News regarding the status of the WWE women’s title following Rhea Ripley’s surgery

As seen during the 2026 WWE SummerSlam Sunday PLE, Chelsea Green became the Interim WWE Women’s Champion by winning a five-way ladder match. Several days later, WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley announced that she had knee surgery.

Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com noted the following regarding Chelsea’s reign…

“Well, it looks likely now that this will end up being the women’s title and not the interim title, since Rhea Ripley just had knee surgery. The hope right now is that Ripley would be back for the Royal Rumble show.”

False Finish also wrote via Twitter/X: “Sources indicate to False Finish that it’s very likely that WWE will recognize Chelsea Green as the official WWE Women’s Champion without the interim tag.”

On the August 7th 2026 edition of SmackDown, Chelsea held a victory celebration following her title win. She wore a shirt declaring herself the “Permanent Champion,” while commentary also referred to her simply as the Women’s Champion during her entrance.

With Rhea Ripley undergoing surgery, sources indicate to False Finish that it's very likely that WWE will recognize Chelsea Green as the official WWE Women's Champion without the interim tag pic.twitter.com/6GlTSmEPTy

— False Finish (@FalseFinishHQ) August 7, 2026