Otis has made his return to WWE Monday Night Raw. The Alpha Academy powerhouse appeared on the October 20 episode of the show, marking his first time on the red brand in five months. The show, which emanated from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, saw Otis accompany his stablemate Maxxine Dupri to the ring for her Women’s Intercontinental Championship match against Becky Lynch.

Otis was also joined by fellow Alpha Academy member Akira Tozawa, showing the group’s full support for Dupri in her hometown championship opportunity. Otis has been absent from Raw since May, when he was brutally attacked by the returning Rusev in a singles match. That assault was used as the storyline reason to write him off of television, as he was dealing with a legitimate elbow injury that required arthroscopic surgery.

He recently made his in-ring return to the company, competing in non-televised matches for WWE Main Event over the past few weeks, including a match against Grayson Waller during the international tour in Australia. He also made a surprise appearance for the WWE-acquired AAA promotion at their TripleMania event in August. However, tonight’s appearance is his first official time back on the main Monday night show.

While Otis’s return was a positive note for the Alpha Academy, the night was a momentous one for the rest of the brand. The show began with Raw General Manager Adam Pearce officially stripping Seth Rollins of the World Heavyweight Championship due to the severe shoulder injury he sustained at Super Show-Down. A battle royal would be held later in the night to determine who would face the number one contender, CM Punk, for the vacant championship at the upcoming Saturday Night’s Main Event.