WWE Women's Champion Chelsea Green Suffers Unfortunate Injury on SmackDown

Chelsea Green was injured Friday night on SmackDown, less than a week after she became the Interim WWE Women's Champion.

Chelsea Green | WWE

Chelsea Green started out this week on cloud nine, but her first official night as the Interim WWE Women's Champion ended on a more ominous note.

Friday night's episode of SmackDown featured an impromptu tag team bout, where Green and Women's United States Champion Tiffany Stratton unsuccessfully challenged Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

The match was booked after Fatal Influence interrupted Green's championship celebration, and Jacy Jayne played a key role in the outcome when she blasted Chelsea with a Rolling Encore behind the referee's back. That allowed Henley and Reid to deliver their Fatal Flaw double team finisher and pin the brand new WWE Women's Champion.

Chelsea Green confirms she was injured during SmackDown

Nia Jax and Lash Legend would then hit the ring after the match was over to attack Tiffany and Chelsea, and Nia closed out the show by holding up the WWE Women's Title belt. Upon a second review of the segment, neither Jax or Legend laid a finger on Chelsea during their assault. Referee Ryan Tran made sure they stayed away, and we now know why.

Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer was the first to report Saturday night that Chelsea Green did suffer an injury during her match on SmackDown, but he was unable to provide much more information beyond that. Shortly afterward, Green confirmed the report on her Instagram.

"Stuff happens. It's live television. It's wrestling, it's an occupational hazard. I ended up in the emergency room, and I have a broken orbital bone," Green said. "I have no idea what that means for me. Usually, you guys have seen me play into every single injury. But this feels different, obviously. This feels very different. I feel frustrated. I feel upset. I feel like if I didn't have bad luck, I would have no luck at all."

Chelsea closed out her video by saying that she needed to take a little time to process what had happened, and to rest up from the head trauma she sustained.

Chelsea Green | WWE

The timing of this, could not be worse. Green outlasted Charlotte Flair, Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill and Lash Legend in a ladder match this past Sunday night at SummerSlam to capture her first world championship in WWE.

It was a beautiful career moment for Chelsea, who endured 13 years worth of professional setbacks, including numerous injuries, to finally earn this opportunity.

This latest setback came a little more than a day after WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley announced that she underwent surgery to repair her injured right knee. Mami suffered a partially torn meniscus earlier this summer, and while she initially wanted to avoid a corrective procedure, it ultimately turned out to be necessary.

WWE is reportedly hoping to have Ripley back in the fold before next February's Royal Rumble Premium Live Event, which created a golden opportunity for Chelsea Green to have an extended run as the WWE Women's Champion, even if it came with the interim tag. We wish Chelsea Green all the best.