The knee injury to WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley is creating some massive changes for the SmackDown Women's Division heading into SummerSlam.

It was announced on last week's episode of SmackDown that WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley has been sidelined with a knee injury. This is just a few short months after suffering her second fractured orbital bone—an injury she initially sustained back in 2024.

At the time of this announcement, the information about her status and the severity of the injury was scarce. However, a sign that things were more serious than initially thought emerged when Tiffany Stratton replaced Ripley on the Night of Champions poster this week. Now we're hearing more about her injury and what this has meant for the SmackDown Women's Division.

Ripley's knee injury has caused significant changes to SmackDown Women's Division

Rhea Ripley's injury status was discussed on the latest episode of WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, and it was noted that the injury has caused "significant shuffling" not only in her direction but also for several women in the SmackDown Women's Division.

WWE is reportedly covering all of its bases when it comes to Ripley's injury by adjusting multiple plans in case the worst-case scenario happens, and Rhea is forced to miss a significant period of time.

It certainly appeared earlier this month that the impending winner of the Queen of the Ring tournament could challenge Ripley for her title at SummerSlam, but now plans could shift to challenging Raw's Women's World Champion, Liv Morgan, instead. This would mean either Charlotte Flair or IYO SKY would become Queen of the Ring at Night of Champions.

WWE continues to weigh all options regarding Rhea Ripley's injury

If things go WWE and Rhea Ripley's way, the Women's Champion will be cleared in time for SummerSlam in August. However, that is far from a sure thing right now.

It was reported over the weekend that WWE is still making pitches for Ripley's potential opponent at the company's second biggest premium live event of the year.

With top names that move tickets like CM Punk currently away from WWE programming, a knee injury to someone as popular as Rhea Ripley on the road to SummerSlam probably couldn't have come at a worse time for the company.

Stay tuned to The Takedown on SI for the latest on Ripley's injury status as it becomes available.