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‘Was Leukemia battle a storyline?’ - WWE superstar Roman Reigns opens up

In this article, we take a look about the storyline angle rumour as WWE superstar Roman Reigns opens up on battle with Leukemia.

By Raja
Roman Reigns (image courtesy WWE.com)

Bengaluru, September 8: The most eventful night in WWE for the year 2018 was October 23rd where The Shield fell apart as Dean Ambrose turned on Seth Rollins with a blindside attack. But that news was overshadowed as the company’s franchise player had to leave the scene. Roman Reigns had to relinquish his Universal Championship on the very same night as he had to go into a hiatus to battle Leukemia.

It had affected him 11 years ago and was back from remission to keep the marquee superstar out of action. Many believed that it could end Roman Reigns’ career for good as the disease often has a long-lasting effect on a person’s body. Thankfully, he was successful to send it back into remission and return to Monday Night Raw on February 25th episode of this year.

It was a sigh of relief to the WWE officials as Wrestlemania 35 was closing in. Being the poster boy of the company, his presence meant a lot to the fans and the news garnered mainstream media attention from all over the world. However, not all of the pro-wrestling world was positive towards it. Considering that he was back within just four months, some critics and haters believed that it was not real. Rather, WWE created a storyline to draw more ratings on TV.

During a recent interview with Leukemia Care, “The Big Dog” Roman Reigns talked about his battle with leukemia and wiped out the belief and gave a key reason for the same where most of the people do not have any idea of what the disease is all about and the effects that it could have on one’s body. It is not cancer which could be life-threatening. Check out more on this as he went on to illustrate the whole situation, (courtesy wwfoldschool.com)

“I think there is ignorance of leukemia. The word alone is intimidating. 'Leukaemia’ it sounds like a cancer word. It sounds like it could take your life.

What people haven’t realized are the different phases. That’s the whole thing about me and this huge WWE platform, that’s why I want people to know. I want people to understand that it’s not what people see in the movies. We’re in a different place now; we are making advancements, there are things we are doing to help people and save lives – we just don’t always concentrate on those things.

In the media, what we like to talk about is very controversial, that’s what we want to discuss. We don’t want to discuss the good moments or 'the wins’. With my story and the help of my medication, and the medical breakthroughs that we have, I think it’s very important to understand that. We are winning some of these battles. There are very specific reasons why I am maintaining the look and the health that I have, and it’s important that people know that.

This is what I feel when people see me in that ring when they know I came through what happened to me and still do something like being a performer and throwing my body around in front of millions of people. The fact that I am still able to do that, I think that should give a lot of hope to people that they can lead a normal life and can still capture their dreams.”

While coming back on Raw, Roman Reigns thanked all the fans for their support when he was recovering from Leukemia. But he did understand the ignorance and false thinking around this disease. So he openly announced of arranging awareness campaigns around the USA country and beyond, so to give courage to the victims. Using the bigger platform of WWE, he is continuously working on the same.

As for in-ring competition, he competed in his comeback match at Wrestlemania 35 defeating Drew McIntyre in a singles contest. He featured in all the leading pay-per-view events except for Summerslam. But the insider update is that Roman Reigns is yet to fully recover from Leukemia. Here’s what he has offered on the side-effects of his oral chemotherapy,

“Some days it makes me a little nauseous; I do a good job in trying to keep everything down and not going the full way in terms of being sick. It can disrupt your stomach a little bit. You have to change some of your eating habits. I can’t take in as much protein as I used to.



In terms of my alcohol, I’ve got to be that guy who kind of sits on the side of the party here and there, I’ll maybe have myself a glass of wine. For the most part, it’s out completely.

I can’t really go in the sun as much, I have hyperpigmentation from my medication. There are a few different effects, but at the end of the day, I woke up. I’d rather deal with a few side effects here and there and continue to wake up every day.”
Story first published: Sunday, September 8, 2019, 13:54 [IST]
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