Rhea Ripley has a target date, and it is a long way off.
The Wrestling Observer reports the hope within WWE is that Ripley returns for the Royal Rumble. The next one takes place in February at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, which would put her back around six months from now.
The timing makes more sense than it did a week ago. Ripley announced on Thursday that she has undergone knee surgery, the first of her career.
Surgery was never a first option for me, but it got to the point that it was needed. First one down. Hopefully no more.
I’ve survived, now it’s time to start thriving again so I can get back to what I love to do. See you all down the road.
She gave no timeline of her own. Recovery from a meniscus repair varies widely depending on what was done, which is why nobody has put a firm date on it.
Interim Women’s Championship
The surgery also puts a WWE statement in a different light. On July 17, Adam Pearce announced Ripley could not compete at SummerSlam and described her as close to returning, which is why the company crowned an interim champion rather than stripping her. Three weeks later she was in an operating theatre. It is not clear whether the surgery was already planned when Pearce spoke.
Ripley has not wrestled since a live event in Portugal on June 3. She won the WWE Women’s Championship from Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 42 in April and retained it against her at Clash in Italy in May.
Chelsea Green won the interim title in a five-way ladder match at SummerSlam. Pearce had said the interim holder would eventually face Ripley to determine an undisputed champion. On this timeline, Green would carry that title into next year, and WWE will have to decide whether the interim label survives that long.
