Rhea Ripley could be forced to vacate her Women’s World Championship after a devastating injury on Monday Night Raw.
The beloved WWE superstar, who is a member of the Judgment Day, successfully defended her title against Becky Lynch just over a week ago in the opening match of WrestleMania 40.
On last week’s episode of Raw, she was attacked in a backstage segment by former tag partner Liv Morgan, setting the stage for her direction over the coming months.
However, it has emerged that she reportedly suffered a ‘severe’ injury in that skit, and it could be disastrous for WWE’s short and long term plans.
According to PWInsider, Rhea ‘may be forced to vacate her championship’, and that could happen ‘as soon as’ tonight’s Raw.
In a preview video on YouTube for the show, WWE broadcaster Meghan Mourant teased: ”Anything is possible when the champion hits the ring to address Liv Morgan tonight.’
The Eradicator won the title from Charlotte Flair at last year’s WrestleMania in a bout which recently won the Slammy Award for Match of the Year.
Her bout with Becky last weekend was a difficult one away from the ring, with the challenger going into the match after dealing with strep throat and a high fever, while Rhea suffered a panic attack just hours before her entrance.
‘It’s quite funny how this whole thing works in this crazy world. I legit was having a straight-up panic attack two hours before I walked through the curtain, and I was violently shaking, just nervous,’ she said during a WWE World panel.
‘If you don’t get nervous before you go out, especially at WrestleMania, you obviously don’t love it enough. That’s the way I think about it. So I’m glad the nerves were there. But at the same time, that was sort of taking over my body.
‘So when I got to step through into the stage with the band Motionless in White, all those nerves that I had just sort of flew away.’
Being in front of the fans helps get Rhea into the zone, while in the past she had leaned on some of her Judgment Day teammates – including Damian Priest, Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio – during darker moments.
After a lengthy injury layoff in 2022, Rhea admitted the group were her rock as she worked on her recovery.
She exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘It definitely helped mentally, ’cause having time off when you’re in such a busy schedule all the time, it is very weird.
‘You start questioning a lot of things, so being a part of the Judgment Day, and going out there and still supporting my boys, doing promos and all that, just being in front of the camera, still on the road – it was a good distraction.’
WWE Raw airs Monday nights at 1am on TNT Sports 1.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Returning WWE superstar credits Triple H with ‘saving’ stagnated career
MORE : Logan Paul is expecting first child with model Nina Agdal
MORE : Top WWE superstar admits he may never wrestle again after horror injury