsault finisher. She immediately announced that she would challenge Liv Morgan for the title at SummerSlam in August.
According to a report by Fightful Select, Rhea Ripley was scheduled to be a part of Night of Champions, but due to her injury, WWE was forced to call it off.
Meanwhile, the company continues to build towards SummerSlam, where multiple titles will be defended. It remains to be seen whether or not the Australian wrestler returns to TV sooner.
Adam Copeland Claims Vince McMahon Did Not Understand Rhea Ripley’s “Greatness”
Adam Copeland, fka Edge, started The Judgment Day in WWE in 2022 when Vince McMahon was the company boss.
While speaking on an interview with SHAK Wrestling, the WWE Hall of Famer revisited the formation of The Judgment Day, especially explaining Vince’s lack of understanding about what Rhea Ripley brought to the table.
Vince said I want you to start a group, and I want it to be like The Brood. And I went, okay. So I’m thinking three people, and he said who would that be? And I said Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley. No hesitation. Those are the two people that could make this a pretty cool group, I think.
He was kind of surprised by that. And that made me realize he didn’t understand what he had in those two. And I thought that was a shame.
So, I truly thought, this can be a vehicle. So hopefully, they just start getting more reps, and some more experience, and I think that’s essentially what it did. And then I got to feud [with] them for a year. So I got to be their babyface along with Rey [Mysterio], and when you got two babyfaces like us, chances are your heel group is gonna do okay. It’s still going, I think. So, you know, it worked.
But I’m proud of them. I’m super proud of them. I’m proud of Rhea. I’m proud of where she’s taken it and gone with it, and it’s exactly where I thought it could go. [H/T: Cageside Seats]
This reveal from Adam Copeland comes as a surprise, considering how big Rhea Ripley’s name was in NXT. One can only wonder where Ripley would be on the current roster had she not been a member of The Judgment Day.