Hideo Itami returned to the ring at Saturday's NXT live event in Orlando.
Itami, who had been out of action since injuring his neck in October, delivered a Go To Sleep to Riddick Moss after a match between Moss' partner, Tino Sabbatelli, and Buddy Murphy.
WWE posted video of Itami's return from the NXT Instagram account, using the hashtag #Payback. Itami's injury in October occurred from taking a powerslam from Moss, that saw Itami land on his head.
Itami sent out a tweet following his return:
One of the top stars in Japan's Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion when he signed with WWE, Itami was one of the prominent figures on NXT when he made his debut on television in 2014, teaming with Finn Balor and going more than four months on TV without losing a match. However, the 36-year-old Itami has been ravaged by injuries for the past two years. He spent more than a year on the shelf after a shoulder injury that he sustained in May of 2015. He made his in-ring return last June, then came back to television at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II last August. Just a few weeks later, however, Itami was injured in the house show match in October. He had been cleared for a few weeks before his appearance in Orlando.
Itami was not involved in the latest round of TV tapings for NXT, so an on-screen return likely will take a while to happen.
Check back at Fightful.com Tuesday for a full report on all the WWE and NXT house show results from this weekend.
