New details have emerged regarding Jamie Hayter’s return, indicating that her current program with Thekla is the culmination of a long-term AEW creative plan. Reports confirm the company always intended for the two to enter a feud upon Hayter’s return from injury.
Thekla’s AEW debut was reportedly pushed up specifically to facilitate the storyline that wrote Hayter off television. Backstage, Hayter earned praise for her professionalism in working through a “smoke and mirrors” injury angle for Thekla’s debut, despite not being medically cleared for contact at the time.
Content continues after the ad
That plan was set in motion at Forbidden Door during the Zero Hour pre-show. After Thekla, Julia Hart, and Skye Blue of The Triangle of Madness began a post-match assault on Queen Aminata, Hayter made her surprise return to even the odds, immediately targeting Thekla and forcing the trio to retreat.
This comeback ended a three-month hiatus for Hayter, which began after she was attacked by the debuting Thekla on the June 26 episode of Dynamite. The angle was created to cover for a legitimate injury Hayter sustained during her Owen Hart Cup Tournament final match against Mercedes Moné at Double or Nothing in May.
This recent layoff was Hayter’s second significant absence in recent years. She previously lost the AEW Women’s Championship at Double or Nothing 2023 due to a major back injury that kept her out of action for nearly a year.
READ MORE: Former AEW Champion Returns After Three-Month Absence
