WWE's Rhea Ripley Posts Injury Update, Photo After Knee Surgery, 'See You All Down the Road'

WWE women's champion Rhea Ripley announced Thursday that she underwent surgery after being forced to miss SummerSlam due to a knee injury last weekend.

In a post on X, Rhea included a photo of a large brace on her right leg and wrote, "Surgery was never a first option for me, but it got to the point that it was needed. First one down. Hopefully no more."

Ripley did not provide a potential timeline for her return to in-ring action, but she added, "I've survived, now it's time to start thriving again so I can get back to what I love to do! See you all down the road."

Shortly before SummerSlam, Raw general manager Adam Pearce revealed that Ripley would not be able to compete at the premium live event due to a torn meniscus:

However, Pearce noted that she was "close" to returning, so instead of stripping her of the WWE Women's Championship, the decision was made to hold a five-woman ladder match to determine an interim champ who would then face Ripley in a unification match at a later date.

Chelsea Green won the ladder match to become interim WWE women's champion, beating out Charlotte Flair, Jade Cargill, Tiffany Stratton and Lash Legend.

Ripley beat Cargill for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 42 in April, and she successfully defended the title in a rematch against Cargill at Clash in Italy in May.

Rhea wrestled in a pair of six-woman tag team matches at live events on June 2 and 3, but she has not been in action since then, which suggests the injury may have occurred on June 3 in Portugal.

Since then, WWE has never given much of an indication regarding when Ripley would be able to return to the ring aside from Pearce's declaration that she was getting close.

It is unclear if Pearce's comments were made with the knowledge of Ripley undergoing surgery, or if that decision was made after the fact.

If the latter is true and Ripley is now slated to be out for longer than expected, then it is fair to wonder if the interim tag may be removed from Green's title as WWE women's champion.