Nia Jax, Chelsea Green return at WWE Royal Rumble

Nia Jax and Chelsea Green returned to WWE at Saturday’s Royal  Rumble event. 

Jax and Green were both surprise entrants in the women’s Royal Rumble match at the show. Jax was released by WWE in October 2021, while Green was released from the company in April 2021.

WWE has not officially announced that either has signed, but the company has produced new merchandise for Jax, and Green has been expected to be WWE-bound for some time, with reports first surfacing in October that she was expected to return to the company. 

After quickly being eliminated from the Rumble, Green debuted a new character in a promo on WWE’s social media channels: 

Jax entered the women’s Rumble as the 30th entrant, while Green entered 20th. Green was eliminated from the contest by eventual winner Rhea Ripley, while a group of competitors teamed up to eliminate Jax. 

Other surprise entrants in the women’s Rumble included Natalya and Asuka returning from hiatus. Asuka last wrestled on the December 12, 2022 Raw, while Natalya had been out of action after undergoing nasal surgery in November 2022. 

Piper Niven also returned to action in the women’s Rumble, dropping the “Doudrop” gimmick and returning to her NXT ring name. She had been out of the ring since September following a health scare. Niven entered 18th, and was eliminated 25th by Raquel Rodriguez.

Michelle McCool was another surprise in the women’s Rumble, entering 25th. She was also eliminated by Ripley.

Beth Phoenix made an appearance on the show in an angle during the men’s Rumble match, attacking Ripley with a spear after The Judgment Day conspired to eliminate the returning Edge from the contest. Edge returned to the ring in the men’s Rumble, his first bout since dropping an I Quit match to Finn Balor at Extreme Rules in October 2022.

Logan Paul also returned to the company in the men’s Rumble, his first match since Crown Jewel in November 2022. Paul entered the Rumble at number 29, and was the next-to-last elimination, thrown out by eventual winner Cody Rhodes.

Booker T was the only unexpected entrant in the men’s Rumble match, appearing in his first WWE bout in more than a decade. Booker was the 14th entrant in the men’s Rumble, and was eliminated by Gunther.