On October 22, Roman Reigns announced to a stunned audience that 11 years ago, he had leukemia and now it has returned. His announcement, live on Monday Night Raw turned boos to cheers and a show of respect by the usually-hostile WWE crowd. Reigns surrendered the Universal title and was out of the picture for four months.
Until last night.
Appearing for the first time on WWE television since that address last year, Roman Reigns returned to Raw, welcomed by an usual sound: loud cheers.
Looking less bulkier than usual, Reigns said that he was always a man of faith and God always kept an eye on him. Before announcing his leukemia last year, he said he was scared and insecure and didn’t know if he wanted to share that secret with the world.
He said the main reason he was scared was because he didn’t know how the fans would react but by the time he went home, everyone found a way to get to him and that overwhelming support gave him new strength, new life, new opportunity, and new purpose.
Reigns added that his most important goal is not to win titles but to be able to step in the ring every single night and he will now use his time and the power of the WWE to raise awareness and give support to those in need like he needed a few months ago.
“Well, we advertised this as an update so should we get to the update?” Reigns said as fans chanted “Yes!”
“The good news is…I’m in remission y’all!” Reigns told the crowd which erupted in cheers. “So with that being said…the big dog is back!”
Reigns thanked the crowd and told them he loves them as he went around to hug and high-five fans at ringside. As he was making his way up the ramp, Seth Rollins came out to hug him at the top of the ramp.
