Kairi Sane returns at WWE Crown Jewel, helps IYO SKY defeat Bianca Belair

Kairi Sane returned at WWE Crown Jewel to help IYO SKY retain her WWE Women’s Championship.

Ever since finishing her time with STARDOM earlier this year, Kairi Sane‘s WWE status has been a point of speculation. Fightful Select (subscription required but recommended) reported she signed with WWE “a while back,” but the company only recently added her to their internal roster. Additionally, PWInsider reported that she may return as early as Crown Jewel on Saturday, Nov. 4.

Well, it all came to fruition at the aforementioned premium live event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as Sane returned during the WWE Women’s Championship match between IYO SKY and Bianca Belair.

With SKY on Belair’s shoulders, Sane arrived from out of nowhere to attack the title challenger at ringside while the referee was distracted, which contributed to SKY retaining her title in the ring. But after the match, Sane hit her patented elbow drop on Belair to add an exclamation point to her return.

The crowd may have been mild for Sane’s return, but it marks a significant turning point for a WWE women’s division that’s receiving a greater spotlight under Triple H’s WWE creative direction.

Sane is one of the most accomplished female wrestlers in the world, having achieved numerous accolades across the industry. This includes winning the inaugural IWGP Women’s Championship and earning multiple titles in STARDOM, not to mention holding the NXT Women’s and WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships and winning the 2017 Mae Young Classic.

With her involvement in a SmackDown match, Sane looks destined for the blue brand, and it seems like Bayley’s ringside reaction to what happened suggests a storyline involving her, SKY, and problems within Damage CTRL. Let’s see how this, and Sane’s second go-around, unfolds starting with the next episode of SmackDown.