Madison Rayne is returning to IMPACT Wrestling.
After PWInsider reported that Rayne was given her contractual release from Ring of Honor, IMPACT announced Friday that the former Knockouts Champion is returning to the promotion.
BREAKING: 5 time Knockouts Champion @MadisonRayne is returning to IMPACT Wrestling! pic.twitter.com/4eHff9cVL8
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) March 1, 2019
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Rayne was unhappy with her creative direction in ROH and the two sides agreed to part ways. Johnson was told that it was an amicable split and she’s free to wrestle anywhere.
Rayne pitched a number of ideas for herself to ROH officials, including a reunion of “The Beautiful People” with Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. After her ideas got shot down, she requested her release. ROH came back to Rayne with another idea that would see “The Beautiful People” reunite, but result in Angelina and Velvet turning on Rayne. Rayne would then feud with Angelina and Velvet, and they would add at least one new member to the group in Mandy Leon. Rayne rejected the idea and asked for her release again, which was amicably granted.
It should be noted, however, that Velvet responded to the report on Twitter by calling it untrue. Velvet also said that she and Angelina were in talks with ROH before Rayne joined the promotion. Both the tweet and report have since been deleted.
F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer said that ROH management asked Rayne for possible creative directions for her character before she was granted her release.
Rayne last appeared for IMPACT in July as she unsuccessfully challenged Su Yung for the Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary pay-per-view. In a post-match angle, she was put in a coffin to write her character off storylines.
Two weeks after her last match with IMPACT, Rayne competed in WWE’s Mae Young Classic. She went under the name Ashley Rayne and lost to Mercedes Martinez in the first round.
Rayne failed to capture the Women of Honor World Championship during her brief stint with ROH. She last appeared for the promotion on February 9, beating Thunder Rosa at a television taping. Rayne beat Sumie Sakai and Jenny Rose in a triple threat match that aired on the latest episode of ROH’s weekly TV show.
