Bayley & Dakota Kai Return At WWE SummerSlam, Form Faction With Io Shirai

In a major development following Bianca Belair's win over Becky Lynch in the opening contest of SummerSlam, Bayley and Dakota Kai shockingly returned to WWE before NXT's Io Shirai joined them as a new faction formed at the July 30 pay-per-view.

Bayley's return was big enough, with The Role Model making her down the entranceway as a surprised Belair watched on. After Bayley asked if the Raw Women's Champion remembered her, though, entrances from Dakota Kai and Io Shirai followed and all three women advanced to the squared circle together.

After they entered the ring, however, Becky Lynch stood alongside Belair which prompted the heels to retreat.

Bayley had been away from WWE for the past year since she suffered a torn ACL while training at the WWE Performance Center in July of 2021. Bayley had been locked in a feud with then-SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair at the time of her injury.

Dakota Kai, meanwhile, had been a free agent following her WWE release in April of 2022 but this appears to be the first big signing since Triple H was installed as Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and head of creative.

Io Shirai had been out of action since NXT Stand & Deliver over WrestleMania 38 weekend and she actually appeared to be on her way out of WWE but that is seemingly no longer the case.