Add as a preferred source on Google Rhea Ripley’s injury has set off a chain reaction in WWE’s SummerSlam plans, particularly the WWE Women’s Championship match.
According to WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, there was strong internal pressure for the current champion to take all the time she needs to recover, rather than rush back for the August 1 or 2 shows in Minneapolis.
The concern was that an early return could make the injury worse and lead to bigger complications. Even so, there’s optimism that Ripley will be back by the fall. The injury occurred on June 3, 2026, when Ripley teamed with Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton to defeat Fatal Influence in Lisbon.
Ripley had already spoken about the injury:
“Yeah, I hurt my knee. I got like a slight tear in my meniscus. It’s healing, it’s getting there. It’s getting stronger. I just can’t bend it very well. Kind of need to bend, guys.
I don’t know (about the recovery timeline). I tore it in a really weird spot, so it’s kind of like 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. I think it’s been a month and one week.
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 it just really gets stuck. We’ll see how it goes.”
As for the creative plans, Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton have already secured their spots in the Five-Woman Ladder Match at SummerSlam, which will crown the Interim Women’s Championship.