WWE is taking a page out of the UFC's playbook. The professional wrestling organization has announced an interim WWE women's championship match for SummerSlam while reigning champion Rhea Ripley recovers from an injury.
Raw general manager Adam Pearce, acting as temporary SmackDown general manager amid Nick Aldis' suspension, announced a new SummerSlam match on Friday. Five superstars will compete in a ladder match for the interim WWE women's title. The announcement comes one week after Ripley revealed that she's rehabbing a torn meniscus, an injury she suffered on June 3.
"Throughout her recovery, she has worked tirelessly with WWE medical, and she's close to returning," Pearce said an hour before SmackDown aired. "But due to the tricky nature of the injury, it is my unfortunate duty to report that Rhea Ripley will not be competing at SummerSlam.
"With her timetable uncertain, we have decided to crown an interim WWE women's champion."
Qualifying matches 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. Whoever leaves SummerSlam as interim champion will later unify the titles with Ripley.
"The winner of the ladder match becomes the interim women's champion," Pearce said. "And when Rhea returns to competition, we find out who the one and only WWE women's champion truly is."
The announcement of an interim champion is extremely rare in WWE. 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. In all that time, WWE only introduced an interim champion on its NXT developmental brand. Santos Escobar 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.
Unlike UFC, where interim titleholders are often crowned when champions are sidelined, WWE historically vacates titles to progress storylines.
SummerSlam takes place over two nights in Minneapolis. The cornerstone event, set for Aug. 1 and 2, is shaping up with major matches. CM Punk and Cody Rhodes compete for the undisputed WWE title, Roman Reigns defends the world heavyweight title against Seth Rollins, and Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar 3 takes place inside Hell in a Cell.
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