Teddy Long hopes to see 41-year-old star come out of retirement for WWE return and follow Nikki Bella's footsteps (Exclusive)

Teddy Long briefly crossed paths with a 41-year-old star who has effectively been retired for eight years now. However, he hopes to see her follow Nikki Bella's footsteps by returning to WWE.

On the latest episode of The Wrestling Time Machine, host Mac Davis asked Bill Apter and WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long about Summer Rae, the 41-year-old superstar who hasn't been with the company for nearly a decade. She last competed in the 2022 Royal Rumble, only to be eliminated in under a minute. She recently stated in an interview with talkSPORT that she looks back on her time with the company fondly and that she always has the itch to return.

Teddy Long said that he hopes to see Summer Rae following Nikki Bella's footsteps and return to WWE:

"I worked with her [Summer Rae] for a while. She was always a sweetheart, always nice to me, always respectful. I saw her in the independents, too. She's a really nice lady, and I hope they [WWE] do something with her and some good things happen to her."

You can watch the full video below:

Teddy Long endorsed CM Punk as he gets ready to compete for the vacant World Heavyweight Title

CM Punk got a brief taste of World Championship gold at SummerSlam 2025, only to have it taken away in a few minutes by Seth Rollins. With no threat of a Money in the Bank cash-in, he gets another shot at the gold against Jey Uso at Saturday Night's Main Event in a few days.

Earlier on the same episode of The Wrestling Time Machine, Teddy Long praised CM Punk and believes he deserves to be a World Champion again.

"Yeah, I really do. Yeah. Cause I mean, he's been back there for a long time now. He certainly proved himself to be a team player, you know, had no problems or nothing since he's been back. So I think it's certainly his time. It ain't about attitude no more. CM Punk has gotten older, and he understands it's about the dollar, dollar, dollar." Long said.

All eyes are going to be on Salt Lake City this Saturday. CM Punk is undoubtedly the favorite to win the World Title, but something has been brewing underneath the surface with his opponent, Jey Uso. Jey has acted differently, much to the disapproval of his brother, Jimmy Uso.

Some speculate that Jey might take the dirty route to get back to the role of the top dog, the place he was just four months ago, before Gunther regained the title from him on RAW.

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