Will Chelsea Green’s Serious Injury Force Her To Drop the WWE Women’s Championship?

The feel good moment of SummerSlam happened in the ladder match to crown an interim WWE Women’s Champion. With Rhea Ripley out for the foreseeable future due to a torn meniscus, the promotion decided not to strip her of the title, but to put a temporary belt on someone else. This could have been a big mistake. Instead, the crowd roared as Chelsea Green climbed the ladder and pulled down her first ever world title. Unfortunately, just days later, during a tag team match on SmackDown, Green, who has a history of injuries, suffered a broken orbital bone. Could this end her title reign right as it’s beginning?

Chelsea Green Revealed That She Fractured Her Orbital Bone

• Green and Tiffany Stratton challenged Fatal Influence for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on SmackDown.
• After Jacy Jayne interfered, Green was pinned with a Fatal Flaw.
• Green admitted on Instagram that this injury felt different, and she’s frustrated and upset.

At SummerSlam, Chelsea Green finally reached the mountaintop of women’s wrestling in WWE. Days later, on SmackDown, she and BFF Tiffany Stratton faced Fatal Influence for their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. The feud is likely a setup for Jacy Jayne to challenge Green in the near future, and because this is pro wrestling, you can bet Stratton will turn heel on the champ soon enough. On SmackDown, Jayne interfered, leading to Green getting pinned after a Fatal Flaw.

Putting aside the bad booking of having your new champion immediately losing a match, what is worse is the real life injury that happened. This weekend, Chelsea Green posted a video on Instagram where she was sporting a bit of a black eye. She then disclosed what occurred on SmackDown.

“Hey, guys. So, I was trying to keep this kind of private, but the Internet knows everything, so I thought I would come on here and clear things up. I did get injured last night. Stuff happens. It’s live television, it’s wrestling, it’s an occupational hazard. I ended up in the emergency room and I have a broken orbital bone. It looks amazing, all things considered. It feels awful but looks pretty amazing.

“I have no idea what that means for me. You know, usually you guys can see me play into every single injury, but like this feels different, obviously. This feels very different. It feels frustrating, and I’m upset. I feel like if I didn’t have bad luck I’d have no luck at all. So, I just need to take a little bit more time to process and kind of heal from obviously the head trauma that is going on right now. And then we’ll see what happens. We’re just going to take it day-by-day. So, world domination continues. We’ve just had a minor blip.” (h/t Cageside Seats)

How Long Does It Take To Recover From an Orbital Bone Fracture?

• Green has a long history of injuries which include a broken wrist, arm, nose, and ankle.
• An orbital bone fracture can heal in one to three months based on the severity.
• Wrestlers like the Undertaker, Eddie Edwards, Bryan Danielson, and Rhea Ripley have come back from similar injuries.

Chelsea Green’s “bad luck” is her history of career stalling injuries. In 2016, while with Stardom, she broke her collarbone. In 2018, as a member of NXT, she broke her arm. In 2019 and 2020 she broke her wrist. Fast-forward to 2024 and Chelsea needed surgery after suffering a broken nose. In 2026 alone, Green has been sidelined with a broken ankle and minor heart surgery. Now this.

Your heart breaks for Chelsea Green at the news, and if you’re like this writer, you quickly went to Google to find out how long it takes to recover from a broken orbital bone. According to Oculofacial Plastic Surgery of Hawaii:

“The time it takes for an orbital fracture to heal depends on several important factors. Generally, many orbital fractures heal within four to eight weeks. However, more complex injuries may take two to three months to heal. More severe injuries that require surgery often require longer healing timelines.”

Many wrestlers have suffered orbital fractures in the past and have come back just fine. The Undertaker broke his back in the mid 90s and had to wear a mask for a bit. The same happened to Rhea Ripley as well. In 2018, a move gone wrong in Impact Wrestling saw Eddie Edwards breaking his eye socket after taking a bat to the face from Sami Callihan. And in AEW, Bryan Danielson broke his in 2023.

There Is No Reason To Make Chelsea Green Relinquish the Title

• Rhea Ripley has been out for three months and counting without being stripped of her title.
• A healthy Liv Morgan went over 100 days before defending the Women’s World Championship.
• The injury can add a layer to Green’s character, who fans will now love even more.

We don’t yet know how severe Chelsea Green’s fracture is and how long she’ll be out, but it looks like, even with a worst case scenario, that it will be no more than three months. This means there is no reason for WWE to force her to relinquish the gold. After all, not only is Rhea Ripley allowed to take three months and counting off without having to give up her title, but over on Raw, a healthy Women’s World Champion, Liv Morgan, went over 100 days before finally defending her championship against Iyo Sky at SummerSlam.

What happened to Chelsea Green is unfortunate. There can be a silver lining though. WWE could put the injury in a storyline, with GM Nick Aldis attempting to take the title from her, only for Green, with her great comedic chops, instead running away. If they can’t get the belt, they can’t take the title from her. If she’s able to wrestle soon enough, Green can compete in flamboyant masks like she did when she had a broken nose. And if she does need to take a bit of time off, Green’s charisma will allow her to remain an entertaining character in promos and backstage segments.

This setback will only cause fans to love Chelsea Green more. She’s always been the underdog, the one who had to fight harder than the rest to succeed. She never gives up, and with every obstacle thrown in her path, the audience cheers louder. This new injury won’t be any different. If WWE was to strip her of the title, the outrage on social media would be through the roof. Make the best of it and let her heal. We here at TheSportster wish Chelsea Green the best and hope to see her back in the ring with her WWE Women’s Championship as soon as possible.