Things just got worse for Zoey Stark following her scary injury on the May 19 episode of WWE Raw. What was originally believed to be a knee issue has now escalated—she’s officially headed into surgery.
During the WrestleVotes Q&A on WrestleBinge, show host Joe Lowry delivered a gut-wrenching update just as the show was going live. “Just got word from Chris Featherstone that she is getting an MRI and headed into surgery, and that story is developing,” Lowry revealed. “We just found that out literally minutes before we got on the air.”
Stark was injured just moments into her Women’s Money in the Bank qualifying triple threat match against Rhea Ripley and Kairi Sane. After going down early, she was pulled from the match during a commercial break and helped backstage, leaving Ripley and Sane to finish the bout without her.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, the entire match outcome had to be rewritten on the fly. “Sane lost her first match back, which obviously wasn’t the plan,” Meltzer said. “They had no choice, they had to do what they had to do.”
Kairi Sane, who had returned with her classic Pirate Princess look, was unexpectedly pinned—something WWE reportedly never intended for her return. Stark’s injury didn’t just take her out of action; it threw a wrench into the whole storyline.
With surgery now on the table, Stark could be facing an extended absence. No official word has been released by WWE yet, but fans are holding out hope for a strong recovery.
Should WWE give Kairi Sane another opportunity to reestablish her return now that the original plans were derailed? And how do you think Zoey Stark’s absence will impact the women’s division? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.