Rhea Ripley has been one of the top stars in the WWE women’s division for years now and back in April the Eradicator defeated Jade Cargill to become the new WWE Women’s Champion at WrestleMania. However, Rhea has been out of action since June due to injury, which means the WWE Women’s Championship has not been defended in recent weeks.
During this week’s episode of SmackDown, Adam Pearce announced that Rhea Ripley has been out of action due to a torn meniscus. He said that Rhea is expected to return soon, but the nature of the injury is tricky, so it’s not clear exactly when she will be back.
The Raw General Manager then went on to announce that an interim WWE Women’s Champion will be crowned in Rhea’s absence. Peace confirmed that a series of qualifying matches will take place over the next two weeks and five women will advance to SummerSlam where they will compete in a ladder to crown the interim Women’s Champion.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
Due to Rhea Ripley’s injury, Adam Pearce announces that an interim WWE Women's Champion will be crowned in a Ladder Match at #SummerSlam. pic.twitter.com/HtX9k8WYab
— WWE (@WWE) July 17, 2026
The following qualifying matches were announced for tonight’s show:
– Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax
– Tiffany Stratton vs. Jacy Jayne
Stay tuned for updates.