Update On When WWE Hopes Rhea Ripley Can Return From Injury
A new update has provided a timeline for when WWE fans might be able to see Rhea Ripley in the ring again.
The last time the WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley appeared on WWE television was the June 5 edition of SmackDown. Ripley said she was done with Jade Cargill after beating her at Clash in Italy.
Rhea Ripley last competed in a WWE ring at a live event in Portugal on June 3rd when she teamed up with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss to beat Fatal Influences’ Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid.
During an interview earlier this month, Rhea Ripley revealed she had a partially torn meniscus in her right knee, and she had to let it heal before she could compete in a WWE ring again.
“I am [injured], unfortunately. I hurt my knee. I got a slight tear in my meniscus. It’s just healing. It’s getting there. It’s getting stronger. I just can’t bend it very well, so I kind of need it to bend, guys.
I don’t know. I tore it in a weird spot, so it’s kind of a little bit up in the air with just how fast my body recovers. But I’ve been out for just over a month now. It feels better. It still starts to hurt and throb, it gets tired. I can’t get up or bend down really slow or kind of move side to side while crouching. So, we’ll see how it goes.”
Rhea Ripley’s Injury Has Led To Changes For Other Women On WWE SmackDown
Due to Ripley’s injury, WWE announced there will be a 5-woman Ladder Match at SummerSlam to crown an Interim WWE Women’s Champion. Whoever wins the Interim WWE Women’s Title will face Ripley whenever she’s ready.
In an update, Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select reported that Ripley’s injury has caused WWE to change SummerSlam plans for other women. There was going to be a Charlotte Flair-Jade Cargill match, but Cargill is in the Ladder Match instead.
Tiffany Stratton also qualified for the Interim WWE Women’s Title Ladder Match at SummerSlam. It was reported that Stratton was going to defend the Women’s US Title against Blake Monroe at SummerSlam, but Stratton is in the Ladder Match instead.
The report from Wrestlevotes noted that there was a strong push internally in WWE to have Ripley take as much time as needed to recover from her knee injury, rather than have Ripley try to come back quickly and risk further damage. WWE didn’t want Ripley’s injury to get worse, obviously.
As for when Ripley may return to the ring, Wrestlevotes reported that “WWE is hopeful that Ripley will be ready to go by the fall,” so that means in late September, or possibly into October or November.
While she is away from WWE television, Rhea Ripley went on X/Twitter to call out the negative and hateful fans on social media.
There are a lot of tiny little idiotic humans on this app. Literally good for nothing, know nothing, hypocritical, terrible excuses for humans… The amount of delusion is funny af 🤣👏🏼 Literal jokes.
If this triggers you, then it’s directed at YOU.
Hope this helps 😘
There are a lot of tiny little idiotic humans on this app. Literally good for nothing, know nothing, hypocritical, terrible excuses for humans… The amount of delusion is funny af 🤣👏🏼 Literal jokes.
If this triggers you, then it’s directed at YOU.
Hope this helps 😘— RheaRipley_WWE (@RheaRipley_WWE) July 22, 2026
Also Read: “Bunch Of Pu**ies” – Rhea Ripley Calls Out Top WWE Stars After RAW Incident