WWE Reportedly Has Return Plans in Place for Former Champion
Rhea Ripley has been absent from WWE television since April.
Rhea Ripley may return to WWE sooner than anticipated. In April, the former WWE Women's World Champion was forced to vacate the championship due to an injury she suffered at the hands of Liv Morgan. Fans were devastated by the news as Ripley had just defended the title against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40 days prior, but she promised to return with a vengeance. Though she hasn't been on television, she is still one of the hottest and most talked about acts in professional wrestling, there have been major storyline seeds planted for her eventual return. Those plans seemingly include positioning her right back into the Women's World Championship picture where she left off.
The former women's champion held the title for an impressive 379 days before vacating it where Lynch then picked up the pieces, holding the championship for just a few weeks before taking a significant leave of absence. Morgan defeated Lynch at WWE King and Queen of the Ring to win her second singles title in her WWE career.
WWE Has Tentative Plans in Place for Rhea Ripley
According to Fightful Select, WWE officials are hoping to see Ripley back in the fold ahead of this year's SummerSlam in Cleveland. Though that doesn't necessarily mean in a wrestling capacity as it could just be an on-screen presence as she moves to get cleared for in-ring action, there are tentative plans in place for the former champion. On WWE Raw, Morgan has been terrorizing Dominik Mysterio to try and get him on her side and away from "Mami." When Morgan returned from injury earlier this year, she vowed to take everything from Ripley, much like Ripley did when she injured her.
A promotional poster for SummerSlam was released a few months back which features several top WWE stars like Cody Rhodes, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, as well as Cleveland natives Logan Paul and The Miz. Ripley was also part of the lineup, though the poster was released before she added her name to the injured list. However, WWE has still been recycling the material and hasn't removed her so if her big return happens it would make sense for it to be at one of WWE's largest PLE events and the biggest event of the summer.
Stay tuned to Comicbook for updates on WWE and Ripley.
