WWE Rumors - Rhea Ripley forced to leave the country due to visa issues; future uncertain
As revealed on PWInsider Elite, Rhea Ripley had to return to her home country of Australia as her work visa was reportedly expiring.
The word going around backstage is that the former NXT Women's Champion may not be able to make it back in time for the upcoming NXT tapings that are scheduled to take place this week.
It was not revealed whether the decision to book Ripley to drop the NXT Women's title at WrestleMania 36 had anything to do with this situation, and there is a considerable amount of uncertainty regarding her return.
Many people are facing lengthy travel delays across the world due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and Rhea Ripley's status remains unclear at this moment.
According to wwe news and rumors, WWE plans on resuming live TV soon. However, the latest update is that the company will go on an arduous taping marathon to film content for RAW, SmackDown and NXT in the upcoming weeks.
The Australian Superstar is expected to miss NXT TV for the foreseeable future and that's disappointing to know.
Ripley defended the NXT Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair in the main card opener on day 2 of WrestleMania 36.
From a technical standpoint, Ripley and Flair worked really hard to put on the best match of Night 2. The Queen winning the title for the second time caught the fans off guard, as a large section of the WWE Universe expected Ripley to go over Flair.
The expectation was that Ripley would get the rub from beating an established Superstar in Flair - however, the company decided to go the other way.
The current plan is for Charlotte to work in NXT as well as the main roster simultaneously, and the company expects her appearances to give the Black and Gold brand a much-needed bump in the ratings.
WWE has already announced a ladder match to determine the new #1 contender for the new Champion. Candice LaRae, Mia Yim, lo Shirai, Dakota Kai, Tegan Nox and Chelsea Green will square off against each other in this week's special episode of NXT.
WWE would have liked to include Ripley in the title picture and that would have been the sensible thing to do right after the WrestleMania title match.
However, the current situation is just out of WWE's control and the fans would just have to wait for Ripley's return. When would that happen you ask? We have absolutely no clue, but, we'd update you if anything new comes up in this developing story.
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