WWE Raw results: Nature Boy stirs the pot ahead of colossal clash at Extreme Rules between Evolution and The Shield

Ric Flair returns, while Kane continues to re-awaken the Monster within to torment Bryan ahead of Extreme Rules

Seth Rollins of The Shield hits Triple H with a knee to the head (Getty Images)

After suffering at the hands of the deranged Wyatt Family last week on Raw, John Cena addressed the WWE Universe inside a steel cage to kick the show off.

Solemn upon his approach to the ring, Cena questioned why he was given the challenge of facing all three of the Wyatt Family, after last week’s WWE App vote decided his fate for the main event.

He spoke of all things WWE, eventually moving on to discussing Bray Wyatt. Inevitably interrupted, Cena listened on as an eerie rendition of “He’s got whole world in his hands” was performed by a choir of children on stage. The choir then surrounded the cage, all with lamb masks, while Bray Wyatt rocked in his chair with a child on his lap, while he laughed maniacally.

It was a truly disturbing sight, and almost resembled a scene from a horror thriller rather than Monday Night Raw.

The WWE Universe could then regroup after such a bizarre and creepy opening, and The Usos defended their tag-team titles on the show against RybAxel.

The Usos started the match well, but were faced with worrying times when Jey injured his ankle after flying over the ropes to attack Ryback and Curtis Axel. RybAxel were relentless in their offense as a result, launching a brutal assault against Jimmy Uso as they looked to swing the match in their favour.

It wouldn’t last long, however, and while RybAxel came agonisingly close to victory, a gutsy performance from the champions saw them retain their belts.

Raw moved on, reminding everyone of the vicious battering delivered to Daniel Bryan last week by Kane, ahead of Stephanie McMahon’s planned apology later on in the evening. While the Universe awaited her presence, Sheamus faced off in singles action against Titus O’Neil.

Sheamus entered first, but didn’t even get down the ramp before he was attacked from behind by O’Neil, who continued the beating at the ringing of the bell. Sheamus looked like he would be defeated, but swiftly responded with a Brogue Kick to grab a quick victory.

Dolph Ziggler then came out to introduce a trailer for the new X-Men film ahead of the appearance of Hugh Jackman on the show. Ziggler and Jackman have history but put their differences aside to instead focus on Damien Sandow, who interrupted dressed as Magneto.

The segment delivered a huge dose of cringe factor, and eventually brought the end of ‘Magneto’, via the teamwork of Jackman and Ziggler, and a trademark Zig-Zag.

My Client, Cesaro

Moving as far away from the previous exchange as possible, former partners Jack Swagger and Cesaro faced off to settle their differences.

After losing to Rob Van Dam last Monday Night, Cesaro needed to bounce back with a victory, but found himself being dominated by Swagger in the early exchanges. The match turned, however, when the managers got involved, with Colter grabbing the leg of Cesaro from outside the ring. This prompted Heyman to attack Colter via his moustache, distracting Swagger.

The Swiss superstar took advantage, and delivered a huge German Suplex to walk away triumphant as he looks to rise to the top with Heyman.

This match was followed by Alberto Del Rio taking on Cody Rhodes, who had Goldust at ringside. Despite recent friction in their relationship, Goldust watched on in support, but saw his brother lose to Del Rio via the Cross Armbreaker.

Alexander Rusev was then in action, taking on Xavier Woods before they meet again at Extreme Rules in a Handicap match that will see Woods partnered with R-Truth.

Rusev won the match via DQ after Truth interrupted to brawl with him, with Woods getting involved to throw the Bulgarian Brute over the ropes, giving them a glimmer of hope ahead of Sunday.

Los Matadores appeared next in tag-team action taking on Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater. The attention has been on El Torito and Hornswoggle recently but neither were involved in the match, saving an encounter for a ‘weeLC’ match at the pre-show of Extreme Rules. The pair still managed to capture the attention, but Heath Slater grabbed a rare victory for himself and 3MB.

Sorry about my Monster

Stephanie McMahon finally showed up on Raw as she looked to apologise to WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan. During the attack, she pleaded with Kane to stop his malicious attack, but the Big Red Machine refused to listen.

Bryan appeared at the request of Stephanie, alongside wife Brie Bella and a neck brace, which served as a reminder of the damage he received as a result of Kane.

She indeed apologised, and while Bryan rejected her sincerity, she offered Brie Bella a title opportunity on Raw. Bryan accompanied his wife to the ring in case Kane decided to show up, and despite Stephanie claiming that the mask was locked in her office (throughout the evening it was shown in such a manner) the case was shown to be empty before the match.

The clash begun, with Paige looking to defend her belt, but the match was shortly interrupted when Kane’s music hit. He emerged from underneath the ring and grabbed Brie Bella, attempting to drag her with him. Bryan stopped him by attacking him with a wrench, but was soon on the end of a chokeslam as the Big Red Machine continued to rampage.

The Monster has returned, and will present Bryan with a huge challenge ahead of their title match at Extreme Rules.

Raw still had the main event to look forward to at this stage, but also in action in the Intercontinental Championship Number One contender’s final saw Bad News Barrett taking on Rob Van Dam to decide who would face Big E Langston at Extreme Rules.

It was certainly a clash of styles on display, with Barrett keeping the pace of the match slow so Van Dam couldn’t gain the upper hand via his quick, athletic flair.

Van Dam looked to build momentum, but was soon interrupted by Cesaro who distracted him to prevent him gaining the win. This allowed Barrett to grab a huge victory with the Bull-Hammer elbow, setting him up with a match on Sunday.

Cesaro then went to attack Van Dam, before Swagger’s involvement put the Swiss superstar down. After Van Dam earlier rejected an alliance with The Real Americans, Swagger turned his attention to him, but Van Dam responded, first dealing with Swagger before hitting Cesaro with a Five-Star Frog Splash.

It’s only Nature

This left only the main event, a match that would see The Shield’s Roman Reigns square off with Evolution member, Randy Orton.

Before the match could kick-off, however, Evolution’s former fourth member decided to make an appearance, with Hall of Famer Ric Flair making a grand entrance.

As he reminisced about his days in the Four Horsemen and Evolution, Flair offered his respect and endorsement to the Shield, shocking the members of Evolution.

While Orton dominated the early openings of the match, chaos descended upon the match as Batista and Triple H were involved in a fight with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. This naturally led to the conclusion of the match, with Reigns choosing to get involved with the fight to protect his fellow Shield members. The power of Evolution was on show, and the threesome delivered a beating to the Hounds of Justice in order to teach them a lesson.

They were not down and out, however, and while it seemed Evolution would end the show on their terms, with Triple H setting up a Pedigree, The Shield rallied, and Reigns hit the COO with a massive Spear.

The clash at Extreme Rules will surely be a gigantic occasion, and will prove which faction is more dominant in the WWE.

Catch up: Last week's Raw results