Nikki Bella Returns at WWE SummerSlam 2016 for Women's Tag Team Match

Nikki Bella returned to WWE at SummerSlam on Sunday night in Brooklyn, New York, after recovering from neck surgery.

Nikki was the replacement for a suspended Eva Marie, teaming with Natalya and Alexa Bliss in a six-woman tag team match. SummerSlam's official Twitter account shared a photo of the former Divas champion walking down the entrance ramp:

Her sister Brie Bella tweeted how happy she was to see Nikki back in WWE:

After SummerSlam was over, Nikki would send out a tweet of her own: 

Nikki hadn't wrestled since the Oct. 26 edition of Raw, the night after she failed to reclaim the Divas Championship from Charlotte at Hell in a Cell.

She underwent a procedure to repair her neck and spine in January. In an interview with E! News' Jess Cohen, she revealed how serious the issue was:

"

I have basically a broken neck, a pretty bad herniated disk. What makes mine a little bit difficult than most people is that I have some disk behind my vertebrae so with a lot of prayers we're gonna pray that the doctors can get the piece behind my vertebrae with just a bone fusion.

"

Nikki added that the injury had the potential to be career-threatening and that if she ever did return to the ring, the Rack Attack would be permanently shelved:

"

For now the Rack Attack will be officially retired. I've been told by doctors to never do that again so we do feel that because my injury is in such a unique place in my spine we do feel that it could've come the Rack Attack so the girls in the future better watch out for my killer forearm because I might not be hitting them with the 'Rack Attack' but I'll definitely be hitting them with that forearm.

"

Nikki used a TKO on Carmella to get the win Sunday, so that could be her main finishing move going forward.

Especially with Eva Marie out for a few more weeks as a result of her suspension, Nikki couldn't be coming back at a better time. Turning Raw and SmackDown into separate shows has thinned out the roster.

Assuming she is a member of the SmackDown roster, the show needs a truly established heel to fill out the women's division. Natalya and Becky Lynch feuded before the brand extension, and Alexa Bliss hasn't yet established herself outside of NXT to the point where she can challenge for a women's title on SmackDown.

Having Becky chase Nikki for a SmackDown women's championship would be a good way for the Irish Lass Kicker to have her first major storyline independent of fellow Four Horsewomen Charlotte and Sasha Banks.