Raw results, Oct. 22, 2018: Roman Reigns relinquishes the Universal Title to fight against leukemia

After some tense moments with Bobby Lashley in recent weeks, Finn Bálor squares off against the dominant Superstar in a hard-hitting singles bout.

If anyone ever doubted that Finn Bálor is The Extraordinary Man Who Does Extraordinary Things, consider his accomplishment on Raw — perhaps the most unlikely achievement he's ever recorded: He got Lio Rush to stop talking.

How did Finn pull it off? The only way one gets Lio Rush to drop the mic these days: He defeated Bobby Lashley. That, of course, was extraordinary in and of itself, given that The Rocky Mountain-Made Machine's revamped attitude has rendered him near-unstoppable over the last few weeks, and his constant disrespect of Bálor seemed to be reminiscent of the kind of demoralization that befell Kevin Owens and Tyler Breeze.

As it turns out, Lashley might have been better off not to brush Bálor aside. Hints mounted throughout the bout that The Extraordinary Man would not be as easy to put away as Lashley believed he would be — he even quieted Rush with a late-game rally — but Lashley still put himself in position to win when he evaded the Coup de Grâce. However, when he went to scoop up Finn, the Irishman ensnared Lashley in a rollup to keep the big man down for three. And for Lio Rush, who sings Lashley's presence so effectively, it was nothing but the sounds of silence.

Poised to team with Bayley and Natalya for a Six-Woman Tag Team Match against The Riott Squad at WWE Evolution, The Boss slugs it out with Ruby Riott.

The return of Sasha Banks may have given Natalya a much-needed equalizer against The Riott Squad — The Queen of Harts will team with Banks & Bayley to face the Squad at WWE Evolution — but any expectation that The Boss would get right back to her winning ways was dashed by Ruby Riott on Raw in Banks’ singles return.

The Riott Squad’s ringleader knocked off the four-time Women’s Champion just six days away from Evolution, taking advantage of The Boss’ rust and benefitting from some clutch interference from the rest of The Riott Squad. Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan had been conspicuous by their absence for most of the match, but that changed once Sasha locked in the Bank Statement. Logan rushed the ring to draw out Bayley, igniting a brawl that quickly roped in Natalya and Morgan.

After the Squad got the better of their foes, Banks left the ring to throw hands, only to find herself booted face-first into the ringpost by Ruby when she attempted to return to the ring. One punishing Riott Kick later, and it was over. The Boss will go into the history books on Sunday no matter the outcome, but with the momentum at Ruby & Co.’s back, Sasha’s road to victory at Evolution is looking longer by the second.

In the wake of the news that Braun Strowman will battle Brock Lesnar for the vacant Universal Title, The Monster Among Men delivers a message to The Beast's Advocate.

In Roman Reigns’ absence, the Universal Championship picture for WWE Crown Jewel has been set: Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar will battle for the vacant title, and both The Monster Among Men and Lesnar’s advocate Paul Heyman wasted no time in a mad scramble for momentum.

First out was Heyman, who praised the now-former titleholder (“It is humbling to … have been in the presence of such courage and such greatness”) before arguing for Lesnar as the Superstar who could best carry on the legacy that Roman Reigns brought to the title — both in the ring and, potentially, the Octagon. That drew out Strowman, who bristled at the notion that he wasn’t in Brock Lesnar’s league, category or stratosphere. The Gift of Destruction promised that he would be the one to defend the title on a weekly basis and that Reigns would be first in line for an opportunity when he returned. But for now, the only thing awaiting Lesnar at Crown Jewel would be These Hands.

However, the words had barely gotten out of Strowman’s mouth before he was suddenly leveled by These Feet, a.k.a. an incoming Claymore from a "monster-hunting" Drew McIntyre, who had hinted he'd be making his move on Strowman following the dissolution of the "pack" last week. Clearly, if Braun beats Lesnar, he might have a problem waiting for him the second he gets back from Suplex City.

After Apollo Crews interrupted Elias' concert last week and dropped the sinister songsmith in the ensuing brawl, the two Superstars will look to change each other's tune in a one-on-one matchup.

The good news for Apollo Crews is that, after last week, Elias knows who he is. This is also the bad news. The Living Truth, predictably, did not take kindly to his upstaging last week, dispatching the former Titus Worldwide standout in a hard-fought match that came down to the kind of persistence and timing you’d expect from a guitarist. After taking nearly all of Crews’ hardest-hitting maneuvers and kicking out, The Living Truth threw his opponent through the ropes and caught him with a leaping knee to the face as Apollo attempted to re-enter the ring. Drift Away followed, and that was all she wrote.

After Baron Corbin stopped Elias' performance, The Living Truth unleashed a musical assault on Raw's Acting General Manager.

As it turns out, there is no one — no one — Elias will allow to steal his spotlight. Even the Acting General Manager of Raw. After his victory over Apollo Crews, The Living Truth had reassembled his set-up on the Raw stage to perform the concert that Crews had interrupted with his entrance, only to be silenced by the arrival of Acting General Manager Baron Corbin, who pulled rank to cut off Elias’ mic and force him off the stage when he found himself on the receiving end of a musical insult. This, of course, was a mistake: After seemingly retreating without incident behind the curtain, The Living Truth roared back onto the stage, guitar in hand, and smashed it to smithereens over the GM’s back.

Four of the participants of the imminent Women's Battle Royal at WWE Evolution engage in an all-out free-for-all.

The field for WWE Evolution’s Battle Royal filled up fast, and despite Dana Brooke’s pre-emptive powerplay last week, another competitor quickly cemented herself as a Superstar to watch in the high-stakes free-for-all. Facing presumptive favorite Nia Jax, eternal hopeful Brooke and comeback player Tamina, Ember Moon made the statement of the night in a Fatal 4-Way, biding her time until she sprang with an Eclipse to drop Tamina and claim the win. An impressive achievement to be sure, but it won’t be as easy as 1-2-3 come Sunday.

October is breast cancer awareness month, and WWE is proud to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation and their extraordinary fight against breast cancer.

Six days away from WWE Evolution, Titus O’Neil took the stage to advocate WWE’s hopes to achieve another bit of history and help end breast cancer once and for all. The former WWE Tag Team Champion, whose grandmother lost her fight with breast cancer in 1995, was overjoyed to share the stage with six women who didn’t just survive breast cancer, they beat it: Claire DiCenzo (four months pregnant!), Lindsay McGloughlin, Susan Lane, the just-married Monique Costa, Patrice Shelton and Cheryl Cuddy. To join the fight, save lives and contribute to the fight against breast cancer, text WWE to 50555 to donate $5 to Susan G. Komen. (Message and data rates may apply).