This week's episode of Monday Night Raw was supposed to be a special 70th birthday celebration for Ric Flair, arguably the greatest and most influential wrestler of all time.

But just before Flair's party could get started, Batista made a surprise return and brutally attacked the Nature Boy in his locker room. The Animal then dragged Flair across the floor and asked Triple H if he had his attention now.

With that, Batista is officially back in the WWE, while Flair's special birthday celebration - which included a handful of wrestling legends in attendance - was ruined by one of his former Evolution mates.

On Tuesday, Flair sent out a humble message to his fans despite the brutal attack, while issuing a warning to Batista.

It was reported by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter beforehand that Batista was going to be returning to Raw that night. His return didn't come as a surprise to some, but nobody could have expected that he would come back to destroy Flair's birthday party.

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via FOX Sports Asia

With the exception of his brief SmackDown 1000 appearance back in October, it was Batista's first time on WWE television in nearly five years. Batista left WWE due to creative differences in 2014, but always maintained that he wanted one more run with the company that mad him famous.

The rumor has been that Batista will face Triple H at WrestleMania 35, though it's unknown if the latter will be able to compete. He's still recovering from a torn pectoral injury sustained at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view. Batista teased at another match between the two back on SmackDown 1000, and yesterday suggested they could still square off at 'Mania after all.

What This Means

How strange in that Flair's birthday celebration would be ruined by one of the men he helped groom into becoming a wrestling legend. If that's the last time these Evolution counterparts meet face-to-face on television, it certainly was quite a memorable segment.

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