WWE’s Choice Has Seriously Damaged Rhea Ripley

There is no bigger women’s star in WWE than Rhea Ripley. She’s just as popular as the men, with an entrance that gets the whole arena shaking. Heck, she could even be wrestling the men as this generation’s Chyna if the company wanted. Ripley has an aura like few others. Sadly, she’s also dealt with her fair share of injuries of late. Now, a knee injury and surgery will put her on the shelf for months. However, instead of dropping her WWE Women’s Championship, WWE has decided to let her keep it, with Chelsea Green now as the interim titleholder. With this choice, WWE is coddling Ripley, when her whole gimmick should be about anything but. There’s only one way to fix it.

An Interim WWE Women’s Champion Was Created to Replace Rhea Ripley

• Rhea Ripley tore her meniscus during a Clash in Italy match with Jade Cargill.
• Ripley disappeared and didn’t defend her championship for months.
• Chelsea Green won a ladder match at SummerSlam to become the interim champion.

In her nine years with WWE, Rhea Ripley has been both a dastardly heel and a beloved babyface. With her energetic entrance, black gear, tattoos, and muscles, she looks like no one else on the roster. It has led to her becoming a four-time world champion. Ripley has also had her share of injuries, including a devastating shoulder injury that occurred backstage with Liv Morgan two years ago. In April, at WrestleMania 42, she defeated Jade Cargill to become the WWE Women’s Champion. However, after defeating Jade at a Clash in Italy rematch the next month, Ripley disappeared with a torn meniscus.

Because a torn meniscus can sometimes be recovered from with time and no surgery, WWE didn’t strip Ripley of the title. Instead, they waited with fingers crossed. But then came SummerSlam. With it being three months since Ripley had defended the gold, and the second-biggest show of the year having arrived, the promotion decided, for the first time, to name an interim WWE Women’s Champion. Although this could have been a great moment for a heel like the new Blake Monroe, there is only one choice fans wanted. At SummerSlam, the audience roared as Chelsea Green climbed the ladder and finally won her first world title.

Rhea Ripley Announced That She Had Knee Surgery

• The very popular Chelsea Green has earned a world title run.
• A healthy Liv Morgan went over 100 days without defending the Women’s World Championship.
• Despite Ripley’s surgery, Green is still listed as an interim champion.

The choice to make Chelsea Green the champion made perfect sense. She is very over and has more than earned it. Her charisma, even as a heel, made her impossible to hate. Now, without a faction at her side, without having to hold anything back, she can be herself. What didn’t make sense was the choice to have Ripley keep the title. After all, she’s had to drop a world championship before due to injury. In this new WWE under TKO, title defenses no longer matter. Liv Morgan wasn’t injured, yet she went over 100 days before finally defending the Women’s World Championship against Iyo Sky at SummerSlam.

For Liv, that’s a case of bad booking. For Rhea, it looked like WWE was coddling their biggest women’s star. Would they have done this with anyone else? The situation became even more baffling when Ripley took to Instagram just days after SummerSlam to announce that she had knee surgery. The unknown is now known. Ripley will be out for at least a few more months. So, on SmackDown, would Chelsea Green become the WWE Women’s Champion, with the interim title removed? Nope. WWE still can’t let go of their headliner.

The Choice Will Hurt Rhea Ripley and Make Chelsea Green the Favored Star

• Ripley dropping the title and working her way back up would be a redemption story fans could get behind.
• By not dropping the championship, Ripley looks like a corporate favorite getting special treatment.
• Fans will boo Ripley if she comes back months from now carrying her version of the title.

No one would be upset if Rhea Ripley dropped the gold. It wouldn’t be a sign of weakness at all. Instead, it would be seen as a sign of a champion knowing that they need to let go and rebuild. The fight back to the top when Ripley returned would have fans on her side, while also giving her character a much-needed boost. Rather than doing that, WWE is protecting Ripley. This only makes her look weak, like a corporate favorite, when she’s this lone wolf type badass. Fans will get sick of it very quickly and turn on Rhea. When she comes back months from now, if she’s holding her version of the WWE Women’s Championship, fans will boo and see her as illegitimate. Just like that, someone who had so much natural aura will have lost it.

This decision could have hurt whoever became the interim champ. It’s why it seemed like a heel would be the best choice. To make Chelsea Green the titleholder could have told the crowd that she was not the real champion. This, thankfully, has not happened. Green’s popularity has fans even more behind her. They want to see the interim tag removed so she can be given what she deserves. For every week this doesn’t happen, it creates a more and more awkward situation as Green becomes the top star and Ripley risks being resented by the same fans who once were in awe of her.

WWE has an all-time great with Rhea Ripley. There’s no need to overthink her situation and mess it up. Superstars get injured. It’s a given that fans accept. When they come back, it just makes us love them even more. Kevin Owens, anyone? For WWE to imply that Ripley is somehow deserving of special treatment that no one else gets will seriously damage her. Let her heal with no pressure and no title so she can come back better than ever.