WWE To Crown Interim Women’s Champion At WWE SummerSlam In Ladder Match

With Rhea Ripley currently out of action, WWE will crown an interim Women’s Champion at WWE SummerSlam early next month. WWE posted a video to Twitter on Friday ahead of tonight’s WWE Smackdown in which Raw General Manager and acting Smackdown General Manager Adam Pearce announced that a ladder match will take place to crown an interim champion at the PLE.

Ripley is currently out of action with a knee injury that she suffered at Clash in Italy in May. The injury reportedly caused creative adjustments for WWE Night of Champions and, obviously, SummerSlam.

Pearce noted that qualifying matches for the ladder match will kick off on tonight’s WWE Smackdown.

WWE SummerSlam takes place on August 1st and 2nd from US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The show airs live on ESPN Unlimited in the US and on Netflix internationally. We’ll have an updated card for the show following tonight’s Smackdown.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨

Due to Rhea Ripley’s injury, Adam Pearce announces that an interim WWE Women's Champion will be crowned in a Ladder Match at #SummerSlam. pic.twitter.com/HtX9k8WYab

— WWE (@WWE) July 17, 2026

BREAKING NEWS: Due to Rhea Ripley’s injury, Adam Pearce has announced that an interim WWE Women's Champion will be crowned at #SummerSlam in a Ladder Match! pic.twitter.com/kNIXz41D1g

— WWE (@WWE) July 17, 2026