One of the biggest moves the WWE has made recently was bringing Lita back for a run, but it almost didn’t happen.
According to reports from Fightful, Lita was in talks for a serious run in AEW but the deal was never finalized, so the WWE was able to sign her and it appears she’s back for more than the Royal Rumble.
It appears that her appearance was a last minute addition as her deal with the WWE was reportedly done on Thursday so she could appear on Smackdown.
Since it looks like she’s returned for more than a single event, we’re looking forward to seeing her in a storyline as she’ll be a thorn in Charlotte Flair’s side for a while.
Oddly enough, this came after fan footage showed her practicing her entrance at the Royal Rumble a couple of years ago, and the WWE’s response was reportedly to pull her from the event after the surprise was ruined.
WWE’s reactionary stance
Lita’s signing came after she mentioned being open to a deal with AEW a couple of months ago on her Twitch channel, and it’s similar to Edge when he was reportedly in talks with AEW before he decided to talk with Vince McMahon instead.
This puts an interesting spin on the WWE, as it makes them look reactionary more than anything, just like they were during the Monday Night Wars.
The difference this time is there’s no open warfare for viewers between the companies. In fact, the WWE claims they don’t watch or pay attention to AEW, but it’s obvious they do.
But we think this goes beyond trying to deprive AEW of more talent.
Repairing the women’s division
With Lita’s return, it looks like the WWE is aware they’ve mismanaged the women’s division through releases and not building talent, and they’re going to rely on a Legend to bring back fans.
It’s what we’ve seen the WWE do numerous times over the last few years in general. With any luck, WWE Creative will treat her better than they have the rest of the talent.
In many ways, it appears Lita’s stepping into Toni Storm’s storyline like Doudrop took over for Nia Jax following Jax’s release.
With that being said, if the reports are true about there being a strong run coming for Lita, we expect her to make a good showing at the Rumble and we’d love to see her win it, but we don’t think she will. The company’s pushing Bianca Belair too hard.
This won’t mean she won’t have a fun feud with Charlotte Flair, but it’ll just be through a different avenue.
In the end, we’re just happy Lita’s back and we hope WWE Creative treats her better than they have their other stars.
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