Being out injured indefinitely won't solve WWE's growing Rhea Ripley problem. If anything, her absence will only add to it.

There is little doubt the Australian is one of the most popular performers on the entire roster. She's had an incredibly accomplished main roster run over the last three years and has been on another level of superstardom since joining The Judgment Day in 2022.

However, since relinquishing the Women's World Championship shortly after WrestleMania 40, WWE hasn't quite figured out how to properly utilize her. The long-running rivalry she's had going with Liv Morgan has slowly fizzled out and prolonging its culmination until closer to WrestleMania 41 is far from ideal.

The company has clearly failed to build up anyone aside from Morgan and Ripley in recent months, leaving the champion with few credible challengers to defend her title against while her rival is sidelined.

Additionally, WWE will inevitably have to figure out how to handle Ripley when she does regain the gold. Her last reign didn't produce many highlights despite lasting over a year, and when she isn't in the title picture, there comes the question of how she'll be kept busy.

The Nightmare is a very valuable asset to WWE and is bound to be a big part of its future, but she'll find herself in a precarious position upon her return if the company doesn't address these issues.

Ripley's Latest Injury Presents an Inevitable Issue

After Ripley was shown bloodied from an attack by Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez in the NXT parking lot last week, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio revealed she was being written off the show to cover for a legitimate injury that would keep her out of action indefinitely.

Prior to that, it appeared WWE was building toward Ripley exacting revenge on Rodriguez for costing her the Women's World Championship at Bad Blood before setting her sights back on Morgan. Survivor Series on November 30 would have been an appropriate place for them to finish their feud with The Nightmare finally getting the belt back.

Of course, Ripley's latest injury delays the payoff to their program, meaning it might not be until WrestleMania 41 that she gives her former friend her comeuppance and is able to call herself champion again.

However, their storyline has lost enough juice since SummerSlam that fan anticipation for another match between them—this time on The Grandest Stage of Them All—wouldn't exactly be high, especially if the outcome is obvious.

Keeping the Raw women's division on ice until Ripley returns isn't the answer and could result in the audience resenting her, which isn't what WWE should be striving for if the intent is for her to remain a babyface.

WWE Needs to Create New Stars in Women's Division

Ripley is a massive star for WWE and has done an exceptional job of causing her stock to skyrocket through her character work in the last two years alone.

The company is extremely fortunate to have the 28-year-old as one of the top stars on the Raw roster along with a fantastic foil for her in Morgan, someone she has plenty of history with.

For as fun of a feud as they've had throughout 2024, though, there was always going to come a point where they were transitioned into other storylines.

Even if Ripley hadn't got hurt, WWE still would have had the issue of not having anyone of note for her to work with next. Iyo Sky just has the benefit of already having been established and thus it was wise to crown her the new No. 1 contender to the Women's World Championship on Monday, but the well runs dry in the Raw women's division beyond her.

Lyra Valkyria's television time has been rather inconsistent, Pure Fusion Collective has yet to catch on with the audience, and no one else feels remotely special or interesting.

That's a reflection of WWE's failure to create new stars while the Morgan-Ripley rivalry was happening, and now it's left having to deal with that sooner than expected.

The red brand boasts a ton of talented women, and if Ripley will be gone for the remainder of 2024, WWE should be using this time to showcase other stars in an effort to get them over.

Putting the Belt Back on Ripley Isn't the Automatic Answer

Ripley's sheer star power would make her a logical choice as champion once she's cleared to compete again, but her most recent reign as women's world champion wasn't the most memorable on the whole.

She held the gold during a pivotal point in The Judgment Day's rise, but the run itself didn't produce many standout contests. After she took the title from Charlotte Flair in an excellent outing at WrestleMania 39, she largely defended against lower-level talent who had zero chance of winning such as Zelina Vega and Natalya.

Her feud in the fall with Raquel Rodriguez fell flat, and her title defenses at Crown Jewel and Survivor Series were average at best.

It wasn't until she headlined Elimination Chamber in her home country of Australia in February that she felt like a fighting champion. Her WrestleMania 40 match with Becky Lynch was also special, but this came after months of her not wrestling on Raw.

In fact, she's had all of two televised matches this year, which is significantly less than current world champs Gunther and Cody Rhodes. She's an undeniable attraction, but regardless of whether she's a champion or not, there's no reason for her not to be in action on Raw more than she has been.

Giving The Nightmare another title run as soon as she returns would not automatically solve that problem as there's no indication it would be any different than the last time.

How Additional Character Development Can Go a Long Way

Ripley organically grew into a fan favorite during her time with The Judgment Day despite portraying a heel. The reactions she was receiving at the onset of 2024 were too loud to ignore, leading to her returning from injury as a babyface over the summer.

Although she's maintained her mystique and cool factor, she hasn't done anything to establish herself as a face. The only difference between now and six months ago is that she's feuding with a heel in Morgan. Otherwise, not much else about her has changed.

In a way, it's commendable that Ripley hasn't reverted to being the generic babyface she was when she initially arrived on the main roster, but addressing her heel actions and showing a shred of regret or remorse for what she's done would give the audience more of an incentive to cheer her and want to see her succeed.

Roman Reigns is suffering from a similar issue at the moment, but in Ripley's case, everything she's been involved in this year has essentially been her fault. She never treated Dominik Mysterio as an equal, she cheated to beat Rodriguez twice in 2023, and she put Morgan on the shelf with a storyline injury for six months.

Ripley has had all of this coming to her and shouldn't be the babyface in this story by that logic, but some subtle character tweaks can get her back on the right track.

Keeping Her Interesting and Busy Beyond the Title Picture

Depending on the severity of her injury, Ripley could be in line for a Royal Rumble return followed by a second win in the same-titled women's match.

It would match up well with WrestleMania season soon after, but unless there's some sort of dramatic shift, a Morgan vs. Ripley rematch is not a contest worthy of The Show of Shows.

At some point, Ripley will be champion again. It's entirely possible Morgan doesn't drop it until her rival is the one to dethrone her, but when that does happen, WWE will have to follow up accordingly.

The less-than-stellar state of the Raw women's division right now doesn't inspire much confidence among fans that Ripley's next reign will be any more meaningful unless more competition is cultivated.

Ripley has reached a level of stardom that she should theoretically be relevant no matter what. That was certainly the case while she was a member of The Judgment Day, but WWE must be careful to not make her identity synonymous with championships as that was what killed Charlotte Flair's goodwill with the fans.

The inaugural NXT UK women's champion has been booked to be so dominant that she's in a league all of her own, so unless the idea is for her to start getting physical with the men (a believable possibility provided WWE wanted to head in that direction), all of the aforementioned issues need to be addressed and rectified before long-term damage is done.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.