WWE's top 5 moments of the week (October 21 - 27)

WWE had quite the emotional week. Raw and NXT delivered some powerful moments that made this week one of 2018's most memorable. SmackDown, for once, lagged behind, although it did have one good thing. The Evolution go-home show from the blue brand was a particular disappointment.

The quirky, or possibly even disgraceful, the thing was that nothing in the build to Evolution made WWE's top five moments this week. The pay per view has truly felt like an afterthought, with the company reportedly not viewing it as a big deal. WWE is just hoping that nobody notices while it decides to go ahead with the controversial Crown Jewel pay per view in Saudi Arabia, despite international condemnation of that country and more American companies pulling out of relationships with it.

Let's take a look now at which moments left the most impact this week, with Crown Jewel now less than a week away.

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#5 Message Sent

After EC3 picked up a surprising victory over Adam Cole, though one which didn't come without shenanigans, the Undisputed Era went on the attack. All four members delivered a brutal beating of the self-proclaimed top 1%. The climax came when Bobby Fish smashed a steel chair into EC3's knee, mirroring the injury that he'd received earlier in the year.

It was an effective way to put over the threat of the Undisputed Era despite Adam Cole's loss of the North American Championship.

Some wonder whether EC3's involvement in this angle is as a possible last-minute replacement for Pete Dunne at TakeOver: War Games II in a few weeks, given that the UK Champion appears to have sustained an injury. All we can do now is hope that this isn't the case. EC3 is fine enough, but he would be no substitute for Pete Dunne in a War Games match - that much is for certain.

#4 "I thought I was supposed to be on Truth TV"

Rey Mysterio hasn't missed a beat in his time away from WWE, neither in the ring nor, as we are now aware, in doing a promo. The Miz TV segment was a funny and witty promo between the two which teased the potential of a future rivalry between them. Mysterio defeated The Miz in a subsequent match. Whether the two meet at the controversial World Cup tournament at Crown Jewel is still to be determined.

Mysterio's presence on SmackDown was badly needed. The blue brand was and still is, heel heavy, so the addition of a babyface like Rey Mysterio is going to add needed moments and segments like this going forward, as well as balancing out the roster. If this is any indication, we can expect his presence to be an effective one, rather than just one that's there.

#3 It was ME all along, Aleister!

This was fantastic. In a normal week, this would be the runaway best moment, but obviously, this was no normal week in WWE.

For months, we'd been wondering who attacked Aleister Black in the parking lot before TakeOver: Brooklyn IV. Black made his return last week, with Nikki Cross telling him a secret. Black stormed into the building Stone Cold style, demolishing security guards on his way to the ring, and then Lars Sullivan for good measure, demanding that William Regal tell him where "he" is.

Suddenly, Black received a superkick from none other than Johnny Gargano, who declared that he was right there.

This was a great way to keep us in suspense until the very end, and the moment was shocking. Although Gargano was the prime suspect for a while, because he had the motive, because other suspects had been eliminated, and because of his non-denial when Regal first asked him the question, it appeared that he was turning back to the light side since. Now, he's fully embraced his darkness, with even Tommaso Ciampa congratulating him.

#2 Why Dean, why?!

Speaking of heel turns, this was sublime. It was truly one of the most memorable heel turns in WWE history. That it happened on such an emotional night was precisely the point. Everyone was expecting a Dean Ambrose heel turn. WWE had been teasing it for a month. No one was expecting it on Raw, though. Any night but that!

The audience was in absolute disbelief and Seth Rollins' expression was the best he had ever put on in his entire career. He looked positively heartbroken. His own betrayal of the Shield in 2014 had, at last, come full circle, but Dean Ambrose's betrayal was an even deeper wound than the one Seth Rollins had inflicted four years ago. It was one of those extremely rare times, especially where WWE is concerned, that the sequel managed to outdo the original.

Everything about this was masterful. With this going on, Braun Strowman's odds of becoming Universal Champion good, and Drew McIntyre's ascent, Raw has finally become must-see again.

#1 Thank you, Roman

Even with the memorable heel turns of Johnny Gargano and Dean Ambrose, nothing was ever going to surpass this moment. It was truly shocking. More than that, though, we finally got to see the man behind Roman Reigns instead of a corporate created character, and the results were heartwarming.

Though no one would ever wish it on him, Reigns' leukemia diagnosis saw him have far and away the best promo of his career. At last, the standoff between fans and company has been lifted. Roman Reigns finally became beloved.

Good things can happen in bad circumstances. Roman Reigns' departure does a number of things for Raw. First, it opens up the main event picture to many possibilities that had been closed off before. More than that, though, when Roman Reigns makes good on his word and returns after beating leukemia again, he will finally emerge as the most beloved guy in the company, one who fans are eager to get behind on his way back to the top of the mountain.

This week was truly the dawn of a new era on Raw and it will be brighter than what went on before, despite this being a dark hour in WWE history. Roman will come back and he will come back stronger than before.