Monday Night Raw opened in the most heartbreaking way possible.
In a shocking and sad moment, Roman Reigns revealed that he has been battling leukemia for 11 years and that it recently came back. Reigns, who has always taken pride in showing up every night, announced that he would be relinquishing the Universal Title and heading home to fight the blood cancer.
As reported earlier today, Reigns missed this weekend's live events. There were conflicting reports as to why he was pulled from the show with PWInsider saying he was just being given time off and Barstool Sports reporting that he was injured.
WWE put out the following statement on the matter:
STAMFORD, Conn., October 22, 2018 – Tonight on Monday Night Raw, Roman Reigns (aka Joe Anoa’i) announced that he is relinquishing the WWE Universal Championship and taking a leave of absence from WWE as he once again fights leukemia, which had been in remission since late 2008. Reigns is taking his battle with leukemia public in an effort to raise awareness and funds for research in order to advance cures for the disease.
WWE cameras were rolling following Reigns' announcement. Backstage, he was hugged by Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Paul Heyman, Braun Strowman, and more.
Our thoughts are with Reigns and his family.
You can see a video update from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful below.
