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WWE Raw review: Shawn Michaels confirms he is coming out of retirement at WWE's Crown Jewel to partn

RAW has followed Super Show-Down with an eventual night of surprises and dramatic twists.

But what will it all mean for WWE’s next big shows, Crown Jewel and Evolution? Here are seven things we learned:

Shawn Michaels is coming out of retirement

It was no surprise that Triple H v Undertaker at Super Show-Down was a sluggish bout full of outside interference and blown spots from the less-than-nimble Taker.

The real shock was that Triple H actually beat The Deadman by pinfall – which led to Kane and Taker jumping Trips and Shawn Michaels post-match.

Now WWE has dropped another shocker – Shawn Michaels will come out retirement to reform DX with Triple H and face the Brothers of Destruction at Crown Jewel.

The announcement came in a typical promo about “respect” (or lack thereof) as Michaels claimed he had kept his word about retiring out of respect for Taker. Until now.

(Presumably that was respect was chokeslammed out of him at Super Show-Down – or quickly forgotten as WWE waved a fat cheque under Michaels’ nose.)

The promo ended with Triple H and HBK asking Kane and Undertaker “Are you ready?” before revealing some niftily designed new DX t-shirts.

Of all the dream matches HBK could have – against AJ Styles or Daniel Bryan, for instance – is this decades-old rivalry really the thing we want him to come out of retirement for?

The Bellas weren’t Ronda Rousey’s pals after all

In a rematch from Super Show-Down, Ronda teamed with Nikki and Brie Bella to take on the Riott Squad.

Ronda scored the win when she trapped Ruby Riott in the arm bar. But the big moment came after match, when the Bellas attacked Ronda.

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Ronda looked surprised (she was the only one – everybody else has known this was coming for weeks) as Nikki and Brie assaulted her with feeble looking kicks.

It got a bit more serious at the ringside area, where the Bellas threw Ronda into the ring steps and barricade.

WWE has announced that Rousey will now defend her title against Nikki Bella at Evolution.

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Dean Ambrose has walked out on The Shield

There was yet another Super Show-Down rematch when The Shield took on Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre.

The storyline over the past few weeks has been dissention in The Shield. But there was squabbling within the Dogs of War last night too.

Drew berated Dolph backstage for getting pinned at Super Show-Down and Drew had a tense stare-down with Braun after “The Monster” grabbed Dolph by the throat.

But the trio still managed to win when Drew landed the Claymore Kick on Dean Ambrose.

After the match, Ambrose walked away from the ring without even looking back at his Shield brothers, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

Is Ambrose finally done with The Shield? Will he join the Dogs of War? Or will The Shield be best buddies again next week?

Kurt Angle is going to the World Cup

Acting GM Baron Corbin set up a battle royal qualifier for the World Cup – an eight-man tournament that will take place at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.

Corbin filled the battle royal with jobbers representing different countries – including the Belgian Waffler and Chilean Sea Bass – and entered himself for an easy win.

But in took an unexpected turn when El Conquistador (a play on the Conquistadors tag team from the late 80s) started hammering Corbin with German suplexes.

After tossing Corbin out of the ring, El Conquistador pulled off his mask to reveal he was in fact… Kurt Angle.

Fellow US citizen John Cena has also been announced for the World Cup. So far it sounds about as international as American baseball’s World Series.

Alexa Bliss on her historic dream match with Trish Stratus at WWE Evolution

Trish Stratus and Lita will team up at Evolution

Hall of Famer Trish responded to last week’s “Moment of Bliss”, in which Alexa Bliss slated Trish for not signing an autograph years ago.

Alexa and Mickie James came out to face down Trish and suggested they team up at Evolution instead of Alexa facing Trish one-on-one.

Trish was happy with that and brought out Lita for a weak brawl – but Alexa and Mickie scarpered before Lita could hit the moonsault.

It’s no surprise that old timers Trish and Lita saw off the heels so easily. There’s never been any question about “legends” taking priority over active talents in WWE.

But why have the two previously announced singles matches at Evolution – Trish v Alexa and Mickie James v Lita – now been changed to a tag match?

WWE star Trish Stratus talks about her return to the ring

Lio Rush has changed Bobby Lashley – for the better

Lashley faced off against Kevin Owens in singles competition, with hype man Lio Rush trash talking on the mic during the match.

Rush’s motor-mouth distracted KO long enough for Lashley to hit the Dominator for the win. But Rush also talked Lashley into attacking Owens post-match, which he did by smashing KO’s injured knee against the ring post repeatedly.

Has Bobby Lashley just turned heel? And has he turned Kevin Owens babyface in the process?

Either way, Lio Rush has given Bobby Lashley’s character a much-needed edge.

Booby Roode and Chad Gable’s glorious moment was painful

Roode and Gable put their rubbish feud with The Ascension to rest when Gable pinned Viktor with a German suplex.

The celebrations were short lived though, as the AOP charged out to demolish both teams afterwards.

It’s all a bit backwards – isn’t this the push WWE should have given AOP when they first came up to the main roster from NXT?

Expect the AOP to feud with the going-nowhere-fast team of Roode and Gable in the coming weeks.

Norwich legend Grant Holt wins 40-man Royal Rumble on wrestling debut

Want to watch WWE’s historic Evolution pay-per-view?

Click here for all the information on how to attend the event.

And check out the best deals WOW Air are offering to fly out to NYC for the showcase.

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Lorie Orum

Update: 2024-05-21