Last night, WWE NXT fans got to witness two unexpected returns in the latest live event delivered by the third brand in Lakeland, Florida. Arianna Grace has officially returned to action after spending months on the sidelines from the WWE. The current NXT star returned to the ring at the February 7th event which marked her first match since last July.
As learned from the fans and posts from social media, Arianna Grace issued an open challenge during this WWE NXT show, which was answered by Adriana Rizzo, setting up her return bout. The exact outcome of the match hasn’t been made public yet, but the self-proclaimed Diva’s re-entry to the ring following an extended absence was a sure-shot attraction for the show.
The second-generation WWE NXT Star, the daughter of Santino Marella, remained out of action since suffering an injury in a match against Karmen Petrovic that took place on July 9. She was later seen wearing a sling that further affirmed the legitimacy of the injury.
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#NXTLakeland @AriannaGraceWWE declares an open challenge. @AdrianaRizzoWWE answers the call! pic.twitter.com/vKMctu2rQu
— Jeff Reid (@JeffReidUP) February 8, 2025
#NXTLakeland A love story in four parts. pic.twitter.com/1xuyeBETfz
— Jeff Reid (@JeffReidUP) February 8, 2025
Arianna Grace plays liaison between WWE NXT – TNA programming
Interestingly, Grace wasn’t fully inactive in the professional wrestling world, making multiple appearances as the liaison between WWE NXT and TNA Wrestling over the past several months. She had frequently shown up on TNA iMPACT programming in recent times.
Most recently, Grace represented WWE NXT’s new partnership with TNA on the January 30 episode of TNA Impact and approached Tessa Blanchard to introduce herself. What started as a polite exchange, turned hostile as Blanchard made it clear that Grace was there after getting handed everything by her father,
“You’re this girl just playing dress-up, prancing around backstage, smiling. You’re nothing more than a girl that got everything handed to her by your father—not like me. I worked for everything that I have, so why don’t you take that little smile, turn around, and go do something useful?”
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Tessa Blanchard calls out Arianna Grace for having everything haded to her by her father! #TNA #TNAIMPACT pic.twitter.com/jBEzBNZSoW
— Ringside News: WWE & AEW Wrestling News (@ringsidenews_) January 31, 2025
Another returnee from the latest bygone WWE NXT live event was Thea Hail who featured in a one-on-one bout with Jacy Jayne who originally wanted a match with Stephanie Vaquer. Despite putting up efforts, Hail lost the match which marked her first in-ring appearance since losing to Roxanne Perez in an NXT Women’s Championship match at The Great American Bash in July 2024.
#NXTLakeland @jacyjaynewwe calls out @Steph_Vaquer, but instead, @avawwe_ gives her @theahail_wwe! pic.twitter.com/0dlodlK5Wi
— Jeff Reid (@JeffReidUP) February 8, 2025
