As was reported prior to the broadcast, the October 28 Friday Night SmackDown did indeed feature the WWE return of Emma. The Aussie answered Ronda Rousey’s open challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, ultimately coming up short against ‘The Baddest Woman on the Planet’.
It appears this wasn’t a one-off appearance. Per Dave Meltzer in a Wrestling Observer Newsletter daily update, WWE has officially re-signed Emma for the SmackDown roster. There are currently no details on how long her new contract will last.
Emma Was Gone From WWE For Five Years
Before she reemerged in the sports entertainment giant, Emma had been absent from WWE for almost five years to the day. She was released alongside Darren Young and Summer Rae on October 29, 2017.
First signing with the company in March 2011, the real-life Tenille Dashwood debuted in August 2012, adopting the in-ring moniker of Emma. This name stayed with her throughout her entire run, which included a handful of acclaimed matches in NXT where, against Paige, she’s credited with having played a pivotal role in the evolution of women’s wrestling.
William Regal, speaking on his Gentleman Villain podcast, agreed that they kickstarted the revolution before The Four Horsewomen came along:
“Paige came into the ring as the WWE Divas Champion at the time. And, you know, I’m going to, so we don’t have to go into this again, I’m gonna have to give Paige and Emma the highest compliment I can give them is that they were the two people before The Four Horsewomen and everybody else they, Paige and Emma were the people, the two ladies that set all that in motion as far as being where everything went from then onwards.”
Upon being released, Emma – wrestling as Tenille Dashwood – appeared for a number of independent promotions to significant praise. Before heading back to WWE, Dashwood was signed to IMPACT Wrestling, where she enjoyed a run as Knockouts World Tag Team Champion alongside Madison Rayne in The Influence.
If you use any quotes from this transcription, please credit Gentleman Villain and link back to this article with a H/T to Inside The Ropes.