Rhea Ripley Vacates Title, New Champion Crowned Next Week On Raw

Last night's WWE Raw opened with Rhea Ripley vacating the Women's World Championship as the result of an injury.

Ripley - who successfully retained the title against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40 - came to the ring with her arm in a sling and revealed the news. Rhea laid the belt on the canvas and blamed fellow Raw Superstar Liv Morgan, who attacked Ripley in a backstage segment on last week's edition of the show.

A gloating Morgan than attempted to come to the ring but was held back by security. In a later backstage promo, Liv continued to be unsympathetic towards Rhea, and claimed that she will soon become Women's World Champion instead.

WWE announced that a new champion will be crowned on next week's Raw, although no further information was provided. An exact timeframe on Rhea's recovery is also not currently known, although in her promo she said she would be sidelined for a number of months. 

Morgan will presumably be involved in next week's match, as she is one of only two Superstars to reference going for the gold on last night's episode (the other being Nia Jax.)