The Authority returns, Cody finds courage, and Gunther destroys on chaotic Raw

Raw delivered surprise appearances, returns, beatdowns, and more in an episode that flew by. Monday’s show was many things, but boring it wasn’t.

And it all started with my main man. Or should I say, McMahon?

Whoa — Look Who’s Here!

Cody Rhodes kicked off the show, which was a surprise. Last Friday on SmackDown, the Undisputed WWE Champion appeared looking for Randy Orton, who had betrayed and bloodied him weeks earlier.

This time, Rhodes didn’t wait almost three hours to show up. Instead, he opened Raw — which Orton wasn’t even on — at Madison Square Garden. Rhodes’s reason for straying outside his turf? The WWE Champion is always welcome at The Garden.

More surprising was Stephanie McMahon, who showed up unannounced with a clear goal: to warn Rhodes about how dangerous Orton is. After a stirring pissing match, Rhodes thanked her and left. Stephanie smiled.

While the segment worked, it would have made more sense on SmackDown, where Rhodes resides. Notably, Stephanie seemed a little too pleased to spell out the dangers of facing “The Viper.”

If I did not know better, I would think the person Orton has been talking to is her father, Vince. The McMahons have a long history with Orton, from making him the face of the company at SummerSlam 2013 through WrestleMania the next year.

As Orton recently reminded us, using Rhodes’ entrance theme, wrestling has more than one royal family. Maybe an Orton-McMahon reunion is coming, with Paul Levesque welcoming his original protégé back into the fold.

At least Rhodes showed up on time for once. It would have been nicer if he had saved that punctuality for SmackDown instead of letting Matt Cardona take the first shot at Orton.

Let’s Play The Game Again

Speaking of Paul Levesque, Triple H was in the building and he made sure Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar did not jeopardize their Mania match by giving too much away or hurting each other.

Raw GM Adam Pearce tried to do the same moments earlier and got shoved aside by Femi. Not a great look for Pearce.

Of course, Lesnar and Femi were never going to get physical with Levesque because of health reasons related to “The Game.” Still, it was amusing to see that line drawn in a company where Vince McMahon was taking beatdowns well into his 70s.

It was also notable that on the same night Stephanie returned to warn Rhodes about Orton, Levesque made a rare on-screen appearance to flex his authority.

Here’s Gunther — But Why?

Any hope that Bron Breakker would be cleared to face Seth Rollins at Mania vanished when Gunther made his first appearance in nearly a month by attacking “The Visionary.”

And man, did “The Ring General” look like a badass.

He pulled Rollins out of the ring before he could curb stomp Paul Heyman, choked him out, then lifted his lifeless head and pointed to the WrestleMania sign.

On paper, it should be a great match. It’s also fresh. Per Cagematch, they’ve only wrestled each other twice, and one was a dark match.

But I gotta ask the obvious question: why, Gunther?

If he had helped Heyman up and left with him, that would have clearly told the audience that they’re business partners. Instead, Gunther ignored him and walked off. Pairing Heyman with Gunther could work. Why, it could even be great.

Bringing Gunther into The Vision sets up a future showdown with Lesnar as Heyman grows chummier with the Austrian. It also gives Gunther a strong mouthpiece to elevate his character.

That frees Gunther to do what he does best: destroy people. In getting to Seth, he dismantled him without jokes or theatrics. This was a serious Gunther, the one to fear.

Again, their Mania match should be off the charts. Understanding Gunther’s motive, though, would make it far easier and better to invest in.

We’ll likely get answers next Monday. At least Gunther is going to WrestleMania — finally.

Several matches were made for WrestleMania on this week’s Raw, which you can read about here. Among them was a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, where the participants apparently qualified through matches held on Main Event. As this site’s weekly reporter for that show, that was a surprise to me.

But rather than chew my food twice on the topic, I invite you all to read about it here.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer a word or four about my Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. He got put through a table by his WrestleMania opponent, World Heavyweight Champ CM Punk, to end the show. Notably, it was Punk — NOT Reigns — who needed help, as bungling security created an opening that Punk capitalized on.

Considering Reigns isn’t scheduled to appear again until the go-home episode of Raw on April 13, this was a fantastic way to write him off for a week while giving Punk some bragging rights.

But please, my Tribal Chief, don’t pull a “Cowardly” Cody and wait for revenge after someone else softens up your opponent. You make sure to get to that old codger early before he pulls the senior citizen classic “Time to watch Matlock” card.

Hey, Reigns’ words, not mine.

Overall, I liked what I saw. With some explanations, such as why Stephanie McMahon has a vested interest in Cody Rhodes and why Gunther wants a piece of Seth Rollins, WWE could make a stacked WrestleMania card feel even bigger.

Certainly, it piqued my interest in watching this week’s episode of Main Event, which you can read all about this coming Friday here at Cageside Seats.