WWE Raw: 10 Things You Might Have Missed (May 16)
9. Old Feuds And Partnerships
The first match on Raw pitted Sami Zayn against Cesaro, building some heat for the four-way Intercontinental Title match at Extreme Rules. Sure enough, their other two opponents - Kevin Owens and The Miz - were ringside to do commentary. Before long, The Miz and Owens got into a brawl, fought their way into the ring, and forced the match to be thrown out. Shane and Stephanie McMahon intervened, turning the bout into a tag match that would pit Miz and Cesaro against Zayn and Owens.
Though Zayn and Cesaro are both babyfaces now, their match was actually a revisiting of one of the best feuds in NXT history. In 2013 - before the birth of the WWE Network and before fans worldwide had access to NXT's weekly show - newcomer Zayn scored an upset over Cesaro. That infuriated the Swiss Superman, who handed Zayn his first defeat in a subsequent rematch. They had a two-out-of-three falls rubber match, which Cesaro won, then one final bout at NXT Arrival. Again, Cesaro was victorious.
Zayn tagging with Owens was also nothing new. Byron Saxton mentioned it briefly, but Zayn and Owens weren't just friends, they were tag team partners. As El Generico and Kevin Steen, the pair held the PWG World Tag Team Titles twice and the ROH World Tag Team Titles once.