WWE Monday Night Raw results and observations (10/16/17): That's gotta be Kane!

WWE's flagship television program, Raw, really believes in the cliché of what is old being new again, as the brand saw the return of a popular trio last week and unearthed a character that hadn't been seen on television for many months this week.

The Moda Center in Portland, Ore. served as the scene for all of this nostalgia, as Monday represented the final episode of Raw before Tables, Ladders and Chairs.

When it came to the pay-per-view's main event, WWE did a good job of not only adding some excitement surrounding, but also adding some intrigue.

When it came to the rest of the card, not so much.

Here are the full match results:

- Jason Jordan, Titus O'Neil & Apollo Crews def. Elias, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows

- Cedric Alexander def. Jack Gallagher

- Sasha Banks def. Alicia Fox

- WWE Raw Tag Team championship – Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins def. Sheamus & Cesaro

- Bayley & Mickie James def. Alexa Bliss & Emma

- Steel Cage match – Braun Strowman def. Roman Reigns

Kane returned to destroy The Shield

Glenn Jacobs, better known to WWE fans as Kane, has temporarily jumped off the campaign trail to return to his hellish roots as the masked demon that has terrorized the opposition for two decades.

His victims Monday night were The Shield, as Kane popped up from underneath the ring and attacked Reigns during his steel cage match with Strowman.

Kane put an exclamation point on his attack with a tombstone pile driver, which helped Strowman pick up the win, and by virtue of the pre-match stipulations, allowed The Miz to add a fifth member to his team at TLC.

That fifth man appears to be Kane.

After the getting over the initial shock of seeing Kane for the first time on WWE television in months, the first question to come to fans' minds was: Why?

Why did Kane put his campaign to become the next mayor of Knox County, Tenn. on hold, don the mask and attack The Shield?

At first, I couldn't think of a reason, but upon further thinking, Kane has a long history with The Shield.

Remember all of those six-man tag team matches The Shield had back in 2013 and into 2014? Kane was part of the opposition for a lot of them.

When The Shield turned babyface in 2014, they did so by attacking Kane, who had gone corporate.

And let's not forget what Reigns did earlier this year, which was retire Kane's brother, The Undertaker. If you consider all of those factors, it makes at least some sense that Kane has a vendetta against The Shield.

Is Kane the most eye-catching person to add to The Miz's team at TLC? No he is not. However, within the context of the sometimes-nonsensical story of WWE, it's at least logical.

I, along with many others, thought Samoa Joe would be the guy, but that obviously turned out not to be the case. Joe would have made sense given his beef with Reigns and Rollins, but if you want to bring The Undertaker into the storyline, Kane was the way to go I guess.

Although fans may not be totally on board with this, I want to take a moment to recognize the longevity and reliability of Kane, who has managed to remain over with the fans for the past 20 years. That is quite the achievement.

Speaking of nostalgia, The Shield showed up to Raw Monday in their old combat gear, music and even made their way to the ring through the crowd. It was like 2014 all over again and it was an awesome sight.

Finn Balor-Bray Wyatt stuff is not good

I have given this story plenty of chances to pique my interest, but I am ready to admit that it is simply not working.

It has become less about who is the better wrestler and more about who is better with video editing software.

Last week, we saw Wyatt morph his face and voice to become his dead sister, and this week we saw Balor toggle back and forth between being himself and the demon.

The funniest part was that Balor donned I guess what could be described as Halloween-themed face paint, which made him look like a pumpkin with dreadlocks. I guess I am supposed to take him seriously, but all I can think about is Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.

If there was one thing that summarized the ridiculous tone of this feud, it had to be the graphic WWE ran advertising the Balor-Wyatt match for TLC.

How am I supposed to explain to my friends that do not watch wrestling that a pumpkin is fighting a man that is calling himself Sister Abigail?

Enzo Amore paid off heel cruiserweights

Money talks and we all know what walks, and Amore is proving that in the cruiserweight division, as he has apparently given all of the heels financial incentive to help him regain the Cruiserweight championship.

It was barely a month ago when all of the cruiserweights — heels included — were beating the daylights out of Amore after Raw. Give them a few racks and their minds change rather quickly.

Crazy Foxy is the best Foxy

Besides The Shield stuff, one of the highlights of Monday's show was Fox.

Whenever Fox goes on those crazy temper tantrums, it is quality television. I don't know why, but she is very good at playing a crazy person.

If I were to rank the best crazy people in WWE right now, Fox would be second behind only NXT's Nikki Cross. Ambrose, the supposed lunatic fringe, would be a distant third, but is climbing back since reforming The Shield.

As for Fox, she is slated to face Banks on the TLC kickoff show. Maybe, just maybe, this is a sign that WWE is actually interested in giving Fox something to do besides enjoy the catering backstage.

If that is the case, I am all for it, as I believe Fox is one of the most underutilized performers in the entire company.

Vaughn Johnson has a podcast with Nick Piccone called the Straight Shooters on WildfireRadio.com. Check it out here HERE.