WWE sets interim women’s title ladder match as Rhea Ripley misses SummerSlam
Adam Pearce said Rhea Ripley will sit out SummerSlam, where WWE plans to crown an interim women’s champion in a five-woman ladder match.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Rhea Ripley’s SummerSlam is off, and WWE is putting a rare prize above the ring in her absence.
WWE announced Friday that five women will meet in a ladder match at SummerSlam to decide an interim WWE women’s champion while Ripley continues recovering from a torn meniscus. The call was delivered by Raw general manager Adam Pearce, who is also serving as temporary SmackDown general manager while Nick Aldis is suspended, according to CBS Sports.
Pearce said in a WWE video posted before SmackDown that Ripley has been working with WWE medical staff during her recovery and is nearing a return. He also said the injury remains complicated enough that she will not wrestle at SummerSlam.
Ripley disclosed one week earlier that she was rehabbing a torn meniscus, CBS Sports reported. The injury happened on June 3, according to the report.
How WWE will pick the challengers
The five spots in the SummerSlam ladder match will be decided through qualifying bouts on SmackDown over the next two weeks, WWE said through Pearce’s announcement.
Two qualifiers were confirmed later on SmackDown, according to CBS Sports: Jade Cargill against Nia Jax, and Tiffany Stratton against Jacy Jane.
Pearce said the SummerSlam winner will hold the interim championship until Ripley is cleared to compete. WWE’s plan, according to the announcement, is for Ripley and the interim titleholder to meet later in a unification match to determine the undisputed WWE women’s champion.
A rare move for WWE
Interim champions are familiar in combat sports such as UFC, where a sidelined champion can lead to a temporary titleholder being crowned. WWE has usually handled an unavailable champion differently, with CBS Sports noting that the company has more often vacated championships to move storylines along.
CBS Sports reported that this will be WWE’s first interim championship on the main roster. The company’s history stretches back nearly three-quarters of a century, making the move a notable break from its usual title playbook.
The report noted one previous interim title case under the WWE umbrella, but it came in NXT, the company’s developmental brand. Santos Escobar won a tournament for the interim NXT cruiserweight championship after Jordan Devlin, now known as JD McDonagh, was affected by travel restrictions. Escobar later defeated Devlin in a ladder match to unify the titles, according to CBS Sports.
SummerSlam card takes shape
SummerSlam is scheduled for Aug. 1 and 2 in Minneapolis, with WWE staging the event over two nights.
Other announced matches, according to CBS Sports, include CM Punk against Cody Rhodes for the undisputed WWE championship, Roman Reigns defending the world heavyweight championship against Seth Rollins, and Oba Femi versus Brock Lesnar 3 inside Hell in a Cell.
Ripley’s absence now adds another major wrinkle to the weekend. WWE will leave Minneapolis with a women’s titleholder, but the final answer waits until Ripley is back in the ring.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS Sports.