Jefferson Lake
WWE Editor @jeffersonlake
WWE: Hulk Hogan to make Raw return live on Sky Sports
Last Updated: 08/01/19 6:45am
Hulk Hogan returns to WWE Raw on Monday night to honour the late Gene Okerlund, live on Sky Sports Arena at 1am.
The Hulkster is one of four big-name superstars scheduled to return this week as the red brand bids to kick off 2019 - and the road to WrestleMania - with a bang.
Hogan will be part of the company's tribute to Okerlund, who died last week, and alongside whom the Hall of Famer enjoyed a memorable on-screen chemistry which remains fondly remembered by WWE fans.
"Let me tell you something, Mean Gene," was Hogan's traditional - and much-loved - response to Okerlund's questions during the 1980s and their friendship spanned the decades.
It will be the first time Hogan appears on WWE programming in America since completing a company-issued suspension after he was recorded using a racial slur, although he was used as the host of the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia in November.
His reintroduction to WWE led to strong criticism in some quarters but Titus O'Neill told Sky Sports that he would welcome a conversation with Hogan and that he accepted the company's decision to bring him back.
Cena, Lesnar, Strowman also return
John Cena - fresh from a somewhat embarrassing appearance on SmackDown last week - is also back in the Monday night fold, although his motives remain unclear.
Having been tossed out of the ring by Becky Lynch, with victory in the palm of his hand, Cena will almost certainly be looking to save some face.
Also scheduled to appear tonight are Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar, who go head to head for the latter's Universal title at the Royal Rumble on January 27, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Lesnar only sporadically features on Raw, while Strowman himself has been similarly absent, albeit as a result of surgery on an injured elbow.
The Revival bid for tag title match
On Christmas Eve, Chad Gable pinned Scott Dawson, allowing himself and Bobby Roode to retain the Raw tag titles. The problem there, however, was that Dash Wilder was the legal man in the match, a situation which has not gone down to well with the self-styled 'top guys'.
In the interest of fairness, the McMahon family has granted Dawson & Wilder another opportunity to dethrone the "Glorious" title-holders, live on the first Raw of 2019.
And, to keep the action from spilling outside the ring, the bout will be a tag team lumberjack match, meaning several superstars will be surrounding the ring to ensure the action remains fair.
