Former WWE universal champion Roman Reigns returns to Raw for the first time since October, and makes a huge announcement concerning his career. Reigns was one of the first wrestlers to be called up to WWE’s main roster following the launch of the NXT developmental brand in 2012, although he didn’t make many appearances on NXT TV beforehand. Reigns was of course one third of dominant faction The Shield, alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. The Shield managed to make huge stars out of all three members, with Reigns, Rollins, and Ambrose all having held a vast array of singles and tag team championships.
The Shield originally broke up in 2014, when Rollins turned on his brothers in arms and joined Triple H in The Authority faction. The last few years have seen WWE unsuccessfully attempt to revive The Shield as a unit several times, only to have their plans derailed by unfortunate injuries or illnesses. Case in point, following Ambrose’s August 2018 return from a shoulder injury layoff, The Shield began teaming up once again, only for Reigns to have to take a leave of absence to battle leukemia in October.
Reigns was Raw’s universal champion at the time, having won the title from Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2018. Reigns was set to defend the gold in a triple threat match at November’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia against Lesnar and Braun Strowman, but was forced to relinquish the championship as part of his exit. Reigns hasn’t appeared on WWE since. Tonight on Raw, Reigns returned to WWE, and many fans wondered exactly what he had in store. Thankfully, it was a positive message, and “The Big Dog” looks to be beating cancer once again.
Reigns kicked off Monday’s episode of WWE Raw in the best possible way, thanking the fans for their support through his battle against the dangerous disease, then letting it be known that his leukemia is now back in remission. Reigns was diagnosed with the illness back in 2007, but it had been in remission since before he entered WWE, and the whole ordeal had never been public knowledge prior to Reigns’ October speech revealing his situation. While Reigns has been a divisive figure among WWE fans for years now, that hasn’t prevented the wrestling world from uniting behind the man, even those who aren’t a fan of his onscreen character.
While Reigns did say “The Big Dog Is Back!” to end the happy occasion, it’s unclear when he’ll next compete inside a WWE ring, or if he’s well enough to participate at this year’s WrestleMania. The big event is just over a month away, and while Reigns certainly looks outwardly healthy, that doesn’t mean that his cancer treatments didn’t take a toll on his body that he’ll need a bit while longer to fully recover from. Either way, the outlook seems great for Reigns, and hopefully he’ll be back kicking ass and winning championships in WWE in no time.
