Yesterday, it was reported that Kairi Sane had reappeared on the WWE internal roster – indicating her rumored return to the company is imminent. Sane left WWE upon the expiry of her contract in late 2021 after working as an ambassador, trainer, and Japanese-language commentator for the company following a transition away from in-ring competition. Subsequently, she returned to Japan and specifically to her home promotion STARDOM where she went on to become the inaugural IWGP Women’s Champion.
Rumors of Sane returning to the company first emerged back in August when it was reported that she had come to terms with WWE to make a return. Later, Dave Meltzer added that the former NXT Women’s Champion was likely to return in November in order to fulfill her remaining commitments in Japan in the meantime. Since then, Sane has competed for various Japanese promotions on top of STARDOM including All Japan Pro Wrestling, Sendai Girls, and GLEAT.
Earlier today, Fightful Select provided some new insight into Sane’s re-signing with the company. The outlet notes that WWE wanted to re-sign the Joshi star as a priority this year and that she was one of many stars considered to be re-signed when Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque took on creative control of the company last year. However, the two sides could not reach a deal at that time. Additionally, they also note that there have been pitches for creative plans involving Kairi since then, and internally, her return has not been kept quiet.
Kairi last competed in WWE back on the July 20th, 2020 edition of Raw where she defeated Bayley. The following week, Bayley attacked her backstage which was intended to write Sane off from WWE programming. During her three-year run with the company as an in-ring talent, Sane captured the NXT Women’s Championship as well as the WWE Women’s Championship alongside Asuka.