Ric Flair is back in WWE, and according to initial reports he's sticking around for a regular role on television. What that role will be is anyone's guess and his appearance on last night's episode of Monday Night Raw, the go home show to the upcoming Battleground pay-per-view this weekend, did little to shed light on the situation.
Creatively, he had no reason to be there.
Initial rumors suggested Flair would come back to work with The Miz. That only made sense, considering Flair had given Miz the Figure Four submission finish and had acted as a mentor in the past. But Miz was repackaged during his absence to film The Marine 4 and he's one of the few legitimate heels on the WWE roster.
The two didn't even come close to crossing paths last night.
Instead, Flair was left to flirt with Renee Young before giving a lame prediction for the main event of the show this weekend. John Cena also got the rumor mill running extra miles by passing off the Big Gold Belt to him before "The Nature Boy" bailed to the back.
So what was the point?
From the WWE perspective, Flair still pops a rating when he returns, even when it's a surprise. This time they promoted it, possibly to combat at the Home Run Derby on ESPN that undoubtedly stole some viewers, and possibly as the final push to entice fans to subscribe to the WWE Network.
It's just too bad they didn't bother to write something for him other than "go be Ric Flair and get creepy on Renee Young".