Backstage Update On Kairi Sane's Upcoming WWE Return
Former NXT Champion & WWE Tag Team Champion is on the way back.
KAIRI (fka Kairi Sane) will be back in WWE before the end of 2023.
This is according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, who said on Sunday's Wrestling Observer Radio that;
"Maybe November...She's got two more dates in Japan I think she is scheduled for...she's coming back."
The confirmation from Meltzer followed the news initially being broken by PWInsider hours earlier. KAIRI stepped away from in-ring action for WWE in July 2020, though remained an ambassador for the group in Japan until October 2021.
She debuted in NXT via 2017's Mae Young Classic tournament and went on to have a prosperous spell on the brand during a critically acclaimed era. Trading the NXT Women's Championship with Shayna Baszler, she amassed a string of high quality outings with 'The Queen Of Spades' and others before being called up to the main roster in 2019. As with so many NXT names of the time, her fortunes were mixed across Raw and SmackDown, but a Kabuki Warriors pairing with Asuka saw her scoop Tag gold, and the pair generated a cult following for their wildly entertaining heel antics and captivating in-ring offerings.
She went on to work for Stardom and NJPW, including becoming the first ever IWGP Women's Heavyweight Champion at the "NJPW/Stardom Historic X-over" show in November 2022 with a victory over Mayu Iwatani. She defended the title against Tam Nakano at Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th 2023, before losing the gold to Mercedes Moné at Battle In The Valley in February.
It appears as though her aforementioned final Japanese dates could be with All Japan Pro Wrestling - she appeared for AJPW on Sunday to announce she'd be working their September 8th event.