WWE teases return of Pete Dunne

The long-rumored return of Pete Dunne looks to finally be imminent.

On Friday night’s episode of SmackDown, WWE teased that Butch will be changing his name back to Pete Dunne. A video aired on the show with Butch and Tyler Bate meeting after their recent reunion. Bate said he knows Butch is lost and trying to find his identity. Bate said he can help with that.

Bate said Butch wants to make a name for himself — and he needs to look inward and ask himself what that name is going to be:

Now you want to make a name for yourself. Remember who told you that back in Blackpool? You need to look inward and ask yourself, ‘Who was that guy?’ You need to look inward and ask yourself, ‘What is that name going to be?’ Well?

Former British Strong Style stablemates Butch and Bate reunited on the January 5 episode of SmackDown. Bate made his WWE main roster debut as Butch’s mystery partner for a tag match against Pretty Deadly. Butch & Bate defeated Pretty Deadly in the match. 

In the video that aired last night, Butch claimed that his reunion with Bate was a one-time thing. Butch suggested that he and Bate focus on themselves going forward instead of teaming together. Bate responded by telling Butch that this is their chance to finally show the world what British Strong Style is all about.

Dunne was given the name Butch when he joined the main roster as a member of The Brawling Brutes in 2022. Butch said last night that The Brawling Brutes are in the past.

After his debut last week, it was confirmed that Bate has officially been called up to the SmackDown roster.