Backstage Details On Bronson Reed's WWE Return, NJPW Departure

Bronson Reed became WWE's latest comeback king on this week's episode of Raw, helping The Miz win a ladder match with Dexter Lumis to seemingly close that long-running feud. It was the former JONAH's first WWE appearance since July 2021, having been released the following month, and ended months of speculation on him potentially heading back to Stamford.

Now, it has emerged that Paul 'Triple H' Levesque had made Reed a "priority hire" following his ascent to head of creative this summer.

Fightful Select reports as much, adding that NJPW, Reed's primary base of operations this year, were hopeful of retaining him. They were ultimately unsuccessful, as returning to WWE means Bronson is now done in Japan, having signed a WWE contract.

Although Bronson's Raw comeback wasn't listed on the relevant runsheets, talent had caught wind that he was returning prior to it happening. One of Fightful's sources quipped that Reed's pro wrestling inactivity prior to the re-debut "wasn't an accident", with the former NXT North American using social media to talk about Wrestle Kingdom 17 bouts in the run-up, throwing people off the scent.

Reed, 34, was previously with WWE from 2019 until 2021. He had a productive summer in NJPW this year, besting company icon Kazuchika Okada in the G1 Climax tournament.