WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley Injury & Return Update

Published: Jul 11, 2026 by Sanchez Taylor | Last Updated: Jul 11, 2026 by Sanchez Taylor

Sanchez has over six years of pro-wrestling news writing experience, covering the biggest news stories in WWE, NXT, AEW, TNA Wrestling and more. He has personally interviewed a number of top stars, producing exclusive content with the likes of AEW's Swerve Strickland and WWE's Nick Aldis.

WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley Injury & Return Update

WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley has now shared an update on the injury which is keeping her out of the ring.

There has been a lot of uncertainty surrounding Ripley in recent weeks, with WWE announcing on the June 12 SmackDown episode that Ripley had suffered a knee injury, and was being evaluated by the medical team.

One month on, Rhea Ripley has now commented on her injury recovery, stating that her return timeline is still up in the air.

Speaking on a livestream with NinaDrama, Ripley confirmed that she had suffered a slight meniscus tear.

Stating that she has trouble bending that knee now, the WWE Women’s Champion said:

“I hurt my knee. I’ve got a slight tear in my meniscus. It’s just healing, it’s getting there.

“It’s getting stronger, I just can’t bend it very well. I kinda need it to bend, guys!”

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When asked about her recovery timeline, Ripley responded:

“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.”

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Ripley’s most recent televised match saw her defend the WWE Women’s Championship against Jade Cargill at Clash In Italy on May 31.

Her last match took place at the June 3 live event in Portugal, with Ripley, Flair and Tiffany Stratton defeating Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reed of Fatal Influence.

A previous report indicated that original plans would’ve seen Ripley defend the WWE Women’s Championship against either Alexa Bliss or Jacy Jayne at SummerSlam.

We will continue to provide updates on Rhea Ripley’s status as they become available. We wish Ripley a safe and healthy recovery.

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