As referee Jessika Carr checked on an injured IYO SKY at ringside during her WWE Women’s Championship defense against Bianca Belair, a name from the champion’s past returned to WWE: Kairi Sane.
As Belair got her wits about her, Sane appeared out of nowhere and blasted The EST of WWE from behind. After battling off Bayley and Dakota Kai as well, Belair was barely able to answer the referee’s ten count and suffered a pinfall loss shortly after getting back int he ring. Following the match, Sane embraced SKY and hit Belair with one of her beautiful moonsaults. Sane and SKY then embraced again as a confused Bayley looked on, teasing that this may not have been Damage CTRL’s plan.
Sane is a former WWE NXT and Women’s Tag Team Champion, on top of being a former IWGP Women’s and five-time Artist of Stardom Champion. She initially amicably parted ways with WWE in July 2020 and then signed as an ambassador in Japan shortly after before letting that contract expire in 2021. Her return to WWE has been rumored for a while now, and WrestleVotes accurately reported this week that Sane had been added to the company’s internal roster.
This was the second WWE Crown Jewel match in a row to end with outside interference. The previous bout saw Logan Paul, with the help of one of his entourage members, defeat Rey Mysterio for the WWE United States Championship. In the waning moment of the match, the entourage member managed to get Paul a pair of brass knuckles, which he used to get the win.