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Rhea Ripley's reign as Women's World Championship has officially come to an end at 380 days. She was forced to vacate the title due to an injury she sustained at the hands of Liv Morgan, and wrestling fans are heartbroken.
The Nightmare undoubtedly had one of the best women's championship reigns in WWE history, as she held the title for close to 400 days. Her reign started as the SmackDown Women's Champion before she became the Women's World Champion when the title was introduced.
On RAW tonight, she gave a heartbreaking speech to open the show, expressing her anger, particularly toward Liv Morgan, for having to vacate the title. Due to her injury, she will be out for at least a few months. What a "few" is in this case isn't specified, but some are speculating that she will be back by the summer.
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This is how the wrestling world reacted to the news:
Fans on Twitter/X made sure to give Ripley her flowers:
Some fans who have met her before gave her strong and encouraging words for her recovery:
One thing is certain - the revenge tour she goes on later this year will be one for the ages. The WWE Draft will be all the more important now because many believed there was a massive quality difference between the RAW and SmackDown Women's division - with SmackDown getting the lion's share of top female talent.
Where does Rhea Ripley's reign rank in the history of the Women's division?
It's hard to say where Rhea Ripley's run as women's champion ranks. In the last five years, a few title reigns reach a very good length of a year or more.
Bayley had the longest reign as SmackDown Women's Champion, while Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch had year-long runs with the title. Like Ripley, Becky Lynch vacated the title as well, but under different circumstances.
It's hard to judge the quality of a reign based on length alone, but Bayley, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, and now Ripley have undoubtedly established themselves as one of this generation's greatest women's champions.
One thing is for sure - Ripley has been the #1 woman in WWE ever since defeating Charlotte Flair in their all-time classic at WrestleMania 39 last year.
While it's hard to rank where Rhea Ripley stands among the all-time greats, she is certainly up there.
