Backstage Report On When WWE Hopes To Have Rhea Ripley Return From Injury

It seems like WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley will be out of action longer than expected.

Ahead of SummerSlam, a ladder match to crown an Interim WWE Women's Champion was announced with Ripley being unable to get cleared for the show after tearing her meniscus this past June. However, WWE elected not to have Ripley vacate the title hoping that she would return from injury sometime after SummerSlam, but it's been reported that "Mami" could be sidelined for the remainder of the year.

According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is hoping that Ripley can return to the ring by the Royal Rumble this coming January after undergoing knee surgery. At SummerSlam, Chelsea Green won the interim title, but Meltzer noted that she may be awarded with the official WWE Women's Championship with Ripley being on the shelf until next year. On Thursday, Ripley took to social media to provide an injury update, where she explained that surgery wasn't her first option, but realized she needed to be operated on her knee given the severity of the meniscus tear.

Ripley initially captured the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 42 when she defeated Jade Cargill, but two months later when the former AEW star attempted to win back the title at Clash In Italy is when "The Eradicator" suffered the injury. Ripley would wrestle on two house shows during WWE's European Summer Tour after Clash In Italy, but was pulled from all future events after teaming with Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton to defeat Fatal Influence in Portugal. 

At this time, WWE has yet to announce the status of Ripley's women's title, but it remains to be seen if the company will address the situation on tonight's episode of "WWE SmackDown," where Green will make her first appearance as champion.