While the company is still riding a wave of momentum from WWE WrestleMania 40, last night’s “WWE Raw” opened with Rhea Ripley making the unfortunate announcement that she was vacating the Women’s World Championship due to injury. Many speculated that the injury came about during last week’s angle with Liv Morgan, with the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio” offering some insight into what may have occurred.

“She suffered [an] AC joint sprain in the brawl with Liv Morgan last week on ‘Raw,'” Bryan Alvarez said. “She was thrown into the wall and boom — there goes the shoulder. An injury like that, [it will take] probably four to six weeks to gain mobility and then usually about three months to be back in action.”

Alvarez and co-host Dave Meltzer interpreted last night’s segment as a double-turn, with Morgan becoming a heel while Ripley was turned into a babyface due to the circumstances. It’s not clear if this was the definitive intent of the segment, but it’s undeniable that the crowd was behind Ripley last night and keeping her as a villain upon her return would likely be a difficult task.

“She suffered [an] AC joint sprain in the brawl with Liv Morgan last week on ‘Raw,'” Bryan Alvarez said. “She was thrown into the wall and boom — there goes the shoulder. An injury like that, [it will take] probably four to six weeks to gain mobility and then usually about three months to be back in action.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Sometimes it’s best to get the bad news out of the way first. Such was the case for the Rhea Ripley tonight, as the WWE Women’s World Champion kicked off “WWE Raw” by confirming rumors that swirled all day saying she was dealing with a serious injury and may need to vacate her title. That indeed turned out to be the case, with Ripley blaming the backstage attack from Liv Morgan last week as the reason for her now having to miss “quite a few months” and being forced to relinquish the title she has held since

Ripley entered with her right arm in a sling and though she raised her title to show the crowd, her entrance was otherwise devoid of its usual flair. Her face told the story even further, carrying a scowl all the way down the ramp. And when she took the ring, immediately, she addressed the issue at hand. “So, obviously, you guys know what’s going on right now, yeah?” she asked. “I’m angry right now. I’m pissed off. You know why? Because I’ve been told that I need to vacate the one thing that means the most to me: my Women’s World Championship.”

With the crowd chanting “bulls***,” Ripley concurred, saying, “Yeah, it is,” before laying down her belt and calling out Morgan, saying this was all because of her “stupid revenge tour.” Morgan took the stage, surrounded by security, and Ripley was soon flanked as well, with officials doing enough to keep the two apart, despite Ripley headbutting one guard and staring off another. In a backstage segment to follow, Ripley was embraced by the rest of The Judgment Day and she told them to keep the group on top before parting with a “Te amo” toward her stablemates.

PWInsider reports that Ripley was injured last week during a backstage segment between her and Liv Morgan, where Morgan attacked Ripley with a chair. No details were provided on the type of injury Ripley suffered, but it is believed to be severe enough that it could lead to Ripley being forced to vacate the Women’s World Championship on tonight’s episode of “Raw.” It’s unclear what direction WWE would take should Ripley be forced to vacate.

Though Ripley’s focus had largely been on Lynch over the past several months, the Judgment Day star has had issues with Morgan throughout 2024, since Morgan returned during the Women’s Royal Rumble match back in January. Morgan had missed six months of action before returning due to a shoulder injury, and was written off of TV after being brutally attacked by Ripley with a chair prior to a scheduled match between them on “SmackDown.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.