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Charlotte Flair made her triumphant return to the WWE ring for the first time in nearly eight months and defeated Ronda Rousey in an impromptu match for the SmackDown Women's Championship on Friday.
Rousey had just defeated Raquel Rodriguez with an armbar to retain the SmackDown belt. She stayed in the ring with her partner in crime, Shayna Baszler, to cut a promo before being interrupted by Flair's music and the roars of a stunned crowd.
Flair stormed down to the ring and challenged her foe to a championship bout.
Rousey accepted, but this did not work in her favor as Flair quickly defeated her by countering an armbar and rolling the ex-UFC champion over for a pin to become a 14-time world title-holder.
Flair was last seen in the WWE ring during WrestleMania Backlash on May 8, when she lost to Rousey in an "I Quit" match for the belt.
She suffered a kayfabe fractured radius after Rousey put her in an armbar, but in reality, Flair took time off to get married to fellow professional wrestler Andrade El Idolo.
Flair is back just in time for the Road to WrestleMania in March, however, and things just got very interesting as the WWE calendar starts to heat up.
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Sasha Banks is reportedly expected to appear at a major event held by Japanese women's wrestling promotion Stardom on April 23, just three weeks after WWE's WrestleMania 39.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc's Ella Jay), All-Star Grand Queendom was announced for April 23 at the Yokohama Arena on Thursday, and Banks looked "locked in" for the show, although it isn't yet clear what her exact role will be.
Meltzer (h/t WrestlingInc's Sean Neumann) previously confirmed a report that Banks will appear at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17 on Jan. 4 after reaching a high-dollar agreement with New Japan in November.
Since both NJPW and Stardom are owned by Bushiroad, it would make sense for Banks to appear for both companies.
Banks has not been seen in the world of pro wrestling since she and Naomi walked out prior to an episode of WWE Raw in May because of apparent creative differences.
WWE suspended Banks and Naomi and stripped them of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, leaving their future with the promotion in flux. It seemed more likely that they would return after Vince McMahon retired and Triple H replaced him as head of creative in July, but the two reportedly never reached an agreement.
Instead, Meltzer noted that Banks is likely to have some level of involvement with the NJPW Women's Championship match between former WWE star Kairi and Tam Nakano at Wrestle Kingdom.
Meltzer added that "many believe" Banks' in-ring return will occur at a Feb. 18 event in San Jose, California, potentially in the form of Banks challenging Kairi.
The events of that show could potentially set the stage for another Banks match at All-Star Grand Queendom.
Fans have also speculated on Banks being the mystery tag team partner for Saraya against Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter on the Jan. 11 episode of AEW Dynamite, but Meltzer reporting that Banks' first match back may not be until February suggests All Elite Wrestling might not be in the cards for Banks.
One can assume that returning to WWE will always be an option for the five-time Raw women's champion, three-time WWE women's tag team champion, one-time SmackDown women's champion and one-time NXT women's champion, but all signs are pointing toward NJPW and Stardom being Banks' focus for the foreseeable future.
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In just his fourth match since returning to the ring, Bray Wyatt suffered a broken finger.
Speaking to The Vlog Warriors during Thursday's house show in Miami, Wyatt revealed he broke the ring finger on his right hand in a match against Jinder Mahal.
Based on Wyatt's reaction to the injury, it doesn't seem like he is worried about missing time.
Despite making his return to WWE at Extreme Rules on Oct. 8, Wyatt has only appeared on television sporadically. He continues to tease the return of The Fiend character, with some of his promos being interrupted by a masked figure known as "Uncle Howdy."
On the Dec. 23 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Wyatt attacked a cameraman after struggling to get through a promo segment.
WWE is advertising a "Pitch Black match" at the Royal Rumble. It's unclear what the stipulation of the match will be, but the promo on social media does include a shot of Edge and fans reacting to Wyatt's entrance.
Wyatt returned to in-ring action at the Madison Square Garden house show on Dec. 26. The three-time WWE champion has been working singles matches against Mahal at all four shows on the holiday tour this week.
As WWE starts to ramp up the build for the Royal Rumble, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Wyatt become a bigger presence on Raw and SmackDown in the coming weeks.
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