Watch: Roman Reigns Officially Confirms He’ll Miss WrestleMania 36

Roman Reigns took to his Instagram story on Monday to address the reports that popped up last week about him missing WrestleMania 36. The news broke via Pro Wrestling Sheet on Friday that, due to him being immunocompromised from his recent battle with leukemia, Reigns had opted not to compete against Goldberg at the WWE Performance Center due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Reigns confirmed those reports, then addressed the people who were calling him a “coward” on social media for opting out of the event for his own safety and the safety of his family.

“You already know what’s going on, it’s all over the news, the dirt sheets, whatever you want to call em, that I pulled out of WrestleMania,” Reigns said. And it’s funny because for years now, years, people are like, ‘Don’t show up to WrestleMania! We don’t want you in it!’ Ya know what I mean? There’s a nice handful of dudes and haters that didn’t want me there. But the moment I make a choice for me and my family, I’m a ‘coward.’ I’m a ‘sissy.’ A lot of different things that I am now. But you don’t know the whole story.

“All you know is what you think,” he continued. “‘Oh, well his health’ and this and that, but you don’t know what else is going on in my life. You don’t know if I have newborns. You don’t know if I have family in my household, older family. So yeah, like the old saying, man … go and flip that cover open and read a few pages, get into a few chapters before you really start running your mouth. And just take this time to better yourself, be present and make the most out of this.”

Reigns also pushed for kindness on social media during the ongoing pandemic.

WWE has yet to officially comment on Reigns missing the show, and as of Monday is still listed to compete in the Universal Championship match on WWE.com.