As previously reported, Rhea Ripley suffered a shoulder injury on last week’s WWE RAW and was forced to vacate her Women’s World title this week. In the latest episode of Busted Open Radio (via Wrestling Inc), Bully Ray looked for a silver lining in an otherwise bad situation for Ripley.
He said: “I know on the surface it sounds bad, but it’s not necessarily bad. It’s not like she got hurt before WrestleMania. She got through WrestleMania, she got injured, now she’s going to go away for a little while. Sometimes … what do they say about absence? (It makes the heart grow fonder) Same thing in wrestling. Sometimes when you go away for a while, it makes the fans yearn for you to come back. They get excited for you when you come back. Rhea Ripley has been positioned as a heel. It’s the fans who are into her — she’s got a great entrance, phenomenal look, she gets the job done in the ring. This time away will be good for Rhea. Recharge the battery, heal your injury, and when Rhea Ripley comes back, when they hit her music on her return, the WWE will have a monster woman babyface on their hands in Rhea Ripley.“