As is pretty much always the case recently in WWE, there is plenty to build towards. Evolution is this Sunday, Crown Jewel is five days later, wherever it might end up taking place, and Survivor Series two weeks after that hasn't even been addressed yet. Plenty of build towards those first two on this week's Raw though, especially since it was the Evolution go-home show. However, before the action could begin, Roman Reigns made an announcement to open the show that put everything inside and out of WWE into perspective.
If we had told you before the show that an arena full of fans would be chanting "thank you Roman" within ten minutes of this week's Raw starting, you'd have probably laughed right in our faces. Well, that's exactly what happened. Sadly, it was for a horrible reason, one that transcends the wrestling business. An emotional Roman Reigns revealed that he was diagnosed with leukemia 11 years ago and even though he beat it then, it has returned. That means he will obviously be taking some time off. He informed the WWE Universe of that while fighting back tears, and that he will also have to relinquish the Universal Championship. His Shield brothers met him at the top of the ramp and embraced. Get well soon Roman and we hope to see you back in WWE really soon.
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The WWE-themed elephant in the room for the past two weeks has been the upcoming international show, Crown Jewel. Is it going to go ahead in Saudi Arabia as planned or not? Well, wherever it winds up going down, it seems that for the time being Shawn Michaels will still be coming out of retirement for it. He and Triple H came to the ring on Raw and addressed fans who claim that they and The Brothers of Destruction are "too old." Once that was out of the way, DX turned its attention to The Undertaker and Kane. However, before long the lights went out and the brothers appeared on the screen. They had a chilling message for their Crown Jewel opponents, one they delivered while standing alongside headstones with Triple H and HBK's names on.
As emotional as the opening segment with Reigns was on Raw, he would tell you more than anyone that the show must go on. Monday nights are now without a Universal Champion, so what now? Well, the most logical thing would be to have Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar battle for the belt at Crown Jewel, so that's exactly what's going to happen. Paul Heyman came to the ring to pay tribute to Reigns and talk of his fight and bravery, and then moved on to issuing a warning to Strowman. The Monster came out to join Heyman and after he was done, was unexpectedly hit with a Claymore courtesy of Drew McIntyre for the second week in a row. Be careful Drew, there's bound to be a receipt coming.
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Who doesn't love a good WWE contract signing? They're also bound to end in chaos and anarchy, right? Well, you'd have expected that with this one more than ever considering what was said between Nikki Bella and Ronda Rousey last week, not to mention the continued barbs on social media. The Bellas were reluctant to even stand in the ring with the champ. That was until Rousey promised she wouldn't lay a finger on them, not yet. That didn't stop some very strong insults being thrown around, and once Bella had signed the contract, she delivered a stiff slap to Rousey. The Rowdy One kept her word and didn't retaliate, but promised to end Nikki when they meet this Sunday at Evolution.
Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were naturally pretty shaken and upset by Reigns announcement earlier in the evening. They had to return their focus to in-ring action though as in Raw's main event, they had a shot at the Tag Team Titles. Before the match, both men revealed that they were going to go out and there and win the championships for Roman. They fulfilled that promise. Once Strowman came to the ring and chased McIntyre into the crowd, Dolph Ziggler was left to fend for himself and couldn't overcome the numbers game. New champs on Raw, but that wasn't the headline. After the match, Ambrose snapped and turned on Rollins. Considering the Reigns news, most assumed the Ambrose tension angle would be scrapped, but no. The Lunatic threw both his and Rollins' Tag Titles at the Architect and delivered a Dirty Deeds to his former Shield brother on the exposed concrete at ringside.