WWE will crown an interim women’s champion instead of forcing Rhea Ripley to vacate her belt

Raw GM Adam Pearce is in control of SmackDown tonight, where there is “a ton to address.” One of those issues is the status of WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley, who has been out of action since she suffered an injury on WWE’s European tour in early June. SummerSlam takes place on the weekend of August 1 & 2, which is roughly two weeks from now. WWE needed to find a solution ASAP for what’s going with Ripley’s belt on that show, and they just announced it a short while ago. Instead of forcing Rhea to vacate her title, WWE will instead crown an interim champion with a ladder match at SummerSlam. BREAKING NEWS: Due to Rhea Ripley’s injury, Adam Pearce has announced that an interim WWE Women's Champion will be crowned at #SummerSlam in a Ladder Match! pic.twitter.com/kNIXz41D1g — WWE (@WWE) July 17, 2026 There are no details yet on how many stars will compete in this interim title ladder match. I would expect Charlotte Flair and Jade Cargill to be in the mix, so perhaps their long-awai