By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE Raw TV notes 5/27

- Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels returned to WWE television in separate backstage cameos prior to the post-show Bret Hart Appreciation ceremony. During Raw, Hart gave Daniel Bryan & Kane a pep talk, then Michaels gave John Cena a warning about "wrestling hurt."

- Curtis Axel "beat" WWE champion John Cena in his second major TV main event since being re-packaged. Axel won via count-out after Ryback distracted Cena with an ambulance.

- C.M. Punk's return match was announced for the Payback PPV in Punk's hometown of Chicago. While Punk's "adviser" Paul Heyman was accepting Punk's return match against Chris Jericho, Punk was tweeting photos from an MLB game in Los Angeles.

WWE is not advertising yet whether Punk will return to WWE TV prior to the Payback PPV in mid-June.

- Triple H was kept off television. WWE advertised that Hunter might return to TV "soon" when he is cleared from his fictional concussion injury.

- The Shield retained their collective titles in two title matches. First, Dean Ambrose retained the U.S. Title over Kofi Kingston. In the next match, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins retained the Tag Titles over Kane & Daniel Bryan. Both matches ended clean to take care of the challengers's re-matches from Extreme Rules.

- The World Title situation was not addressed during Raw. World Hvt. champion Dolph Ziggler had a brief cameo in a WWE App Video, but WWE did not draw attention to the status of the title.

- WWE introduced Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family to the TV audience with a mesmerizing mid-show vignette.



- Tyson Kidd returned to a WWE ring during the post-Raw Bret Hart Appreciation Night. Kidd, now with a full head of hair while off TV recovering from a serious knee injury, joined Natalya in greeting Hart at the conclusion of the ceremony.

- Advertised for Wednesday's Main Event show is Big E. Langston & IC champion Wade Barrett vs. The Miz & Alberto Del Rio.

- Advertised for Friday's Smackdown is Randy Orton vs. U.S. champion Dean Ambrose in a non-title match.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE NEWS: Superstars SPOILERS - Results from Chicago Raw

WWE NETWORK: Monday, Oct. 12 Schedule - Raw pre-show, Sting DVD preview

WWE NEWS: Lana & Rusev reportedly engaged - follow the interesting 2015 timeline