WWE released a statement on Monday shortly after Roman Reigns revealed on Monday Night Raw that he had been diagnosed with leukemia.
“Tonight on Monday Night Raw, Roman Reigns (aka Joe Anao’i) announced that he is relinquishing the WWE Universal Championship and taking a leave of absence from WWE as he once again fights leukemia, which had been in remission since late 2008,” the statement read. “Reigns is taking his battle with leukemia public in an effort to raise awareness and funds for research in order to advance cures for the disease.”
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Reigns opened Monday’s show by revealing he had been dealing with the form of cancer for 11 years and that he had already beaten it once. Unfortunately he had recently learned of its return and announced that he would be stepping away from the ring as he deals with treatment. As a result, he would be relinquishing the WWE Universal Championship he had won at SummerSlam.
“You know the deal, you know how life is,” Reigns said. “Life is not fair, it’s not all peaches and cream. Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. And right now the best thing for me to do is to go home, to focus on my family and my health.
“But I want to make one thing clear, by no means is this a retirement speech,” he continued. “Because after I’m done whooping leukemia’s ass once again I’m coming back home. And when I do, it’s not just going to be about titles and being on top, no it’s about a purpose. I am coming back because I want to show all of you, the whole world, I want to show my family, my friends, my children and my wife, that when life throws a curve ball at me, I am the type of man that will stand in that batter’s box, I will crowd the plate, I will choke up and I will swing for the fences every single time. Because I will beat this and I will be back and you will see me very, very soon.”
Reigns was booked to defend his championship at the upcoming Crown Jewel event on Nov. 2 in a triple threat match with Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman. The Raw commentary team revealed shortly afterwards that a new match had yet to be determined.
As a member of the famous Anao’i wrestling family, Reigns first joined the WWE as a developmental wrestler in 2010. He made his main roster debut in November 2012 as a member of The Shield alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
