Former WWE Champion Set For WWE Return After Nearly 2 Years Away From The Ring
Released WWE star Indi Hartwell is returning to NXT after nearly 22 months, entering a 20-woman Battle Royal for a title opportunity while preparing for her TNA Knockouts Championship match.
Indi Hartwell is heading back to WWE, with the NXT Women's Champion announced for the 20-woman Battle Royal on NXT. Hartwell, who was released in November 2024, will compete for a chance to challenge Kelani Jordan for the NXT Women's Championship at Halloween Havoc. She reacted to the announcement on X, saying she has unfinished business with the title she once held. “A chance to win back what I never lost before I become champ at Bound For Glory? FEELING: like I'll see you next Tuesday #WWENXT,” Hartwell wrote. The Australian star is set for TNA's Bound For Glory.
A chance to win back what I never lost before I become champ at Bound For Glory? ????
— Indi Wrestling (@indi_hartwell) September 30, 2026
FEELING: like I'll see you next Tuesday #WWENXT
Indi Hartwell gets a WWE return after almost 22 months
Hartwell's WWE comeback is scheduled for next Tuesday's NXT, where she will enter a 20-woman Battle Royal to decide the next challenger for Kelani Jordan's NXT Women's Championship.
The match winner will get a title opportunity at Halloween Havoc. And yeah, Hartwell already knows exactly what she wants from this return.
Her message on X was pretty clear. “A chance to win back what I never lost before I become champ at Bound For Glory?” she wrote, followed by, “FEELING: like I'll see you next Tuesday #WWENXT.”
Hartwell's previous NXT Women's Championship run ended in a pretty unusual way. She won the title at Stand & Deliver 2023, but an injury forced her to give it up after she was moved to the main roster.
She never lost the championship in a match. That is the part Hartwell is now pointing back to as she walks into NXT again.
A stacked Battle Royal awaits Hartwell on NXT
Hartwell won't have an easy path to the title opportunity, with 20 wrestlers announced for the Battle Royal. The field pulls names from WWE's RAW, SmackDown and NXT, plus talent from EVOLVE, AAA and TNA.
Arianna Grace, Layla Diggs, Xia Brookside, M by Elegance, Heather by Elegance, Ivy Nile, Kiana James, Adelicious and Lady Shani are among the announced participants.
The list also includes Lizzy Rain, Thea Hail, Skylar Raye, Zaria, Izzi Dame, Kali Armstrong, Reina Volcan, Nikkita Lyons, Chantel Monroe and La Catalina.
There's another title match waiting for Hartwell just a week later. She is scheduled to face Xia Brookside for the TNA Knockouts World Championship at Bound For Glory on October 11.
So Hartwell could be walking into a very busy stretch, with a WWE title opportunity and a TNA championship match sitting close together on the calendar.
For NXT, the Battle Royal will decide who gets Kelani Jordan at Halloween Havoc. Hartwell now has her return locked in, and she has already made her feelings about that old championship pretty obvious.