RAW sees the return of Robert Roode in WWE Championship open challenge
Earlier in the night, Drew McIntyre issued an open challenge to any WWE Superstar who hadn't yet challenged him for the WWE Championship. That eliminated Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Andrade, Seth Rollins and The Big Show from the equation.
Who would challenge the Scottish Psychopath? Well, it would be someone who's faced the big man in a title bout before. However, this was a rematch from their NXT days.
Bobby Roode returns; challenges for the WWE Championship on RAW
Bobby Roode hadn't wrestled in several months, but was a part of a Monday Night RAW/Friday Night SmackDown blockbuster trade. He and Dolph Ziggler were sent to Monday nights so AJ Styles could make his move to the blue brand.
Tonight, the former NXT Champion returned to WWE to challenge McIntyre. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, McIntyre was the one to dethrone Roode. Would The Glorious One knock off the WWE Champion and get some revenge?
Well, early on, McIntyre had the upperhand with his incredible brute strength, slamming Roode onto the apron with the inverted Alabama Slam. However, a distraction from Ziggler put Roode back in the match.
The former WWE United States Champion focused on the left leg of McIntyre, wrapping it repeatedly around the ring post.
Roode locked McIntyre in the Figure-4 Leglock for a while, seriously hampering McIntyre's leg. Although he was able to reverse it, the damage was already done. Roode set up for the Glorious DDT, but a Glasgow Kiss knocked him out momentarily.
McIntyre followed up with a series of belly-to-belly suplexes. Roode was able to counter the Future Shock DDT with a jackknife pin, but McIntyre kicked out. The second Future Shock connected, only for Roode to kick out.
Ziggler took a Claymore for Roode, but even a Glorious DDT couldn't keep the champ down for long. Eventually, another Claymore put Bobby Roode down for the three-count on a strong return.