Update on Rhea Ripley's Injury Status Heading Into WWE SummerSlam

It's been a rough go for Rhea Ripley since winning the WWE Women's Championship from Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 42.

Since becoming WWE Women's Champion for the second time, Ripley has competed on only nine different occasions, with only one of them being a title defense, before suffering an unfortunate injury at the beginning of June.

Ripley initially suffered an undisclosed injury during a WWE Live event that saw her, Tiffany Stratton, and Charlotte Flair defeat Fatal Influence. Just recently, Ripley revealed that she had suffered a knee injury with a slight tear in her meniscus. But with SummerSlam quickly approaching, we now have an update on the WWE Women's Champion.

Rhea Ripley still not cleared

On the latest episode of WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, Rhea Ripley's injury status was discussed. It was noted that last week, a matchup between Rhea Ripley and Rob Gronkowski was still set for Fanatics Fest. However, as of now, that event will no longer take place due to Ripley's injury.

It should be noted that these matchups aren't actual wrestling matches, but contests that pit two stars against each other in a string of physical activities to determine the winner. Ripley was never set to wrestle Gronk.

Despite that event being pulled, Ripley is still scheduled to appear at Fanatics Fest this weekend to fulfill her obligations. Unfortunately, with Ripley not cleared to do anything physical, a potential return in time for SummerSlam appears unlikely.

Why there's no reason to strip Ripley of the title

Throughout the years, we have often seen wrestling companies strip a wrestler of a championship when they aren't cleared to compete for a set amount of time. Still, given the current state of the WWE Women's division, there is no real reason to strip Rhea Ripley of her title.

Despite being sidelined since June, Ripley still has one defense of the WWE Women's Championship under her belt since winning it at WrestleMania 42. On the flip side, over on Raw, Liv Morgan also won the Women's World Championship at the same event and has yet to defend it on WWE programming, despite actively competing throughout the summer.

You could argue that Morgan does have two successful title defenses from WWE Live Events, but the company rarely counts those matches as actual defenses in the grand scheme of things. Matches at live events are typically ignored and aren't acknowledged in any ongoing WWE storylines.

OH NO 😬

The Judgment Day DESTROY Sol Ruca and IYO SKY! pic.twitter.com/yCGLIso2GJ
— WWE (@WWE) July 14, 2026

So while Ripley might be sidelined, if WWE doesn't care enough to make Morgan defend her championship until SummerSlam, there's really no reason that Ripley can't rehab and return as the champion.

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