Roman Reigns Reveals Leukemia Diagnosis, Forfeits Universal Championship on WWE

[Infinit01]

I'm not a wrestlying fan but this is The Rock's cousin that we're talking about and I'm a huge fan of Dwayne.  It sucks to hear about these types of health issues but good to know that Roman is on top of it and will fight that first before returning to the ring to fight another day.  Living with something like leukemia for 11 years and still getting into the ring despite it being staged or not, still isn't an easy thing to do.  Kudos to him and hope that he has a speedy recovery.


"My real name is Joe, and I've been living with leukemia for 11 years," Reigns said at the start of his promo.

"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."

https://comicbook.com/wwe/2018/10/23/roman-reigns-reveals-leukemia-diagnosis-forfeits-universal-championship-wwe-raw/

[James Casey]

I'm a big wrestling fan, and seeing this promo this morning was one of the biggest shocks I've ever had watching sports/TV/whatever.

For a seemingly healthy young man like Reigns to be hit like this - and for it to be a second bout, which had never been acknowledged on TV to the best of my knowledge - is obviously horrific for him.

There'll be some good to come from this - increased awareness and charitable donations, I'm sure, and WWE already does a lot of work with various cancer charities. I know a lot of fans have been looking into donating blood/bone marrow and so on today for the first time.

Above all else, though, there's a young man, a father, a brother, a son at the centre of this, and I can only hope and pray that he comes out the other side healthy and able to enjoy life again. If he's able to fight again, so much the better, but first and foremost I hope that he gives leukemia another beatdown.

[Infinit01]

Agreed, wrestling fans or not, something as serious as cancer is something most people can relate to.  It took a lot of courage for him to do it on national television whether he's an entertainer or not since most celebrities rather undergo these types of situations alone and will talk about it after the fact.  Not all, but most.  Kudos to him for doing so and what I think is more than likely harder to do was to give up his title while he focused on getting better. 

I do hope that it'll be quick as it can be given these types of treatments takes over a year to fully battle the cancer depending on how serious it is this time around.  He has lots of support from his family to his fans alike.

[For Tyeth]

Hi All,

Yes cancer (with a small c) isn't picky when it comes down to who gets it or not...but I know it can be defeated. And wrestlers are some of the toughest people on the planet I know (I've spoken to a few) and I'm sure Joe will have the Testicular Fortitude to face it again and win.

All my thoughts and best wishes go out to Joe (and family) as he faces his latest battle.