Highlights
- Liv Morgan’s attack on Rhea Ripley led to Ripley vacating her Women’s World Championship due to a serious AC joint injury.
- Reports suggest Ripley could be out for about four to six weeks to recover from the attack and then three months to return to the ring.
- Ripley’s injury could lead to a double-turn storyline, with her becoming a babyface and Liv Morgan turning heel, setting up a possible showdown at SummerSlam.
WWE Superstar and now former WWE World Women’s Champion, Rhea Ripley, was on top of the wrestling world in the WWE Women’s division. Arguably, she is not only the most popular women’s wrestler on the WWE roster today, but can be seen in a league of her own based on her growth as a character and performer inside the squared circle. Following her title defense over Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40, things appeared to be going great for “Mami”, as she had reached her one-year reign as champion. However, that all came crashing down just two weeks ago on Monday Night Raw at the hands of Liv Morgan.
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Rhea Ripley |
Facts & Stats |
|---|---|
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Height: |
5’7″ |
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Weight: |
N/A |
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Billed From: |
Adelaide, South Australia |
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Debut: |
May 24, 2014 |
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Finisher(s): |
Riptide, Prism Trap |
Rhea Ripley Suffers Serious Injury, Vacates Women’s World Championship
Reports indicate that Rhea Ripley was seriously injured last week on Raw and she has now vacated the belt.
Rhea Ripley Retained Her Title At WrestleMania 40
Becky Lynch Challenged Rhea Ripley For The Women’s World Championship
- Nia Jax attacked Rhea Ripley when she returned to WWE
- Rhea Ripley defeated Nia Jax at Elimination Chamber
- Elimination Chamber was in Rhea Ripley’s home country of Australia
Rhea Ripley’s feud with Nia Jax began on the September 11, 2023, episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, as Nia Jax made her return to WWE following a long hiatus to attack both Raquel Rodriguez and Ripley. The feud carried on throughout the remainder of 2023 and into 2024, with Jax making it clear that she wanted the WWE World Women’s Championship title. Nia Jax got her opportunity as she challenged Ripley at Elimination Chamber in Ripley’s home country in Perth, Australia, but Ripley defeated Nia Jax in the main event to retain her championship.
Becky Lynch won the Women’s Elimination Chamber match to earn herself a title shot against Rhea Ripley for WrestleMania 40. The feud became heated very quickly, as during the build-up to the event, both ladies exchanged personal low blows, with Ripley bringing up Becky Lynch’s daughter, which caused “The Man” to become very emotional. At WrestleMania 40, Rhea Ripley defeated Becky Lynch to retain her World Women’s Championship in a hard-fought match.
The following night on Monday Night Raw, everything was going great for Rhea Ripley and the rest of The Judgment Day, as the group were also celebrating Damian Priest capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 40 following his Money in the Bank cash-in. However, things were about to take an unforeseen and unfortunate turn.
Raw Winners And Losers: Ripley Vacates Title, Gable Snaps on Zayn
The Raw from Montreal saw some big news develop for the red brand as Ripley is no longer a champion and Gable is turning heel.
Rhea Ripley Suffered An AC Joint Strain Thanks To Liv Morgan
Mami Was Forced To Give Up Her Championship On Raw
- Rhea Ripley was injured after being attacked by Liv Morgan on Raw
- Rhea Ripley will be out of action for several months
- A babyface turn could be in the mix for Rhea Ripley
During a backstage segment that initially began with Rhea Ripley giving a pep-talk to her on-screen boyfriend, Dominik Mysterio, Liv Morgan was waiting on the sidelines for her opportunity to strike and take revenge on Ripley. Liv had a steel chair in hand, as she tossed it and bashed Rhea upside the head with it, then chased down Rhea and began attacking her, eventually throwing her against the wall as WWE officials rushed in to break things up. Rhea was obviously hurt, but at the time we were led to believe she was simply selling the attack, as Dominik rushed back to her aide and shouted for help.
Heading into next week’s edition of Monday Night Raw, news began to spread with regard to Rhea Ripley and her potentially being legitimately injured by the attack. Reports began to surface that she may have to vacate her Women’s World Championship due to the attack. Those fears were realized, as Rhea appeared on Raw and announced she had suffered an ACL sprain as a result of the attack by Liv Morgan.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio’s own Bryan Alvarez, here’s what happened to Rhea Ripley and when we can expect to see “Mami” back in WWE. He said:
“She suffered [an] AC joint sprain in the brawl with Liv Morgan last week on ‘Raw. She was thrown into the wall and boom — there goes the shoulder. An injury like that, [it will take] probably four to six weeks to gain mobility and then usually about three months to be back in action
.” (H/T:
WrestlingInc
)
Co-host Dave Meltzer chimed in and added that if this were the build towards WrestleMania, WWE likely would’ve kept the championship from Rhea Ripley but instead chose to have her vacate the title and let someone else have an opportunity.
We can safely say that Rhea Ripley will likely be back prior to SummerSlam in August 2024. As a result of the attack, this can be seen as a double-turn, with Rhea Ripley officially becoming a babyface with Liv Morgan finally turning heel after weeks of teasing and build-up.
Rhea Ripley’s Definitive 13 Best WWE Matches, Ranked
Rhea Ripley is arguably the biggest star in WWE’s Women’s Division, with an already impressive resume of great matches!
Rhea Ripley’s Injury May Be The Best Thing That Could Have Happened To Her
Rhea Ripley Could Use A Break From WWE
- The Judgment Day may be breaking up
- Liv Morgan can succeed as a heel due to Rhea Ripley’s real injury
- SummerSlam could have Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley
While Rhea Ripley’s injury is bad in terms of having her out of the ring for several months and away from WWE television, this may be all for the best. Rhea has the opportunity to take a breather from the hectic travel schedule, while from a character standpoint, giving WWE the golden opportunity to turn her babyface while toying with the idea that The Judgment Day may be splitting up sooner than later, with Rhea out of action and Damian Priest heading towards branching off on his own as World Heavyweight Champion.
This was a big win for Liv Morgan as this gave her the perfect execution to turn heel and use the real-life injury to gain her heel heat from the WWE Universe while rubbing it in that she had no remorse or regret for what she had done to “Mami”. This sets up a future showdown that we fans can assume will happen at SummerSlam, with or without the World Women’s Championship title at stake.
