The tension is running high at the Tropicana Field, St. Peterburg as the Royal Rumble touched down at the home of the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, Jan. 27. The headline attraction of the night, of course, comprises the marquee women’s and men’s 30-wrestler battle royals, as the winner of each match will earn a guaranteed title shot against a world champion of their choice at WrestleMania. Wrestling fans will have their eyes glued to the surprise returns of the PLE.
To put a stop to their wait, WWE pulled out the first big return of the showdown and it’s none other than the highly speculated comeback of Naomi.
Naomi brings her mojo to the WWE ring after 18 months
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After Pat McAfee and Corey Graves set the mood on fire, the Women’s Royal Rumble battle got underway with a huge pop from a 40,000 insane crowd. Natalya came out first as the No. 1 entry to grace the ring and just next came the supremely talented Trinity Fatu aka Naomi.
Naomi Returns to WWE During 2024 Women's Royal Rumble Match https://t.co/xhK5FQiMAl
— ⚡️Wrestling News Source (@WNSource) January 28, 2024
Yes, you heard it right. After walking out alongside Sasha Banks from the promotion in 2022, she settled her foot in the TNA ring after a lot of back and forth. WWE also treated her return to the company as a big deal as they mentioned her achievements in WWE and TNA. Revered commentator Michael Cole reminded the wrestling faithful that she was a former TNA Knockouts Champion and was also a two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Now, given she is finally back in the fray, we need to see what the future holds for her. Her return garnered a warm reaction from a prized WWE veteran.
Rikishi acknowledged Naomi’s high-flying WWE return at Royal Rumble 2024
Naomi didn’t only come back to her old wrestling home, she brought all her experience and ability back into the promotion. In the Royal Rumble PLE tonight, Jimmy Uso’s better half made a shock entry as No. 2. Moreover, she continued to be in the fight for more than an hour. With this, she smashed Rhea Ripley’s pride of being the most long-lasting contender from last year. Although Bayley toppled it shortly after, it didn’t blur Naomi’s excellence.
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Like many other WWE bigwigs, Rikishi took notice of it and couldn’t refrain from sending a heartfelt welcome to the former TNA star’s way. Naomi’s father-in-law put an Instagram story with the caption “welcome back” to validate her monumental comeback.
Although, as of this writing, we are not sure whether Naomi has officially returned, or if her return was a mere one-off, we keep looking forward to getting many more premium performances from her, like tonight.
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What’s your take on Naomi returning at the Royal Rumble 2024 tonight? Let us know in the comments.
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