Add as a preferred source on Google Nikki Bella is back on WWE programming. The Hall of Famer made her return on Friday’s SmackDown, held at the Oakland Arena in Oakland, California.
The moment came after Brie Bella beat Lainey Reid in a singles match. Right after the pinfall, Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley joined Reid in attacking Brie and Paige.
Nikki’s music hit next. The former Divas Champion ran in to make the save and closed out the segment with a Rack Attack 2.0 on Jayne.
Nikki hadn’t been seen since the March 27 episode of SmackDown, when The Bella Twins beat Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. That night, she suffered a serious injury to her left ankle, later had surgery and missed WrestleMania 42.
Paige took her place at the event and, alongside Brie, won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. The reign ended at last Saturday’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, when Henley and Reid won with an assist from Jayne.
Tonight’s return had been in the works. On the latest episode of The Nikki & Brie Show, Nikki said she had gone through an evaluation at the WWE Performance Center. She took part in an impromptu match there and did specific exercises to test the ankle.
To close the segment, Nikki challenged Fatal Influence to a Six-Woman Tag Team Match at SummerSlam.