WWE Raw: 10 Things You Might Have Missed (Oct 16)

1. 20 Years Later

Roman Reigns Kane
WWE.com

Though the company missed some obvious call-backs in not having the returning 'Big Red Machine' pull off the door of the steel cage whilst Michael Cole responded to his fearsome music and red lights with a Vince McMahon-esque 'THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE' wail, it was hard not to draw comparisons to his emphatic debut 20 years earlier.

With his Knox County mayoral pursuit still ongoing, Kane's remarkable return represented a shock few could have predicted, even if he's presumably just been drafted in to take the deciding pinfall in Sunday's show-closer before returning to the campaign trail.

The man behind the mask contributed to the tribute, dropping Roman Reigns with a tombstone as brutal as the one he delivered to The Undertaker in the memorable climax of October 1997's first ever Hell In A Cell match. Though the company won't have time to flesh the idea out beyond Sunday's destruction derby, Kane's involvement even at this late stage made complete sense. Avenging sins in a way his brother seemingly couldn't, Kane's contribution to Roman's demise was a curious dovetailing of The Shield's return with Reigns' separate conflicts with 'The Deadman' and Braun Strowman.

Expect the 'Hounds Of Justice' to take revenge far more swiftly than Undertaker himself did following the 1997 equivalent.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett