Backstage Update On What To Expect From Rhea Ripley's WWE Return

With Rhea Ripley still out recovering from a shoulder injury, the opportunity has presented itself for Liv Morgan, herself taken out of action by Ripley for several months in 2023, to start encroaching on Ripley's turf. It began with Morgan capturing Ripley's former title, the WWE Women's World Championship, and has continued with Morgan's attempts to seduce Ripley's Judgment Day comrade, Dominik Mysterio.

Such developments have led to fans hoping that Ripley could be returning sooner than later to recapture what is hers. As of now though, it appears WWE is approaching a Ripley return this summer with cautious optimism. Fightful Select reports that, internally, the hope is that Ripley could be back before SummerSlam on August 3, and that the promotion has made it so Ripley can slide back onto WWE programming at any time, even if its in a non wrestling capacity.

While the presumption is that Ripley would return and immediately reignite her feud over the Women's World Championship, and Mysterio, that may not necessarily be the case. Instead, those within WWE have indicated that "the story available at the time of her return" will dictate Ripley's onscreen direction. It was also noted that many creative decisions had been made in Ripley's regard over the last several months, even with her absence.

As she continues to try and work her way back to the ring, Ripley is also taking time to head back to her native Australia with fiancee, AEW's Buddy Matthews. The duo are set to return home for a family event, which was revealed after Matthews was written off AEW TV last week following a backstage attack by Christian Cage, Killswitch, and Nick Wayne.