Roman Reigns Reveals Battle With Leukaemia, Vacates WWE Universal Championship
Roman Reigns opened Raw with a very sad and serious promo about his health.
Oct 23, 2018
Tonight's Monday Night Raw opened in shocking and sad fashion, as Roman Reigns revealed his battle with leukaemia.
In his promo, Reigns referred to himself as Joe - his real first name - and announced that he has been living with leukaemia for 11 years. He explained that he was diagnosed at the age of 22, but fought the disease, which then went into remission.
He explained that this led to a very difficult period of his life, with a baby on the way and his football career over. He paid gratitude to WWE for taking a chance on him and allowing his dreams to come true. Now, sadly, these health issues have returned.
Reigns then vacated the WWE Universal Championship, revealing that he feels it best to go home and concentrate on his family and his health. The fans quickly united in support, chanting "thank you Roman".
He finished by stating "This is by no means a retirement speech", promising to return once overcoming the disease, before declaring his love for the fans.
WWE.com summarised the ending of the speech: 'Speaking of the “faith” that had carried him through his life, Reigns promised the WWE Universe that he would return to “swing for the fences” at whatever curveballs life threw at him.'
Reigns left the ring and was joined by Shield stablemates Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose at the top of the ramp, who embraced to the applause of the fans.
Social media is already awash with support for Roman, and we'd like to join everybody in wishing him a full recovery.