Finn Balor Returns On 2/21 WWE Raw, Teams Successfully With NXT's Tommaso Ciampa

Two NXT OGs dethrone The Dirty Dawgs.

After several weeks away, Finn Balor return to Monday Night Raw and he did so at the side of an NXT mainstay that rarely wrestlers on Monday Night Raw, Tommaso Ciampa.

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Ciampa, ahead of his Number 1 Contender match against Dolph Ziggler tomorrow night on NXT 2.0: As Close As It Gets, Tommaso Ciampa picked up a big victory on Monday Night Raw Bobby Roode in a tag team match where Finn Balor was his tag team partner. Finn Balor said to Tommaso Ciampa that it was time they kicked off The Road to WrestleMania by winning.

Tommasso Ciampa & Finn Balor vs Dirty Dogs (Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode)

The match starts with Robert Roode and Tommaso Ciampa in the ring, who tried to attack Ziggler before being ambushed by Roode. He would put Roode in a headlock before being sent in the corner to allow Ziggler to be tagged in. He would send Ciampa in the corner, before Ciampa evaded and connected Ziggler with a clothesline. Finn Balor would make a surprise tag before Ciampa and Balor sent both of the Dirty Dogs into the outside, before connecting a Tope Con Jiro on both Ziggler and Roode before the commercial break.

We come back from the break with the Dirty Dogs controlling proceedings on Tommaso Ciampa. Ziggler would get Ciampa into a Guillotine before it was reversed into a Lariat from Ciampa, leading to the hot tag for Finn Balor, who hits Roode with a forearm to the face followed by a stomp to the chest. Balor would evade a clotheslien into a Bloody Sunday on Roode for a near fall after Ziggler intervened. Ciampa and Ziggler would be sent to the outside before Roode connected a Spinebuster on Balor for another near fall. Ciampa would be tagged in and Roode would climb to the top rope, but he would be hit with a Knee to the face from Ciampa. Ciampa would attempt the Widow's Bell, but it would be reversed by Roode before Ciampa gets a sunset flip on Roode for the pinfall victory.

Winners: Finn Balor & Tommasso Ciampa

News of Balor's return and Ciampa's match tonight first appeared on our premium Fightful Select service. Subscribe to support our exclusive and independent coverage of professional wrestling. You'll get access to exclusive news, and dozens of additional podcasts.

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