WWE star Rhea Ripley forced to LEAVE US and return to Australia after visa ran out after shock NXT title loss to Flair

WWE star Rhea Ripley was forced to leave the United States and return to Australia after her visa ran out following WrestleMania 36.

WPInsider report Ripley returned to Australia on Monday - a day after Mania' - and must now get her visa renewed but it is unknown when she will be able to return to America amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 23-year-old - real name Demi Bennett - lost her NXT title to Charlotte Flair in a shock defeat on the weekend.

Fans were gobsmacked the rising star was pinned with speculation the loss was forced upon her following Ripley's visa issues.

The WWE - who have been behind closed doors for three weeks - are planning on taping a mass amount of content this week beginning on Friday with SmackDown.

They had already taped Monday's episode of WWE Raw and Wednesday's NXT.

It is claimed WWE bosses want to record three episodes of SmackDown, three episodes of Raw, and "multiple" episodes of NXT through next week.

But Ripley will not be part of these tapings as she heads back home and will be have to quarantine following her international travel.

Fans are speculating the WWE may have been forced to have Flair win the belt in order to have an onscreen champion.

One said: "Rhea Ripley’s work Visa reportedly expired and she had to return to Australia as part of the process to get her visa renewed. That played a role in her dropping the NXT title to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania."

Another said: "Rhea Ripley's work visa expired and she had to go back to Australia until it gets renewed. That would explain why she lost to Charlotte at Wrestlemania. So it's going to be a while before she's back on NXT TV."

One added: "So Rhea Ripley lost the NCT Women's Title to Charlotte because she had to go back to Australia for her Visa renewal and that could take months given the current pandemic. Damn...that sucks."