Rhea Ripley to Miss WWE SummerSlam With Injury, Ladder Match Will Determine Interim Women's Champion

WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley will miss SummerSlam as she recovers from a torn meniscus, per Raw general manager Adam Pearce.

In the meantime, an interim champion will be crowned at SummerSlam in a five-woman ladder match, and a series of matches will occur until then to determine the contenders.

Pearce then said that the SummerSlam winner will face off against Ripley when she's ready to return to action to determine the unified WWE Women's Champion.

Ripley suffered the injury at Clash in Italy on Sunday, May 31, when she defended her belt against Jade Cargill. She competed in a pair of six-woman tag team matches on June 2 and June 3 in France and Portugal but hasn't been in the ring since. Thankfully, Ripley is "close to returning," per Pearce.

So now we'll find out who gets the chance to challenge Ripley down the road. WWE has a few weeks to determine the five competitors before SummerSlam, which will take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 and Sunday, Aug. 2 in Minneapolis.