Bianca Belair retained her Raw Women’s title on Sat., July 30 in Nashville, beating Becky Lynch & earning her respect to bring their year-long story to a close.
But the story of SummerSlam’s opening match wasn’t over.
After getting her handshake from Big Time Becks, Belair’s celebration was interrupted by the return of Bayley.
BAYLEY IS BACK!!!!!!!!@itsBayleyWWE#SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/hEf7qV2JlM
— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2022
The Grand Slam champion hasn’t been around for a year, but she’s been using her time off to do more than rehab from a torn ACL. Bayley brought back up!
First up was Dakota Kai, who commentary reminded us was released from NXT earlier this year. And Kai was joined by former NXT Women’s champion Io Shirai (who commentary referred to as Io Sky, so name changes may not have left with Vince McMahon. UPDATE: It’s official, and it’s more than just her last name — more here). Reports have indicated the Japanese star might want to leave WWE if she wasn’t called up to the main roster... but it looks like that isn’t an issue any longer.
Looks like @itsBayleyWWE isn't the ONLY #SummerSlam return... @shirai_io @ImKingKota pic.twitter.com/EPU6BGnecA
— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2022
Bayley insisted that she and her new crew just wanted to talk, but the champ was weary. Luckily, she got some back-up from her rival, and Bayley’s invading force backed away from a confrontation with The EST and The Man.
.@itsBayleyWWE is back and it looks like she came with some backup #SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/6jrDeLkvcY
— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2022
The landscape of the Raw women’s division just changed in a big way.
Get complete SummerSlam results and coverage of the entire card right here.
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