Injured WWE Superstar Makes Surprise ‘SmackDown’ Return

Yes boy! One of WWE’s most promising young Superstars returned to SmackDown during the Friday night show’s live broadcast. The return went down as WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions The Judgement Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest) took on The Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland and Butch). As the two groups battled it out in the ring at TD Garden in Boston, the SmackDown cameras cut to show tag team Pretty Deadly watching the match on a backstage monitor. Pretty Deadly has been off WWE TV since July, shortly after Elton Prince reportedly separated his shoulder.

Prince was shown in a wheelchair with his arm still in a sling. However, it’s hard to imagine WWE featuring the duo back on TV if a proper return wasn’t imminent. Both Prince and his tag team partner Kit Wilson went on to participate in a tense interview with Cathy Kelley, who asked the duo about Prince’s injury and if they were worried about encountering The Brawling Brutes. (Prince was injured in a SmackDown match against the Brawling Brutes’ Sheamus and Holland on July 14. The two groups had another encounter outside of the ring a week later.)

“Do you feel big bringing to everyone’s attention that I’m not 100%?” a flustered Prince told Kelley. “Does that make you feel good? Does it?”

Wilson added, “This man’s injury — undisclosed. You don’t ask about that. But, you know what? You might as well call this man Ellie the Elephant. Because, he doesn’t forget what Ridge Holland, what Butch did to us.”

Wilson followed up the SmackDown appearance with an Instagram post confirming that Pretty Deadly is nearing a return. He wrote, “Nearly time to tag back in!”

Prince dramatically played up the injury in character in a July WWE segment. “Let me make this absolutely clear to everybody. This is the kind of injury that puts the average person out for years. I’d say I’d say career-ender,” he said on The SmackDown LowDown, per POST Wrestling. “This is a career-ending injury. But not for me. Oh, no, no. I might just take a couple of weeks off. And then I’ll probably be back to, you know, I’ll be spiffing again, boy.”

How to Watch ‘WWE SmackDown’

WWE SmackDown airs live each Friday night on Fox, which is viewable via cable providers or live stream services such as Fubo TV. (Click here for a free trial.) Episodes are available to watch the next day via Hulu and 30 days later via Peacock. Highlights from each episode are uploaded to YouTube in the hours following the live broadcast.