Rhea Ripley has suffered a brain injury, which explains why she was suddenly pulled from WWE’s Money in the Bank premium live event. The WWE Superstar, whose real name is Demi Bennett, revealed the ailment via an Instagram comment on Wednesday morning. On Monday, WWE pulled Ripley from her scheduled Raw Women’s Championship match at Money in the Bank with just less than two weeks to go before the event.
Ripley’s reveal came after an Instagram user implied she was not actually injured in the comments of a selfie the wrestler uploaded on Tuesday. The user wrote, “You don’t look injured like someone said” with several eyeball emojis. Ripley did not take kindly to the insinuation and fired back, writing, “brain/ teeth. Can’t see a brain injury. Stop being incompetent and reaching at nothing.”
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The exact severity of the brain injury is not known as of press time. Ripley, 25, had previously disclosed a teeth injury earlier in June after she accidentally rammed her knee into her face in a previous match on June 6’s Monday Night Raw where she faced Alexa Bliss, Doudrop and Liv Morgan. In comments cited by our sister site ComicBook.com, Ripley claimed her teeth were “knocked loose” in the mishap. She went on to show off the dental work done by Florida-based practice Anderson Family Dental.
It is unclear if the brain injury also occurred during the Fatal 4-Way, but Ripley has not competed in-ring since that match. However, she has appeared in promo segments to continue to her storyline with her faction The Judgement Day. She quickly set her sights on Bianca Belair, WWE’s current Raw Women’s Champion, with WWE going as far as to set a match between the pair for MITB. But on Monday’s Raw, Belair kicked off the show by revealing to the crowd at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, that Ripley was out of commission for the time being.
“Now, I really wish that I wasn’t the one who had to come out here and break this news to y’all,” Belair said. “Rhea will not be medically cleared in time to compete. So, this match isn’t happening yet.”
Belair went on to reveal that there would be a Fatal 5-Way match to decide her new Money in the Bank opponent. Carmella won that match, defeating fellow contenders Becky Lynch, Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Liv Morgan.
WWE has not revealed a return date for Ripley as of press time. Money in the Bank is set for July 2 at Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will air on TV via Peacock at 7 p.m. ET. Aside from Belair vs. Carmella, the event’s main attractions are the men’s and women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Matches, in which six Superstars compete for a world championship title match contract that can be cashed in at any time.
