As noted before, WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley has been out of action for WWE since this past May’s Clash In Italy event due to a knee injury that was later revealed to be a meniscus tear. WWE announced last week that an Interim WWE Women’s Champion will be crowned in a Ladder match at this August’s SummerSlam 2026 event due to Ripley’s injury situation.
WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select reported that one source spoken to stated that there was a strong internal push within WWE for Ripley to take the necessary time to fully recover rather than pushing for her to come back for SummerSlam and potentially worsening her injury.
This same source reportedly also stated that WWE officials are currently hopeful that Ripley will be able to make a return to the ring by this fall.
In regards to WWE’s original plans for SummerSlam 2026, it was reported that Ripley’s injury forced WWE officials to make changes to several of their creatives plans for the event. This reportedly included the originally planned title match between Jade Cargill and Charlotte Flair. Those spoken to reportedly also stated that Tiffany Stratton had originally been scheduled to defend her WWE Women’s United States Championship at the event prior to Ripley’s injury situation.
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