Chelsea Green has confirmed she suffered a broken orbital bone on Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown, revealing the diagnosis in a video posted to social media on Saturday.
Green said she was taken to the emergency room after the show, and that she had wanted to keep the injury quiet before word got out. Pointing to the area beneath her right eye, she joked that the injury looks far better than it feels.
She described the situation as frustrating but said she plans to take it day by day, framing the setback as a temporary blip rather than anything that derails her plans. She gave no timetable for a return to the ring.
The confirmation follows a report from Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer earlier on Saturday, which noted Green had been hurt on the show without specifying the nature of the injury. Green did not say which segment she was injured in, and WWE has not issued a statement.
Injured Hours After Becoming Champion
The timing is brutal. Green opened the Philadelphia show being introduced by Joe Tessitore as the WWE Women’s Champion, with the interim designation quietly dropped from her billing, and she came to the ring in a shirt reading “Permanent Champion.” SEScoops covered the removal of the interim label as it happened.
That change followed Rhea Ripley confirming she had undergone knee surgery on August 6. Ripley had been out since June, and the interim title existed only because she wasn’t cleared for SummerSlam. Green won it on August 2 in a five-woman ladder match over Charlotte Flair, Jade Cargill, Tiffany Stratton, and Lash Legend.
Green worked twice on the August 7 show. Fatal Influence interrupted her celebration, with Jacy Jayne calling for a shot at Tiffany Stratton’s Women’s United States Championship. Stratton agreed on the condition that Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid put the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship on the line immediately.
Henley and Reid retained in a match that ran under ten minutes, pinning Green after interference from Jayne. Nia Jax and Lash Legend then hit the ring in a post-match angle, laying out both women, with Jax standing over Green and holding the Women’s Title overhead.
A Difficult Year For Green
Green has already lost most of 2026 to injury. She broke her ankle in an Elimination Chamber qualifier on the February 6 SmackDown and was out of the ring for months, appearing on TV in a wheelchair and then a walking boot. In May, she underwent a heart procedure to correct SVT, a condition doctors caught after an episode around WrestleMania 42.
Her regular tag partner, Piper Niven, is also currently sidelined with a neck injury. There is no word yet on whether Green will be pulled from upcoming dates, and Ripley’s own return remains a long way off.
