Is Kairi Sane Returning For WWE Women’s Tag Title Tournament?
Last week on "WWE SmackDown," WWE announced that the long-awaited tournament to crown new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions will finally begin tonight on "WWE Raw." The gold has been vacant since former champions Sasha Banks and Naomi were stripped of the prize after reportedly walking out of "Raw" in May, leaving the status of the women's tag team division in limbo, until now. And while the entrants for the tournament have yet to be revealed, one former WWE superstar is teasing a potential return to reunite with her former tag team partner.
Current WWE superstar Asuka had initially declared on Twitter that she will be "the tag team champion again" before questioning where her tag team partner is, and that's when Kairi Sane responded. Sane — now known as KAIRI in World Wonder Ring Stardom — responded to the tweet with a brief one-second clip of the pair backstage at a WWE event and a teary emoji. Sane and Asuka held the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship together in 2019 as The Kabuki Warriors.
— Kairi Sane (@KAIRI_official) August 8, 2022
It should also be noted that WWE's new head of creative, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, is seemingly a huge fan of Sane, and even booked the 33-year-old a run with the "NXT" Women's Championship during his tenure leading the brand between 2012 and 2021. With a number of Levesque's former "NXT" talent returning in recent weeks (Karrion Kross, Scarlett, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY), Sane's return, if it happened, wouldn't seem out of place.
After making her name in Japan with Stardom, Sane joined WWE in March 2017 and defeated Tessa Blanchard in her debut match during the 2017 Mae Young Classic tournament. After adopting a pirate-themed gimmick, Sane captured the "NXT" Women's Championship in August 2018 at TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 by overcoming Shayna Baszler, before dropping the title back to the Queen of Spades. Sane would eventually get called up to the main roster in April 2019, being paired with Asuka and managed by former WWE Divas Champion Paige. As The Kabuki Warriors, Sane and Asuka defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at Hell in a Cell in 2019.
In July 2020, Sane left the United States of America to return to Japan to be with her husband, but remained contracted to WWE working as an ambassador and trainer in her home native. Sane's commitments to WWE ended in December 2021 when her contract lapsed, and she ultimately made a return to Stardom in February 2022.