Rhea Ripley and another former World Champion absent from RAW this week

Rhea Ripley and a former World Champion were announced to be absent from the first episode of Monday Night RAW in December, as was announced by one-half of the Undisputed Tag Team Champion Damian Priest.

It was halfway into the episode of RAW, and there was surprisingly no Judgment Day the entire time - a rare sight on the red brand, considering how they've dominated the show this year. The segment backstage saw R-Truth in their locker room, only to get informed that he wasn't a member of their faction.

After he was kicked out, Damian Priest told Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh that they needed to show the number one contenders, The Creed Brothers, who run the Tag Team Division. Damian Priest also said that Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor were absent from RAW.

Again, it's a bit of a rare occurrence since virtually every week has seen The Judgment Day dominate Monday Night RAW, headlining most episodes since June in some form or the other.

Although Rhea Ripley herself hasn't been the most active Champion, she has been WWE's number-one women's star in 2023.

As for Finn Balor, it's not really known why he is absent this week - perhaps it could just be to take some time off.