WWE Monday Night Raw results and observations (5/22/17): The Golden Age has returned

While Smackdown Live shocked the world with the crowning of a new WWE champion at Backlash Sunday night, things were business as usual on Raw Monday night, as the red brand trucked along on its way to Extreme Rules.

This show didn't knock my socks off by any stretch of the imagination, but there were definitely some enjoyable moments, which I will touch on.

But before then, here are the full match results from Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.:

- Roman Reigns def. Bray Wyatt via disqualification

- Akira Tozawa def. Ariya Daivari

- Elias Samson def. Dean Ambrose via disqualification

- Finn Balor def. Karl Anderson

- Sasha Banks def. Alicia Fox

- Kalisto def. Apollo Crews

- Matt Hardy def. Sheamus

- Austin Aries def. Tony Nese

- Alexa Bliss def. Mickie James

- Samoa Joe & Bray Wyatt def. Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins

Rollins, Reigns not on the same page

Ever since Rollins became a face last year, he and Reigns have operated with this sudden mutual respect, as if it was magically all forgiven that Rollins had turned his back on Reigns and Ambrose and dismantled The Shield back in 2014.

I always found that intriguing, but with Ambrose being on Smackdown Live, the prospect of a full-fledged Shield reunion was unlikely. That was until Ambrose was sent over to Raw via the Superstar Shakeup, making every Shield fan yearn even more for the trio to reform.

However, if Monday night was any indication, we're not very close to that happening just yet.

Reigns and Rollins were put together in a tag team match against Joe and Wyatt. Despite the fact that Rollins and Reigns were once the WWE Tag Team champions, they were out of sync Monday night and it cost them their match.

Reigns attempted to Superman punch Joe, but Joe ducked out of the way, which sent Reigns soaring into Rollins, who took exception to Reigns' mistake.

Wyatt then pulled Reigns out of the ring, which gave Joe just enough time to lock in the Coquina clutch and put Rollins to sleep to win the match.

I know this was all about building tension for the fatal five-way at Extreme Rules, but all it did was make me want to see The Shield get back together. So WWE, make it happen!

Paul Heyman puts over Finn Balor

Balor was handed his first singles lost on the main roster last week at the hands of Reigns and needed a way to regain some of the momentum he may have lost because of it.

The easy way to do that would have been for him to simply beat Anderson in a match, but WWE took the extra step of adding Heyman — the advocate for WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar — into the mix.

Balor has made it clear in the past that he is unafraid of Lesnar and is ready to take back the WWE Universal title that he never lost.

He made that clear again Monday, but Heyman interrupted him by saying that he believes all of the other men in the fatal five-way would be victimized by Lesnar, but he believes that Balor is no one's victim and is the most talented in-ring performer in WWE today.

Heyman went as far to say that he was most intrigued in seeing Balor face Lesnar over any of the other participants in the fatal five-way and wished him luck.

Balor went on to defeat Anderson, but to me, Balor could have left the arena after that promo because Heyman had already put him over like a million bucks.

Heyman's promo was so good that I am pretty firm in my belief that Balor will win at Extreme Rules and will secure a date with Lesnar for the Universal championship.

WWE didn't have Balor interact with Heyman for nothing and none of the other four men in the Extreme Rules match have interacted with Heyman up until this point, which makes me believe that Balor will be the one facing Lesnar.

The Golden Age is back

When Goldust first debuted in WWE back in 1995, he did so with the help of fantastic vignettes that showcased his androgynous character.

It has been more than 20 years since Goldust's character has been in this mode, but that style of vignette made its triumphant return Monday night, as Goldust declared that the Golden Age has returned to WWE.

If that means we're getting more of the bizarre side of Goldust instead of the comedic side I am all for it.

It's not that Goldust wasn't funny as a comedy character, but Goldust was fascinating when he was the "Bizarre One." He was way ahead of his time. Maybe too far ahead for some of the other wrestlers, but it obviously worked because he still relevant more than 20 years later.

All it took was one vignette and I am more intrigued in Goldust than I have been in years.

Hardy Boyz to face Sheamus, Cesaro in a cage match

I was fully expecting a ladder match between the Hardy Boyz and Sheamus/Cesaro at Extreme Rules, but since that just happened at WrestleMania not even two months ago, I guess WWE decided to go in a different direction and booked the teams in a cage match instead.

The cage match came about after Matt Hardy defeated Sheamus, which gave he and his brother Jeff Hardy the right to choose the stipulation for their Extreme Rules match.

Matt Hardy, in his somewhat broken tone, declared that it would be within the confines of a steel cage. I'm on board with that.

Samson finally drifts into the ring

After weeks of drifting around the audience and the backstage area, Samson was finally forced to drift into the ring by Raw general manager Kurt Angle for a match against Ambrose.

Samson defeated the current Intercontinental champion by disqualification, which meant that his Raw in-ring debut was technically a success, but it did come at the hands of The Miz, who attacked Samson to get Ambrose disqualified.

I was not all that enamored with Samson when he was in NXT, but for some reason, he just clicks on the main roster.

Maybe it is because his character fits more of the entertainment side of sports entertainment whereas NXT is more of the sports side of sports entertainment.

Whatever it is, I like what I'm seeing from Samson so far.

Who jumped Enzo Amore?

At one point of the night, Big Cass found Amore lying in a heap backstage, as someone had clearly did a number on the little guy and even knocked off of his shoes off.

Unfortunately, Amore didn't remember who did committed the act, which means we have a full-fledged mystery on our hands in WWE.

It didn't take long for fans to speculate on social media. Surprisingly, one of the main suspects was Amore's own partner, Big Cass. I could see that being the case if Big Cass wanted to turn on his partner, but I don't see a reason why someone like Big Cass would have to sneak attack a man half his size in Amore.

Another person of interest was Crews, who denied the act after being confronted by Kalisto, but given what Crews did to Amore last week, it would make sense.

Regardless of who did what, I am glad WWE didn't reveal the culprit Monday night.

Vaughn Johnson has a podcast with Nick Piccone called the Straight Shooters on WildfireRadio.com. Check it out here HERE.