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Mickie James returns to WWE TV on SmackDown

Posted: Jan 18th 2017 By: Joseph Currier

Though the SmackDown Women's Championship steel cage match between Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss was made under the guise of keeping La Luchadora from interfering, the angle only led to the reveal of the woman behind the mask on tonight's show.

In what was hardly a surprise given weeks of speculation and Dave Meltzer's report that Mickie James was backstage at SmackDown in Memphis, James was revealed to be La Luchadora at the conclusion of the show. She was unmasked by Lynch after her interference helped Bliss retain the Women's title.

Tonight was the first time that James played La Luchadora on TV despite ultimately being revealed as the character. James signed a contract last year to return to WWE as a member of the SmackDown roster after being away from the company since 2010.

Before returning on a regular basis, James challenged Asuka for the NXT Women's Championship at TakeOver: Toronto over Survivor Series weekend in November 2016.

It was also announced on tonight's SmackDown that Randy Orton would face Luke Harper in a singles match next week after Orton's match against Dean Ambrose led to more dysfunction among the Wyatt Family in their ongoing storyline.