Chelsea Green said she suffered a broken orbital bone after a Friday tag team match on WWE SmackDown, sending her to the emergency room and leaving her with a fresh injury just days after a major title win. Green said she was hurt in the match and that the damage feels awful even if it looks, in her words, pretty amazing.
The timing is what makes this hurt matter now. Green won the interim WWE women's championship at SummerSlam last weekend after outlasting four other women in a ladder match, and the injury immediately puts her next move in doubt. She said she needs time to process and heal from the head trauma, and she made clear she does not yet know what it means for the championship she just won.
Green said the blow was unlike the other injuries fans have seen her play through. She has dealt with numerous injuries over the last 12 months or so, along with a heart issue that sent her to the hospital and required a procedure, but this one landed differently. After the match, she said, it felt frustrating and upsetting, and she suggested that the usual act of pushing through may not be the answer this time.
That uncertainty hangs over the title picture because the interim belt was created going into SummerSlam while Rhea Ripley was recovering from knee surgery and could be out for a few more months. Green said she would take things day by day, but the bigger question now is whether she will be forced to relinquish the championship she won less than a week ago. For now, the answer is not public, and her recovery will decide how long this new reign can last.
