In the wake of his brother's death, Roman Reigns says he hopes to continue his family's legacy.
On April 17th, Matt Anoa'i passed away after being hospitalized for congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Anoa'i, known as Rosey in the ring, had a wrestling career which spanned decades, and once held the WWE Tag-Team Championships. WWE conducted an interview with Anoa'i's brother Reigns about his grieving process in the last week.
“Right now, it’s one of those situations where it’s a lot of mixed feelings. When you live in a big family, it’s always great to be able to come together, but to have to come together to send off a brother and not only was he my brother, but in our family, even when you’re cousins, we’re all so close that we feel like brothers. That’s the type of connection we have in our family. It was an extremely sad weekend, and it’s still really tough. Everybody’s grieving. But to see our family come together and have a hundred-plus family and friends come together to celebrate my brother’s life really meant a lot. It just continually picks up our family and keeps us moving on," said Reigns.
His co-workers have been supportive, he says.
"I don’t think I’ve ever received so many text messages from family and friends, especially within the company. So many guys in our locker room have reached out to me and sent their condolences and told me if there’s anything I need, don’t hesitate," said Reigns.
He also said he has received a lot of support from WWE's fan-base.
"Whether you’re a Roman Reigns supporter or a critic, everybody seems to understand the magnitude of the situation, and when it comes down to it, it’s a part of life but I think everybody gets it. Everybody’s been very sweet and really come to try and help me through this hard time. It really has helped...I just want to thank everybody who’s reached out. All my fans, everybody has been so supportive. This is a tough time but like everything in life we can learn from it and get better from it. My only hope now is that I can continue to represent my family and represent my brother and continue to push our legacy. He was my number one fan. He never missed a match, he never missed anything I did in the ring, he always had great advice for me and always reached out to talk. Payback and 2017 and any chance I get to go in that ring I’m representing him,” said Reigns.
Reigns has not appeared on Raw since before his brother's passing. He was in a segment with Braun Strowman where Reigns was put into an ambulance which Strowman flipped on it's side. On Sunday, Reigns is scheduled to face Strowman at WWE Payback.
The rest of the Interview can be found at WWE.com.
