We wish him all the best
Leati Joseph Anoa’i, known to WWE fans as Roman Reigns, opened up the broadcast of Monday Night Raw by announcing that he has leukaemia. The wrestler had been diagnosed 11 years ago, but had been in remission.
During the announcement, Reigns confirmed that his leukemia was back, and that he wouldn’t be able to carry out his duties as a wrestler, and therefore would have to relinquish the Universal Championship.
.@WWERomanReigns has to relinquish the Universal Championship due to a battle with leukemia. #Raw pic.twitter.com/EhomllNwjK
— WWE (@WWE) October 23, 2018
“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.”
The 33-year-old wrestling star promised fans that he would return, saying: “I will beat this, I will be back, and you will see me very, very soon.
“By no means is this a retirement speech,” he said. “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.”
Very emotional start to #Raw with Roman Reigns announcing he has leukemia and needs to obviously step away from wrestling. He gave a great speech, the fans chanted his name and supported him. He gave up the Universal Title. Then he got a hug from his Shield brothers. God bless. pic.twitter.com/5rCwBqrVCJ
— John Canton (TJRWrestling) (@johnreport) October 23, 2018
Following the emotional speech, Reigns shared an embrace with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, who form the wrestling stable The Shield.
The announcement of Reigns’ diagnosis saw #ThankYouRoman trending on Twitter, with fans and fellow wrestlers showing their support.
