Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Universal Champion Roman Reigns announced on Raw that he has leukemia and will take a leave of absence from the WWE.
Reigns also relinquished his Universal Championship Monday during an emotional speech. The Big Dog told fans he has been living with leukemia for 11 years and that now he must battle it again.
"I wanna make one thing clear. By no means is this a retirement speech," Reigns said. "I will beat this and I will be back so you will see me very very soon."
Reigns was showered with chants of "Thank you Roman" and laid the Universal title in the middle of the ring and left. He then headed up the ramp where he was greeted by his Shield partners Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose who shared a group hug with their friend. The trio then posed together and gave each other The Shield fist bump.
Reigns was scheduled to defend the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel on Nov. 2 in a Triple Threat Match against Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman. The match will now be between Lesnar and Strowman, with the winner being declared the new champion.
Rollins and Ambrose returned for the main event to take on Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre for the Raw Tag Team Championships.
The Shield, who wanted to win the match for Reigns, was able to come out on top after Strowman entered the arena in order to get revenge on McIntyre. The Monster Among Men battled McIntyre through the crowd, taking McIntyre out of the equation.
Rollins then delivered the Curb Stomp to Ziggler in the ring to win the match and the Raw Tag Team Championships. Rollins also holds the Intercontinental title, making him a double champion.
Ambrose and Rollins celebrated in the ring together, however, The Lunatic Fringe finally snapped and after weeks of pent-up frustration with The Shield, attacked Rollins with a Dirty Deeds. Ambrose, as the crowd looked on in shock, continued to assault his former friend and delivered a second Dirty Deeds to Rollins onto concrete floor.
Other moments from Raw included Finn Balor defeating Bobby Lashley; Ruby Riott defeating Sasha Banks; The Undertaker and Kane promising Triple H and Shawn Michaels that they will be annihilated at Crown Jewel; Strowman getting into a war of words with Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman; Elias defeating Apollo Crews and then taking out acting Raw general manager Baron Corbin with a guitar; Ember Moon defeating Nia Jax, Dana Brooke and Tamina in a Fatal 4-Way Match; and Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey having a contract signing with Nikki Bella for their match at Evolution on Sunday.
Bella, during the contract signing, brought up Rousey's mother and how she must be disappointed by her daughter. Bella then signed on the dotted line and slapped Rousey across the face. Rousey refrained from attacking her rival, choosing instead to wait until their championship match.
