Roman Reigns returns to WWE Raw to announce his leukaemia is in remission in emotional statement
The four-time WWE champion returned after four months away following a relapse in his 11-year battle against leukaemia
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Your support makes all the difference.Roman Reigns returned to the WWE on Monday night for the first time since revealing he had been diagnosed with leukaemia to update fans that his illness is now in remission.
The emotional moment came in Atlanta, Georgia, as Reigns made an emotional return to the WWE for the first time since he took a leave of absence in October last year. After winning the Universal Championship, Reigns – real name Leati Joseph Anoaʻi – was forced to relinquish the title and decided to make his illness public, having privately battled leukaemia for 11 years.
Reigns revealed he had relapsed and would need to undergo further treatment, but promised to fight the illness and return to the WWE. That moment came on Monday.
Reigns was given a hero’s welcome as he returned to the ring, and with a beaming smile on his face, it quickly became apparent that there was good news on the way.
“When I tell you this I am so grateful, so humble and I’m so honoured to announce this,” Reigns said. “Let’s crawl before we can walk and walk before we can run, but the good news I’m in remission ya’ll.”
The announcement triggered a huge cheer from the WWE fans who have for so long booed and jeered Reigns in his persona, and the moment – undoubtedly the biggest pop Reigns has experienced – looked to get to the 33-year-old, whose family were also ringside.
“There is no other job like this,” Reigns opened up with. There is no other fan base like you guys. And I’ve said this before, I’m a man of faith, I’ve always believed in God, I’ve always believed that he’s favoured me and looked out for me but I’m not going to lie, before my announcement in October I was terrified. I was scared, I was insecure and I didn’t really know if I wanted to share that secret with the world.
“I was scared to tell everybody because I didn’t know how you’d react, and by the time I got home the outreach between people texting me, calling me, tweeting me, Instagramming me, Facebooking me… if there was a way to get to me, ya’ll figured out how to do it, and that overwhelming support that you gave me, it gave me strength, it gave me new life, it gave me new opportunity and it gave me a new purpose.
“You see, here in the WWE, a lot of your purpose as a young superstar is to win titles and to climb that mountain and reach the top and put your flag in it, and that’s still important, but for me, the only thing that’s important is that I have the ability to step foot in this ruing every single night, and if I can do that I’m going to use this platform, this giant WWE platform that is global and everyone can see, I’m going to use it to raise awareness, and I’m going to use it to support those who are in need just as I was.
So with that being said, the Big Dog is back!” he roared. “So before I go, I’m going to say it probably a whole bunch of times but I’m going to say it one last time: thank you so much ya’ll. I love ya’ll.”
Reigns wasted little time in returning to action, as both he and Seth Rollins came to the rescue of former Shield teammate Dean Ambrose when he was attacked by Drew McIntyre, Elias, Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin, much to the crowd’s delight. However, the pair were also involved in a stare-down with Ambrose, teasing a potential rivalry between the trio in the near-future.
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