WWE Rumors: Former Women’s Champion Unretires, Is WWE Return Possible?
It may have been at a smaller independent show, but a comeback is a comeback, and former WWE Women’s Champion Lita is back in the ring, more than a decade after she retired from active competition. But does that mean we’ll be seeing Lita make a WWE return, as rumors had suggested quite recently?
In December of last year, WWE fans were surprised to learn that Amy Dumas, best-known in the wrestling business as Lita, was released from the company. A report from the Huffington Post noted that Lita and Jerry “The King” Lawler, both WWE Hall of Famers, were moved from full-time deals to Legends contracts, and replaced in their erstwhile duties as members of the pre-show commentary team. However, the report cited former WWE announcer and fellow Hall of Famer Jim Ross, who had tweeted that Lita was “no longer with the company.”
This had seemingly marked the end of a long and fruitful relationship between Lita and WWE, which, apart from her announcing duties, most recently included a stint as a trainer on the sixth season of Tough Enough, and backstage work as a producer and creative team writer. In six years competing for WWE, Lita had won four Women’s Championships and, together with fellow women’s wrestling legend Trish Stratus, had one of the more memorable rivalries of WWE’s “Ruthless Aggression” era. She announced her in-ring retirement in 2006, and until now, hadn’t wrestled, save for a match against male wrestler Heath Slater in 2012 where she didn’t take any bumps.
Now it appears as if Lita is back in the ring, more than 10 years removed from her last full WWE match. According to Four3Four, the 41-year-old ex-WWE wrestler took part in a mixed tag team match for Maryland-based independent promotion MCW Pro Wrestling on Friday night, despite only being advertised for a signing appearance. But what was quite surprising, said Four3Four, was how Lita had played such a key role in the match, making for an “exciting surprise” for the audience.
“When the match started it was believed that Lita wouldn’t play a big role. But, that was entirely wrong. She really did wrestle and take some bumps. Leading her team to victory and hitting some pretty awesome signature moves. Including a Snap DDT and some massive forearms.”
#MCWMatMadness is TONIGHT! Meet #WWE HOF'er @AmyDumas fka #Lita @RealKrugar & MORE!https://t.co/ldeuDovVkY#FridayFeeling #Sports #Friday pic.twitter.com/ZRweJvmTeZ
— MCW Pro Wrestling (@MCWWrestling) March 3, 2017
Four3Four also talked about the possibility of Lita making a WWE return, where she’d theoretically be up against the likes of Bayley, Charlotte Flair, and Sasha Banks on Monday Night RAW, or Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss on Smackdown Live. Ringside News discussed this possibility last month, citing the Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s Dave Meltzer, who said that WWE has been calling several women who had previously worked for the company, in hopes of having them onboard for WrestleMania 33.
Meltzer did not name any names, but the Inquisitr previously reported in February that Kelly Kelly will be at WrestleMania this year, and is open to the possibility of a “mini-run” as an active wrestler. SportsKeeda also speculated earlier that month that Trish Stratus, Jazz, and Lita are likely candidates for a WWE return at WrestleMania 33, but stressed that Meltzer did not specify anyone in particular in his report.
The possibility of the aforementioned Kelly Kelly returning to wrestle for WWE may be more plausible, as she just turned 30-years-old and had only been away for a little more than four years; Lita, as mentioned, is 41, and prior to last night’s indie match, hadn’t wrestled competitively for over ten years. But as we’ve seen with Bill Goldberg, it is possible to come back to WWE as an active wrestler after over a decade’s absence, even for a few pay-per-view matches. We don’t know if this could point to Lita’s WWE return in the ring, but if it does, it won’t be unprecedented.
[Featured Image by WWE]
