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Multiple Former WWE World Champions Appearing On Raw (SPOILER)

By John Canton • Published Nov 17, 2025 16:45 EST
WWE logo over blurred Elias Dolph Ziggler

A former WWE World Champion is headed back to Raw to compete in a big match.

The Last Time Is Now Tournament is a 16-man tournament between wrestlers who are under contract to WWE on Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and even people who aren’t even under contract to the company.

This past Friday on WWE SmackDown, a mystery entrant turned out to be Zack Ryder, who worked for WWE from 2005 to 2020 and spent over a decade on the main roster.

While Ryder lost his tournament match to LA Knight, his appearance on WWE TV drew a lot of attention and prompted fans to call for the company to re-sign him. It hasn’t happened yet, but never say never in WWE.

For the November 17th episode of WWE Raw, Solo Sikoa is in the Last Time Is Now Tournament against a mystery opponent.

Fightful Select reports that the mystery opponent is expected to be former WWE World Champion Dolph Ziggler, aka TNA’s Nic Nemeth.

Like Zack Ryder, former TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth had a long run in WWE from when he was first signed in 2004 until he left the company in 2023 after nearly 20 years there. Nemeth also had a memorable feud with John Cena in the early 2010s.

WWE Raw Will Also Feature Brock Lesnar’s Return

In a previous update regarding WWE Raw surprises, it was reported that Roman Reigns and AJ Lee were among the big names who will be at Raw in Madison Square Garden tonight. Liv Morgan is also expected to be there, but there’s no word on if she’s cleared to return from shoulder injury back in June.

Brock Lesnar is also expected to be at Raw in New York City, according to Fightful Select. They noted that Lesnar flew into the area privately on Sunday, and is expected to be at Raw in MSG.

In the Men’s WarGames match, World Champion CM Punk leads a team with WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and a fifth partner that hasn’t been announced. Meanwhile, Paul Heyman is managing the heel team consisting of Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, and Drew McIntyre, who joined the team on WWE SmackDown last week.

It’s expected that Roman Reigns will join Punk’s babyface team and Brock Lesnar will join Heyman’s heel team.

WWE Survivor Series WarGames takes place on November 29th and the Men’s WarGames match this year appears to have the most stacked lineup ever.