Revealed: Reason For Rhea Ripley's WWE Raw Absence

Rhea Ripley has not appeared on WWE TV since she was laid out by the returning Nia Jax on the September 11 episode of Monday Night Raw. It was initially noted on SmackDown that Ripley was not cleared to be at the show and Dominik Mysterio announced on the September 18 edition of Raw that Ripley was hurt. Michael Cole later revealed on commentary that Ripley suffered bruised ribs as a result of the post-match attack from Nia Jax. 

Although Nia Jax does have a reputation as an unsafe worker, Ripley's injury is reportedly not legitimate. Reddit insider Kerrmit125 has claimed Ripley's bruised ribs are just storyline and she is expected to be back on WWE TV in a couple of weeks. 

Ripley is instead in Australia and she was spotted at the Australian Football League game between Carlton and Melbourne with fiancé Buddy Matthews on Friday, September 15. WWE are poised to announce a stadium show in Australia that will take place in early 2024 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. This would be WWE's first stadium show in Australia since 2018. 

Speculation has suggested that Ripley has returned to Australia as part of the promotion for the event when it is made official this week.