Chelsea Green will continue as Interim WWE Women’s Champion for at least the next 30 days. The announcement came from Nick Aldis during the opening segment of tonight’s SmackDown in Boston, Massachusetts.
Green suffered an orbital bone fracture on last week’s SmackDown when she and Tiffany Stratton lost to Women’s Tag Team Champions Fatal Influence.
The champion later revealed she had to be taken to the hospital and admitted she wasn’t sure what the injury would mean for her going forward.
Tonight, Aldis called Green to the ring and told her that after consulting with the medical team, he couldn’t allow her to continue competing in her current condition. He then asked her to surrender the Interim WWE Women’s Championship.
Green got emotional, reflecting on the sacrifices she made throughout her career to finally capture a world title in WWE. She went as far as handing the belt to Aldis, saying she knew something would eventually go wrong after her championship win.
But as Green was leaving the ring, Aldis reversed course. The General Manager said that while the right call as an authority figure was to follow the medical recommendation, he also understood her situation as a former champion himself. He gave Green a 30-day window to get medically cleared and handed the title back to her on the spot.
The decision lines up with what WWE had already planned heading into SmackDown. Per WrestleVotes, Green is expected to miss a few weeks of in-ring action but will continue appearing on television and won’t be stripped of the title due to the injury.
Green captured the Interim WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam on August 2, winning a Ladder Match over Jade Cargill, Tiffany Stratton, Charlotte Flair, and Lash Legend.