Triple H Finally Reveals Secret Behind Stephanie Vaquer’s WWE Raw Absence

Stephanie Vaquer’s absence has been explained.

At Wrestlepalooza, Stephanie Vaquer defeated Iyo Sky to claim the Women’s World Championship to complete her remarkable rise since joining WWE in July 2024.

At the end of a true hard-fought back-and-forth encounter, Vaquer narrowly avoided an Over The Moonsault, before landing a Spiral Moonsault of her own to claim the gold. The victory marked Vaquer’s third championship success since debuting in NXT.

Triple H Shares Update On Stephanie Vaquer

However, the road to Vaquer’s big night was far from straightforward. The star had initially been set to challenge Naomi for the Women’s World Championship at Clash In Paris after winning at Evolution. But those plans were dropped after Naomi announced that she’s pregnant.

This eventually led to the match against Iyo Sky being announced for Wrestlepalooza. But even then, there were a few more bumps along the way. Vaquer missed the September 8 episode of Raw, where she was advertised to take part in a contract signing. This led to claims she was dealing with a mysterious injury.

Although Stephanie Vaquer herself quickly denied these reports, it became clear that something wasn’t right.

“I’ll let everybody in on a behind-the-scenes secret with Stephanie. In the last few weeks, Stephanie has been very sick. I don’t know all the details of what the flu-type thing going on, but she was very sick. It’s why she missed TV and why there was an odd build to it. She was able to feel well enough and get cleared medically to compete tonight.”

Elsewhere at the event, Brock Lesnar destroyed John Cena in under ten minutes, spurred on by a reunion with Paul Heyman. Meanwhile, AJ Lee enjoyed a successful return to the ring as she and CM Punk saw off Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch.

In the main event, Cody Rhodes successfully defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre.

H/t to Fightful