WWE Announces First TV Match For Rhea Ripley In Months
For the first time in over three months, Rhea Ripley will be returning to televised in-ring action on the October 18 episode of "WWE NXT." Ripley has been sidelined since late Jun,e when she suffered a brain and teeth injury.
On the October 17 episode of "Raw," Cora Jade picked Ripley to face her rival, Roxanne Perez, on Tuesday night's "NXT." The match will mark Ripley's first televised match since her injury, although she did return to in-ring action at a non-televised live event this past Saturday night in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Prior to her injury, Ripley was the number one contender for Bianca Belair's "Raw" Women's Championship. The match was announced for the Money in the Bank premium live event in July before it was called off due to Ripley's injury. Since then, Ripley has continued to consistently make appearances on "Raw" week after week as part of The Judgment Day faction. Ripley joined the faction at WrestleMania: Backlash to aid Edge, the former leader of the group, in a match against A.J. Styles.
Perez also got to hand-pick an opponent for her rival. On this past Friday night's episode of "SmackDown," Perez picked Raquel Rodriguez to face Jade. Rodriguez and Jade previously teamed up together on "NXT," but their alliance came to an end after Rodriguez was called up to the main roster and debuted on "SmackDown."
Ripley and Rodriguez are just two of the main roster stars that will be featured on Tuesday night's "NXT," as the brand goes head-to-head against a special Tuesday night episode of "AEW Dynamite."