When fans last saw WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley, she came face-to-face with a number of potential challengers on "WWE SmackDown," all while sporting a sleeve on her right knee. According to Ripley, that's because she suffered a slight tear in her meniscus."I hurt my knee. I got a slight tear in my meniscus," Ripley told Nina Drama while attending the July 10 Power Slap event. "It's just healing. It's getting there. It's getting stronger. I can't bend it very well. I kind of need it to bend, guys. I don't know [what the recovery timeline is]. I tore it in a really weird spot, so it's kind of a little bit up in the air with how fast my body recovers. I've been out just over a month now. I think it's been a month and a couple weeks. It feels better. It still starts to hurt and throb. It gets tired. I can't get up or bend down really slow or kind of move side to side while crouching. It gets stuck. We'll see how it goes."Ripley last wrestled at the June 3 WWE live event in Portugal, during which she, Charlotte Flair, and Tiffany Stratton picked up a tag team win over Fatal Influence. Fan footage revealed that "Mami" competed while wearing the same knee sleeve.Due to Ripley's injury, reports indicated that WWE made several creative adjustments in case she is unable to perform in the ring for an extended period of time. Currently, WWE is just three weeks away from its two-night SummerSlam premium live event in Minnesota. Given the condition of her knee at this point, though, it's unclear if Ripley herself is factored into it or not.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Nina Drama with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
