WWE’s Unprecedented Move: Introducing an Interim Women’s Champion

WWE has made a historic decision to introduce an interim women’s championship, a first for the main roster in nearly three-quarters of a century. The unprecedented move comes as reigning champion Rhea Ripley recovers from a torn meniscus, an injury she suffered on June 3.

Raw general manager Adam Pearce, acting as temporary SmackDown general manager amid Nick Aldis’ suspension, announced the introduction of an interim women’s title on Friday. The decision was made after Ripley revealed that she would not be competing at SummerSlam due to the tricky nature of her injury.

Throughout her recovery, Ripley has been working tirelessly with WWE medical, and she is close to returning. However, due to the uncertain timetable of her recovery, the decision was made to crown an interim WWE women’s champion.

The winner of the ladder match at SummerSlam will become the interim women’s champion. When Rhea returns to competition, she will then unify the titles with the interim champion.

The announcement of an interim champion is a rare occurrence in WWE history. In fact, it’s the first time an interim title has been introduced on the main roster. WWE’s roots go back nearly three-quarters of a century, and in all that time, they have only introduced an interim champion on their NXT developmental brand.

One notable example is Santos Escobar, who won a tournament for the interim NXT cruiserweight title after Jordan Devlin (now JD McDonagh) was struck with travel restrictions. They met one year later, with Escobar winning a ladder match to unify the titles.

Qualifying Matches Announced

Qualifying matches for the ladder match will take place over the next two weeks on SmackDown. Two qualifiers were later confirmed on SmackDown: Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton vs. Jacy Jane.

The winner of the ladder match will become the interim women’s champion, setting the stage for a thrilling storyline when Rhea Ripley returns to competition.

SummerSlam: A Two-Night Event

SummerSlam takes place over two nights in Minneapolis, with the cornerstone event set for August 1 and 2. The major matches announced so far include CM Punk and Cody Rhodes competing for the undisputed WWE title, Roman Reigns defending the world heavyweight title against Seth Rollins, and Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar 3 taking place inside Hell in a Cell.