Rhea Ripley’s knee injury is prompting significant backstage shuffling across WWE’s women’s division, with plans for multiple SmackDown roster members being adjusted in the event she misses an extended period, according to WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select.
WWE acknowledged the injury on the June 12 SmackDown, with commentary noting Ripley had hurt her knee around the time of Clash in Italy. No return timeline has been provided.
The first visible consequence came with WWE updating its Night of Champions poster for the June 27 event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The original graphic featured Ripley alongside Cody Rhodes, Liv Morgan, and Trick Williams. WWE has since replaced Ripley on the artwork with Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton, though Stratton has not been formally announced for a match at the event as of this writing.
Ripley, who captured the WWE Women’s Championship from Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 42 in April, is among the names WWE would ideally want available for SummerSlam in early August. Jacy Jayne had previously been discussed internally as a potential SummerSlam challenger for the champion before the injury complicated those plans.