7 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Oct 22)

It’s hard to accurately rate an episode of Raw when it opens with such a gut punch as Monday’s episode delivered.

Roman Reigns walked out in street clothes to announce that he was relinquishing the WWE Universal Championship because his leukemia had returned, forcing him to step away to fight the disease. It was an emotional opening that resonated throughout the show, even without the hourly replay of his promo. You could see it in wrestlers’ and announcers’ faces and hear it in their voices.

But Raw managed to put together a serviceable episode that set up Sunday’s all-women’s PPV Evolution, as well as set the table for next Friday’s PPV Crown Jewel, which is emanating from somewhere that WWE is not currently disclosing. It’s as if the company is embarrassed and/or trying to keep the location secret or something…

Regardless, while Raw was perfectly acceptable viewing Monday night, it wasn’t a must-see program, save for Reigns’ heartfelt promo and the fans’ universal encouragement to fight leukemia. We saw a few characters turn, saw a contract signing that didn’t end in a brawl, and saw a truly memorable main event moment.

With that said, let’s find out what beat down the competition and what got beaten down. Let’s get to it…