Interim WWE Women’s Champion To Be Crowned In SummerSlam Ladder Match

WWE

WWE has announced that an interim WWE Women’s Champion will be determined in a Ladder match at SummerSlam 2026.

WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley has not competed since WWE Clash In Italy, when she retained her title against Jade Cargill on the show.

Rhea has been out of action with a knee injury that had kept her out of action since the show, with fans speculating on if she would be able to be back in time for SummerSlam.

Interim WWE Women’s Champion To Be Crowned At SummerSlam

Ahead of tonight’s WWE SmackDown, Adam Pearce officially announced that Rhea Ripley would not be able to compete at the show, and instead an interim WWE Women’s Champion will be crowned.

Over the next two weeks, five women will earn their spot in the Ladder match on the show, with the winner of the Ladder match becoming the interim WWE Women’s Champion, and will face Rhea when she is cleared to return.

Rhea recently spoke about her recovery timeline from her injury, saying:

“I don’t know, I tore it in a really weird spot so it’s kind of like, a little bit up in the air with just how fast my body recovers.

“I’ve been out for just over one month now, I think it’s been a month and a week. It feels better, it still starts to hurt and throb and it gets tired.

“I can’t get up or bend down really slow, or move side to side while crouching, because it gets stuck. We’ll see how it goes.”

Who Should Become Interim WWE Women’s Champion?

With five competitors set to feature in the match, there are a number of possible names we could see become interim WWE Women’s Champion at SummerSlam.

The most obvious name of the bunch being Charlotte Flair, who was likely set for a singles match with Jade Cargill on the show prior to the news of Rhea’s injury.

Aside from Charlotte, WWE could use the chance to elevate a new name to temporary main event status, with names such as Jacy Jayne, Giulia and Lash Legend all waiting for their chance to break out on SmackDown.

With SmackDown in major need for a shake up, putting the title on someone fresh to see how they do at the top during Rhea’s absence would be an interesting play.

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• SummerSlam
• rhea ripley
• wwe women's championship
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