Paige Makes WWE Return On Raw

At last, a couple of months after being cleared to come back to the ring, Paige made her return on this week's Raw.

The 25 year old interfered in the middle of a fatal 4-way match between Bayley, Mickie James, Sasha Banks, and Alicia Fox. The bout was supposedly to determine the next number one contender for Alexa Bliss' Raw Women's Championship, but ultimately ended in a no contest.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/932804647638638592

Crucially, the former NXT Women's and WWE Divas Champion didn't come alone. She also brought new stablemates in the form of main roster debutants Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose. The pair have previously wrestled on NXT, and were contestants on the 2015 series of Tough Enough, on which Paige was a judge.

The intention to build to a future match between Paige and Bliss was made more explicit after the abandoned number one contender's match, when the newly-formed trio beat down the Raw Women's Champion backstage. It remains to be seen whether Bliss will naturally become a babyface for this feud, or whether it will be booked as a heel vs. heel storyline.

Alternatively, Paige could play the face role - although this seems the least likely possibility of the three, given the fact that she, Deville, and Rose attacked every competitor in the fatal 4-way bout, and punctuated the attack by Paige hitting her finisher on Bayley.

Paige hadn't been seen on WWE television for almost a year and a half, after sustaining a neck injury. She was also twice suspended during this hiatus for violations of the company's Wellness Policy, and was linked to a number of controversies including a sex tape leak and public rows with then-boyfriend Alberto Del Rio (now known as Alberto El Patron, outside of WWE).

Now that she's back, it'll be interesting to see whether WWE immediately book Paige to win the Raw Women's Championship, as well as the roles of both Deville and Rose.