WATCH: Dean Ambrose Returns to Monday Night RAW

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins will have some much needed backup with him when he challenges for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam.

Dean Ambrose made his triumphant return to Monday Night RAW, as he helped Rollins take out Intercontinental champion Dolph Ziggler and his pal Drew McIntyre following the conclusion of their Championship Contract Signing segment.

Ambrose, who for years prior had been one of WWE’s ironmen and reliable in-ring workers, sustained a triceps injury in December 2017 and subsequently underwent surgery. The original recovery and rehabilitation timetable for Ambrose was nine months; following his return Monday, Ambrose was one month ahead of schedule, and in time for the company’s second flagship pay-per-view event of the year.

For weeks, Ziggler and McIntyre had been getting the best of their interactions and matches with Rollins due to the numbers game. To build suspense for the segment, one of WWE’s best moments this year, Rollins did not appear until the program’s final few minutes.

First, Ziggler and McIntyre interrupted Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle, described how it felt to take their career paths into their own hands, and elaborated on Rollins’ success and how it motivated the pair to outwork him and be better. Then, Rollins’ music hit, as the hyped up crowd in Greensboro, North Carolina chanted “BURN IT DOWN!”

Rollins clearly stated that the designated contract had specific clauses, and he had wanted Ziggler to sign the contract first so there was no way he could try and get out of it – in Kayfabe, of course. Rollins finally mentioned the fact that the contract has a specific clause that allows Rollins to have somebody in his corner for the championship match at SummerSlam, and if Ziggler had the “Scottish Psychopath” in his, then he would have a lunatic in his.

Ambrose also appeared noticeably more muscular than the last time WWE fans saw him in a ring, which was likely a key part of the rehabilitation process to heal his triceps injury.

Renee Young – who became the first female commentator to ever call Monday Night RAW on the same night as her real life husband’s return – held down that secret pretty well for quite a while. A key element of the Ambrose character is the “Ambrose Asylum,” something that he now looks like he just broke out of.

Social media is already speculating Ambrose could possibly turn heel against Rollins and cost him the Intercontinental Championship match in Brooklyn. Either way, Ambrose, thankfully, is back on Monday Night RAW.

For one night we got to see two-thirds of The Shield together again doing their thing as we head toward SummerSlam this Sunday from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, live on WWE Network starting at 7 p.m. ET.

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