Nikki Bella Injury: Updates on WWE Star's Recovery from Neck Surgery

After 10 months on the shelf due to a neck injury, former WWE Divas champion Nikki Bella has returned to action in a WWE ring.

Continue for updates.

---

Nikki Returns at SummerSlam 

Sunday, Aug. 21

Nikki Bella replaced a suspended Eva Marie to team up with Natalya and Alexa Bliss to defeat Becky Lynch, Carmella and Naomi in a tag team match at SummerSlam. 

Nikki applied the TKO to Carmella in order to secure the win, and the WWE SummerSlam Twitter account shared a picture of her celebration: 

---

Report: Nikki Cleared to Return to Ring

Thursday, Aug. 18

According to Ryan Satin of ProWrestlingSheet.com, Nikki has been cleared to return to in-ring action by doctors, which is the latest step in her comeback after resuming training last month.

Satin previously reported in March that Bella was likely to wrestle a part-time schedule upon returning rather than taking on the full rigors of the WWE grind.

---

Nikki Likely to Become Part of SmackDown's Stable

Since Nikki was not selected as part of the brand split, she is technically a free agent, meaning she could be signed to either Raw or SmackDown.

While it is unclear which brand she will join, SmackDown seems like a safe bet since she competed in a match full of women on the blue brand, and it is also where her boyfriend, John Cena, resides.

Raw's women's division is already in good hands with Sasha Banks and Charlotte, while SmackDown could use some help alongside Becky Lynch.

There is currently no women's title on SmackDown, but with plans seemingly in place to introduce a championship in the near future, putting the longest-reigning Divas champion of all time in contention for the title would be a compelling storyline that could give the SmackDown women's division the boost it needs.

For more wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics or catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.