Lita made her first appearance in nearly 20 years on WWE SmackDown on Friday night.
Michael Cole interviewed Lita in the ring and and talked about her being a trailblazer who broke through glass ceilings during her career. The fans chanted her name as Lita declared that she was “home.”
They brought up many of the female stars on the roster today who idolized Lita, and Cole asked her why she decided to come back for the Royal Rumble. Lita said that she did a lot during her career, was one of the first women to main event a Raw, wrestled in a cage and TLC match, but there was no women’s Rumble when she was wrestling full time (she did work the match in 2018). Lita said she’s back because she thinks she has one more run in her and wants to win the Rumble and go on to WrestleMania.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair then made her entrance and came out to confront Lita. She took the microphone from Cole and said she’d do the interview. Charlotte declared she’d win the Rumble and choose her WrestleMania opponent. Lita came back by calling Charlotte “Tonya Harding” and asked her how she doesn’t fall down from her giant head, inciting chant from the crowd.
Charlotte talked about Trish Stratus, Lita’s best friend Charlotte said she retired Trish in 2019 and will do the same to Lita. Lita went to slap Trish, but stopped as Charlotte cowered away. Lita then hit a Twist of Fate on Charlotte to end the segment.
Earlier story prior to SmackDown.
A WWE Hall of Famer will make her return to SmackDown tonight as Lita has been announced for this evening’s show on FOX.
This will be the first time that Lita has appeared on SmackDown in nearly 20 years. Her last actual match on SmackDown occurred on March 19th, 2002, a tag team victory alongside Trish Stratus against Jazz and Ivory.
Lita’s last match was in October 2018. That was a 10-woman tag team match on WWE Monday Night Raw that saw Lita, Trish Stratus, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Natalya defeat The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan), Alicia Foxx and Mickie James.
Lita was recently announced as a participant in this year’s 30-woman WWE Royal Rumble match which will take place two weeks from this Saturday in St. Louis, Missouri.
Lita’s appearance on SmackDown tonight will tie-in to her return at the Royal Rumble as part of building up to that match.
Per WWE.com:
Last week, it was announced that WWE Hall of Famer Lita would be among the honored participants competing in the Women’s Royal Rumble Match for the opportunity to headline WrestleMania.
WWE.com
Now, for the first time in nearly 20 years, the groundbreaking four-time Women’s Champion is set to return to the blue brand. Don’t miss SmackDown tonight at 8/7 C on FOX.
Other Announcements for Tonight’s WWE SmackDown
In addition to Lita’s return to SmackDown tonight, the following segments have also been announced for the FOX broadcast:
- A face-to-face between WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins
- Aliyah will make her SmackDown singles debut in a match against Natalya.
- Sami Zayn will debuts his new InZayn stunt show. He is trying to “out-Jackass” Johnny Knoxville
SEScoops will have full coverage of tonight’s SmackDown on FOX. Make sure to check back with us tonight for full results and analysis.
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