Ember Moon's return to NXT at TakeOver 31 was a surprise to many, but it was an idea that had been talked about for quite some time.
Moon has not wrestled in more than a year due to injury, but appeared at TakeOver after Io Shirai successfully retained her NXT Women's Championship against Candice LeRae. Speaking on the post-TakeOver media conference call, Triple H spoke on Moon's return and her excitement over getting to wrestle again.
"Just when you think the women's division in NXT can't get any stronger, the depths of it is incredible. Out comes Toni Storm, back in NXT. Out comes Ember Moon, coming back from what could have been a career-threatening injury, but is back and ready to go and back here in NXT. It was hard not for her to be smiling, so excited to be here, so excited to be back and ready to do the thing that she loves to do. I asked her who she was looking forward to working with the most and she gave me about a 12-person list. It just speaks to the division and how strong it is and why people want to be a part of it because the competition is the best and it makes everyone rise to a higher occasion," Triple H said.
Triple H would then talk about the timing of her return and said there were talks of her coming back to the black and gold brand for some time, even before the injury.
"As far as the timing of her return, the timing was based on when she was available to return. We had been talking about her coming back here for a while, probably since she was injured, maybe even before that. The timing was just here. She just got cleared. She's healthy. The door was open for her," Triple H said.
Moon wrestled in NXT from 2015 to 2018 and once held the NXT Women's Championship, dropping it to Shayna Baszler at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.
Keep up with everything happening on NXT TakeOver 31 with Fightful's ongoing coverage. Also, check out the post-show podcast for a full recap of all the action. You can listen to the full media call at this link.