Backstage News On Kairi Sane's Potential WWE Return Date

PWInsider first reported Saturday night ahead of SummerSlam that former "NXT" Women's Champion Kairi Sane was set for an "imminent" return to WWE. While she didn't make an appearance at "The Biggest Party of the Summer," Dave Meltzer is now reporting that Sane's return is slated for later this year.

"Yeah, maybe November," Meltzer said during the latest "Wrestling Observer Radio." "She's got two more dates in Japan I think that she's scheduled for. Yeah, she's coming back. As far as that goes, there is something to that because she left [WWE] because she wanted to return to Japan. And then when her contract was up, she started working at STARDOM, and she was going to be the big international star. New Japan was going to use her to come to the United States and things like that. I think what ended up happening was then they signed Mercedes [Moné] to kind of take that spot."

He continued, "When Bushiroad took over and bought STARDOM, there was a lot of hope of the idea of, 'The talent will get paid more, we're gonna get Io Shirai back,' which they almost did. That was the idea, and what's happened is the Bushiroad wrestling side has not nearly been as profitable as they expected it to be because New Japan business is down... Kairi was going to work big shows and at a certain price probably. And there we go, she's going back to WWE."

Sane wrapped up her WWE in-ring career in July 2020 before transitioning into an ambassador role. Once that contract ended at the end of 2021, she returned to Japan and went on to become the inaugural IWGP Women's Champion.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.