RUMOR: What Led To Heath Slater’s WWE Return

He did what he said. Like any other wrestling company, WWE’s roster is going to change at a fairly rapid rate. At one point or another, someone is going to leave and be replaced by another wrestler. That may or may not be an upgrade, but what matters the most is seeing where things go and having a good time. This week, a recently departed wrestler made a cameo return and it was for a good reason.

During this week’s Monday Night Raw, Dolph Ziggler brought out Heath Slater, who had been released from the company back in April, to confront Drew McIntyre. After McIntyre defeated Slater in less than thirty seconds, the two of them hugged in what seemed to be Slater’s farewell to the show. It was a bit of a sad moment but at least Slater did get to have a sendoff. So how did he get it?

According to Tom Colohue of SportsKeeda.com, Slater’s return was due to McIntyre requesting the match since he became WWE Champion in April. While Slater was released less than two weeks after McIntyre won the title, he was still under his 90 day no compete clause, during which WWE would be allowed to use him in any way they chose too. Slater is not expected to return again.

Heath Slater appears on #WWERaw by Dolph Ziggler's side, wearing one of his Free Agent shirts.

The rumours were true.

As I mentioned on the SportsKeeda Facebook Live earlier today, this is a one time pay day for Heath before his non compete clause expires. #WWE

— Tom Colohue (@Colohue) July 7, 2020

For what it's worth, I've been told numerous times that Drew McIntyre did petition endlessly for matches with Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal.

That includes after Slater was released. I doubt this moment happens without Drew constantly requesting it.#WWE #WWERaw

— Tom Colohue (@Colohue) July 7, 2020

It was nice to see Slater back one more time. Check out his last night:

Opinion: I know it doesn’t mean anything long term but having Slater back for a quick farewell was a nice touch. He isn’t the biggest star in the world or anywhere close to it, but it was cool to see him get one more big payday before he goes off elsewhere. Slater was never going to be a top star or anything, so there was only so much that you were going to be able to expect from him after his release.

What did you think of Slater’s appearance? Where will he go from here? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!