Rhea Ripley‘s knee injury reportedly forced WWE to make significant changes to its creative plans ahead of SummerSlam 2026.
WWE officially announced on the June 12 episode of SmackDown that Ripley suffered a knee injury while in Italy. The reigning WWE Women’s Champion has not wrestled since then and was later removed from promotional material for Night of Champions due to the injury.
According to reports, WWE had originally planned for Ripley to defend the WWE Women’s Championship against either Jacy Jayne or Alexa Bliss at Night of Champions before her injury sidelined her.
On the July 17 episode of SmackDown, Adam Pearce announced that an Interim WWE Women’s Champion would be crowned in a five-way Ladder Match at SummerSlam. Pearce explained that Ripley has been recovering from a torn meniscus and has made strong progress while working with WWE’s medical team. However, she will not be medically cleared in time for SummerSlam.
WWE Changed Multiple SummerSlam Plans Following Rhea Ripley’s Injury
According to WrestleVotes Radio via Fightful Select, Ripley’s injury impacted several creative plans beyond the WWE Women’s Championship picture.
One of the biggest changes involved the originally proposed match between Jade Cargill and Charlotte Flair, which was reportedly scrapped following Ripley’s injury.
The report also notes that WWE Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton had originally been scheduled to defend her title at SummerSlam in her home state of Minnesota. Instead, Stratton has been moved into the Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match.
Regarding Ripley’s recovery, the report states there was a strong internal push within WWE for the champion to take the time needed to fully heal rather than rushing back for SummerSlam. There was concern that returning too early could worsen the torn meniscus and lead to a more serious setback.
Despite missing SummerSlam, WWE is reportedly optimistic that Ripley will be medically cleared to return sometime this fall.
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