7 WWE Raw Returns That Happened Last Night
Guess Who's Back, Back Again
If an underlying theme of last night's Monday Night Raw was to celebrate its past with the 25th anniversary of the flagship on the horizon, the show did a grand job of exhibiting the last quarter-century's best and worst habits.
Amidst some great wrestling, legitimate stars and tremendous twists, there were elements of equal absurdity and preposterous pomp.
An 'All Hallows Eve Trick Or Street Fight' was more cartoonish than Doink's worst exploits in the show's earliest incarnation, the episode's farcical conclusion boasted all of the Attitude Era's reckless bombast, and a ramp gathering of the roster to witness McMahon machinations was ripped right out of the lazy hazy days of WWE's mid-2000s autopilot period.
Elsewhere, the company repeatedly employed a particular strategy throughout the night in an effort to deliver several surprise pops AND ensure European fans of the rank-and-file they could expect on the upcoming tour on a roster still gripped with the not-so-mysterious viral infection.
There were new old faces (and heels) all over the shop. Absence almost always makes the heart grow fonder in wrestling, and the responses given to every resurfacing superstar bore that out during an at-times-pitiful edition of the show.
'Don't Call It A Comeback' yelled LL Cool J, bursting back into the public eye with 1995's seminal 'Mama Said Knock You Out'. WWE were only too happy to have their own returnees come out swinging.
7. Stephanie McMahon
Back once again with the ill behaviour, it's Stephanie McMahon doing what Stephanie McMahon does, reminding every single person even remotely invested in WWE exactly who runs the show.
Parting the talent with her mere presence as she often used to do before running them all down as if she were their domineering mother, the 'Billion Dollar Princess' tore into former love interest Kurt Angle because what is a Raw General Manager if they're not living in abject fear and dread of their boss showing up to deliver a critical evaluation?
Ignoring the infuriating phoned-in trope of an angry McMahon running the rule, Stephanie used up any good will she may have gained from her lengthy absence within seconds of her arrival. Screeching her way through an insincere welcome to the live crowd, she stopped to put over just a single performer in her review of recent events - Shane McMahon.
On a recent Bruce Prichard podcast, there were allusions made to Stephanie following in her mother's footsteps and spunking millions on a potential run for congress. More power to her. America may continue to navigate through a chaotic political climate, but if it keeps her away from Monday Night Raw, what damage can one more television heel in the corridors of power really do?