Rhea Ripley may be stripped of her Women's Championship after breaking long-standing WWE rule
Rhea Ripley won the Women's Championship back at WrestleMania and has since been one of the most dominant title holders in the company.
Despite being active on WWE RAW, SmackDown and NXT on a regular basis, Ripley hasn't defended her championship in more than a month and now isn't expected to defend her title at this weekend's SummerSlam event.
There is a long-standing WWE rule that dictates that a championship should be defended every 30 days, which puts Ripley in breach of this since she isn't currently scheduled to defend her title in the near future.
While Rhea has defended her title on Live Events, it doesn’t count as a championship has to be defended on TV (RAW, SmackDown, NXT or a PLE). Her last defense on TV was on the July 3rd episode of RAW, against Natalya.
She hasn't defended in a long while, and, as of this moment, is not booked to do so at SummerSlam this weekend either. As a result, she would go over 30 days without defending the Women’s World Championship and, according to the aforementioned rule, should be stripped of the title.
Rhea Ripley should have her title taken rather than lose it
WWE has built Ripley up to not only be a force in the Women's Division, but also quite the force in the men's as well. This leaves them in a situation where they can't make her look weak by losing the championship, so being stripped of it could be a better alternative.
WWE has received quite a bit of backlash over Ripley's lack of action in the Women's Division in recent weeks and the fact that she won't be working SummerSlam this weekend. At present, there is no other female on her level in the company and the only other way she could lose the title is if Dominik Mysterio was there to inadvertently cost her.
WWE has a few options with Rhea Ripley, but since she is now in a position where this rule could be enforced, Adam Pearce should at least mention it and force her into a title defense before then noting that it is a possibility that if it happens again she will lose the title.
Do you think Rhea Ripley will be forced to defend her Women's World Championship in the next week? Share your thoughts and predictions for SummerSlam in the comments section below...