Rhea Ripley has finally put an end to weeks of guessing about her injury—but her latest update probably isn’t going to make WWE feel any better.
With reports already claiming the Women’s World Champion’s knee issue forced the company to rethink its SummerSlam plans, Ripley has now revealed exactly what’s going on. The bad news? She still has no clue when she’ll be back.
While speaking with Nina Drama, the Eradicator confirmed she suffered a slight tear in her meniscus, explaining that while it’s healing, the injury is still limiting what she can do on a daily basis.
“I am injured, unfortunately. I hurt my knee. I’ve got a slight tear in my meniscus. It’s just healing. It’s getting there, getting stronger. But I can’t bend it right now, so I kind of need it to bend.”
That wasn’t exactly the update fans were hoping for, and it gets even murkier from there. When Nina asked how much longer she’ll be out of action, Ripley admitted nobody has a real answer because of where the tear happened. Even after being sidelined for more than a month, she’s still waiting to see how her body responds.
“I don’t know. I tore it in a weird spot, so it’s kind of a little bit up in the air just how fast my body recovers. But I’ve been out for just over a month now, so… it does feel better, but it still starts to hurt and throb. I can’t get up or bend down really slowly, so I kind of move side to side while crouching. So it sucks.”
Ripley’s comments come after reports that WWE had much bigger plans for her before the injury got in the way. It was previously reported that the original direction for SummerSlam was to have Ripley defend the WWE Women’s Championship against either Alexa Bliss or Jacy Jayne. Once Ripley went down, though, everything suddenly became a waiting game.
It was also reported that WWE was holding off on finalizing creative until doctors had a better idea of how long Ripley would be out. If she can’t make SummerSlam, the fallout won’t stop with the Women’s Championship either. According to the report, other matches—including a rumored Charlotte Flair vs. Jade Cargill bout—could also end up looking very different.
For now, Ripley has finally answered the question everyone was asking by confirming the exact injury. What she couldn’t answer is the one question WWE is probably asking every single day: when she’ll actually be ready to wrestle again. Until that becomes clear, one of the company’s biggest stars—and one of SummerSlam’s biggest matches—remains up in the air.
Do you think WWE should wait for Rhea Ripley to return, or should the company move forward with new plans if she’s not ready for SummerSlam? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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