We are so glad to see Tommaso Ciampa back on WWE TV, and we’re even happier to see him as something resembling his “WWE NXT” character, rather than the guy who hung around with The Miz all those months. We’re even fine with Miz being his first feud upon returning — it makes sense, and it gives Ciampa someone to beat up. We liked his backstage promo before he came out to the ring, and as card-carrying torchbearers for “NXT” Black & Gold, we’re still very much hoping that he ends up back at the side of perennial “NXT” frenemy Johnny Gargano. For the most part, all of this fine.

And yet, there’s this weird feeling in the pit of our stomach that we just can’t shake when we think about what happened on “Raw” tonight. While Ciampa was making his way to the ring, Miz blindsided him and spent a good few minutes tossing him around the outside area. It was a very one-sided attack, with Ciampa not getting the opportunity to respond with any offense whatsoever, and neither Gargano nor anyone else came out to help him. Miz showed up, beat Ciampa down, and left. And yes, it would still be utterly shocking to see Miz actually win this feud, and yes, we’re expecting a ferocious response from Ciampa sooner rather than later, and yes, there’s still plenty of time for Gargano to arrive — Miz doing an angry version of one of Ciampa and Gargano’s signature taunts was (hopefully) a dead giveaway. It’s probably going to be fine.

We’re just … slightly unnerved, that’s all. It’s been a while since WWE presented Miz as a serious threat, so the fact that he was presented such here seemed notable, and with Vince back in the picture, you never know what’s going to happen to any given former “NXT” star. We remain optimistic, but there’s a part of us (a part that has been traumatized by McMahon for decades) that saw tonight’s events and recoiled in dreadful recognition.