The biggest winners and losers of last night's Raw (October 23)

This week's Raw was a monumental episode, signaling a seismic shift in WWE programming going forward. That isn't what the company wanted, but Roman Reigns' stunning announcement of his cancer diagnosis sent the company into complete chaos.

This announcement, more than anything else, got fans on Roman Reigns' side at last. Unfortunately, he now needed to relinquish the Universal Championship as he goes into a far tougher battle than any he has faced in the ring.

With the top title on Raw now unexpectedly vacant, things have become open-ended and a new sense of urgency has taken over the show.

In the wake of Roman Reigns' stunning departure, who got the most out of the tragic fallout? Who will be on the road to become the new Universal Champion?

Loser: Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley losing to Finn Balor, no doubt to feud with him later, was a big mistake. Finn Balor has been so irrelevant for so long that it wasn't a wise move at all to have him prevail over Lashley, who is fresh off a reinvigorating heel turn.

With this loss, he feels more like an average superstar, which is just the wrong path to take with him at this particular moment in time.

With Roman Reigns now gone, Bobby Lashley matters that much more as a top heel on Monday nights. Him losing to Balor of all people was a mis-allocation of resources.

Sure, the win for Finn Balor only came as a result of a rollup pin, but it still feels like an afterthought, especially now. Bobby Lashley should have simply dismissed Finn Balor on his road to doing much more important things.

Especially since this wasn't meant to be the start of a rebuild for Finn Balor, it feels like even more of a waste.