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WWE’s set the card for both nights of WrestleMania 42 this weekend, but one match has remained in flux behind the scenes.
Nikki Bella’s injury status was said to have not only been effecting the 4-Way WWE Women’s Tag Team championship match she and twin sister Brie are scheduled to be a part of tomorrow (April 18), but may have moved other matches into standby mode in case people would be needed to replace the Bellas against titleholders Nia Jax & Lash Legend and challengers Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria on WrestleMania Saturday.
Two pieces of news on that front from PWInsider this afternoon. The first came from behind their Elite paywall is that Nikki’s ankle, which she hurt on SmackDown at the end of last month, will keep her out of this weekend’s title match, stalling the Hall of Famers dream of winning the Tag belts.
Mike Johnson wrote up the second for free on PWInsider.com:
In a story that would seemed unthinkable when WWE ruled her medically disqualified from being an active competitor in 2018, PWInsider.com is told that Saraya Jade-Bevis, known as Paige during her original run for the company, has signed to return as a wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment and is expected to return to the ring this weekend as part of Wrestlemania 42.
He went on to say that she’s expected to replace Nikki Bella in the match, and has been participating in rehearsals for it during the week. A team-up with Brie Bella would be odd, but it’s an odd ‘Mania.
As Johnson writes, few expected Paige to be back in a WWE ring after the company wouldn’t clear her for action following her neck surgery — and a scary in-ring incident on a house show. But it’s not like her return to WWE hasn’t been rumored since before she departed AEW, where she was cleared and won their Women’s World title during her three years at the company. And with medical technology advancing rapidly, we’ve gotten somewhat used to these returns from folks who retired in the 2010s after neck, spine, and even brain issues.
Now it seems she’ll be back in the company she helped revolutionize are the first NXT Women’s champion who won the Divas title in her main roster debut.
Excited for Saraya… or should we get used to calling her Paige again? Bummed for the Bellas? Talk about it below.
