WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley was forced to relinquish her title after suffering a legitimate injury during a backstage brawl.
Australia’s Ripley, who had held the championship for over a year, revealed the heartbreaking news of his injury Monday night on Raw.
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She was forced to relinquish the title, with WWE confirming later in the show that a new champion would be crowned the next week.
Reports have since emerged that a “freak accident” during the previous week’s episode of the red brand show caused the star’s right arm to be injured.
Fresh off her victory over Becky Lynch at WrestleMania, she was proudly strutting backstage when she was attacked in a storyline by her on-screen rival Liv Morgan.
Morgan began the attack by throwing a steel chair at the side of Ripley’s head, before throwing her against a wall.
Fightful Select in the United States confirmed that it was the latter location that caused the damage, with Ripley’s injury becoming apparent almost immediately.
Their report noted: “…rumor emerged shortly after the segment within WWE that Ripley had been injured, and as early as last Wednesday, there was internal discussion that she might have to vacate the title .
“Initial indications were that the situation was a freak accident, and occurred when Ripley walked into the walls during the backstage segment. However, there were two such incidents.”
Ripley appeared on Raw this week to confirm her injury, saying she had been “sidelined” following the attack.
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“This championship is what matters most to me in my entire life,” she explained to the audience.
“And that’s why it’s so painful.”
Ripley then placed her championship in the middle of the ring as a symbolic surrender, before vowing to return and get revenge on Morgan and anyone else who might hold her title when Ripley returns.
Morgan then appeared to continue the storyline aspect of the situation, looking pleased to have knocked the former champion out of action.
Nonetheless, Fightful confirmed that there was no real behind-the-scenes animosity towards him.
They added: “Morgan is talking about it on social media, but we’re told there’s no pressure on her for the situation and she hasn’t been blamed by Ripley or WWE.”
The devastating injury comes at the worst possible time for the Judgment Day member.
Convincingly conquering Lynch at WrestleMania just over a week ago represented one of the most memorable moments of his career and continued a title reign that showed no signs of stopping.
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She had won the championship at the previous year’s WrestleMania after defeating legend Charlotte Fair to continue her meteoric rise through the WWE ranks.
Last February, she enjoyed a dream return to Australia for WWE’s Elimination Chamber: Perth event, where she defeated Nia Jax in the main event in front of nearly 53,000 fans.
WWE has yet to confirm the exact length of Ripley’s in-ring absence, but company head Paul “Triple H” Levesque posted a tribute to the grappler on X following her appearance on Raw.
He said: “There is no doubt in my mind that (Ripley) will come back stronger, stronger and more dominant than ever. Thank you, Rhea, for a reign that the entire WWE Universe can be proud of .”
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