Kairi Sane Cleared To Compete, Mike Kanellis Returns After Requesting WWE Release, Other WWE Returns

By Marc Middleton

Friday's WWE NXT and WWE RAW live events saw several Superstars make their ring returns, including WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Kairi Sane.

The following talents returned to action on Friday night:

* Mike Kanellis teamed with Tony Nese to defeat Nick Ogarelli and Mohamed Fahim at the NXT live event in Melbourne, FL. This was Mike's first match since shortly before requesting his WWE release back in October. Mike and wife Maria Kanellis signed new multi-year deals with WWE last summer. Maria, who will be giving birth to a baby boy soon, did not accompany Mike to the ring on Friday night

* Kacy Catanzaro returned to singles action with a win over Vanessa Borne at the show in Melbourne. We noted before how Catanzaro returned to the ring on Wednesday's NXT episode for the Battle Royal main event. Her WWE status and future had been up in the air since the fall of 2019, but she returned to action just one day after her 30th birthday

* Kairi Sane returned to the ring at the WWE live event in Lafayette, LA as WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors teamed with Sarah Logan for a loss to RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Natalya. Sane tapped out to Lynch for the win. We noted earlier this week how Sane returned to the road for WWE on Monday and came to the ring with Asuka for her Royal Rumble contract signing with Lynch, but did not get physical. She has missed live events and RAW shows since the post-TLC RAW in late December, after it was believed that she suffered a concussion at the TLC pay-per-view. Sane is now medically cleared to compete

* Liv Morgan also returned to the ring in Lafayette, teaming with Rusev to defeat Lana and Bobby Lashley in mixed tag team action. This was a preview for their tag match on Monday's RAW, and was Liv's first match since July 2019. A correspondent noted that she landed a perfect moonsault in the match, and looked to be in great ring shape

In related news, Karl Anderson did not work Friday's event in Lafayette. The opening match saw AJ Styles team with Luke Gallows for a loss to RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders. There's no official word yet on why Anderson missed the show, but he indicated on Twitter that he is in Las Vegas with his wife and friends.

Sane took to Twitter after her return and declared that she is back.

She wrote, "I'm back [face with tongue emoji] [heart emoji] I love wrestling #WWElafayette"

Kanellis did not comment directly on his return, but he did mention being "incredibly blessed" in a tweet earlier in the day.

"I love my wife and my daughter. I love life. Feeling incredibly blessed today," Mike wrote.

You can click here for full results from the NXT show in Melbourne, and you can click here for full results from the RAW show in Lafayette.

Below are the full tweets from Kanellis and Sane, along with a few shots from Friday's returns:

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