Original WWE Plans For Rhea Ripley Before Injury Revealed
Rhea Ripley has been sidelined with an injury, and a new report has more info about what WWE had planned for her.
The WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley has been dealing with a knee injury for the past month.
At WWE Clash in Italy on May 31st, Rhea Ripley successfully defended the Women’s Title against Jade Cargill, whom Ripley beat for the title at WrestleMania 42 over a month earlier.
On June 3rd, Ripley teamed up with Charlotte Flair & Tiffany Stratton to defeat Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid) at a live event in Portugal. That’s the last match Ripley has had.
When Ripley appeared on the June 5th episode of SmackDown, she was featured in a non-wrestling segment. Ripley was limping and had a knee brace on her right leg. Meanwhile, WWE confirmed on the show that she had sustained a legitimate injury.
Rhea Ripley was originally planned to be part of Night of Champions on June 27th, but she was not cleared to compete, so WWE had Tiffany Stratton defend the Women’s US Title against Jade Cargill at the event instead.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports that WWE’s plan for Ripley at SummerSlam was to defend the WWE Women’s Championship against either Alexa Bliss or Jacy Jayne.
Cory Hays of False Finish noted that the plan was Ripley against Jayne.
The plan was Jacy Jayne challenges Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women's Championship and Fallon and Lainey challenge Brie and Paige for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship https://t.co/beU0oLNa73
— Cory of False Finish (@Cory_Hays407) July 3, 2026
There’s no official word yet on whether Ripley will be out long term and will have to give up the WWE Women’s Title, or if she’ll be able to return to the ring soon.
Rhea Ripley Was Scared During WWE Women’s Royal Rumble
One of the biggest career highlights for Rhea Ripley in WWE was when she won the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble. Ripley started the match at #1, outlasted everybody, and won the match to earn a championship match at WrestleMania.
When recalling that night, Rhea Ripley admitted she was scared she was going to lose her grip of the ropes late in the match and ruin everything, but she managed to get through it.
“This is a big day. This is a very big day. Right now I’m thinking, please don’t fall, and then I slipped and I was like, ‘oh, please don’t let go.’ Like if I let go, I’ve screwed everything up. But like this whole day was just so stressful for me because I also came out earlier and I got speared by Beth on the concrete floor, like in the rampway, which is straight concrete.
Yes, I was feeling that, and then I was like, OK, well, now I’m going to come in at number one, which is like the worst spot that anyone could ever come in as in the Royal Rumble. Cause like you have to outlast like 29 other women and it’s just virtually impossible. But I managed to get to the last three, and by then I was so sweaty, my hands were wet and I slipped, and as soon as I grabbed it, I was like, ‘do not let go. Like for the love of God, through all the weights that you picked up while being sweaty, this is the one you can’t drop.’”
As she continued to make her point, Ripley admitted she was “very close” to losing her grip on the ropes.
“Very close. Very close. Like, I was so scared.”
Also Read: WWE Legend Makes Big Rhea Ripley And Damian Priest Revelation