Four months after WWE superstar Roman Reigns announced during an episode of Raw that his real-life battle with leukemia was forcing him to step away from the ring, he made an appearance on the same program on Monday to provide fans with an update. To a huge ovation from the crowd in Atlanta, he confirmed: "The Big Dog is back."
Once he entered the ring, the 33-year-old Reigns, real name Joe Anoa'i, thanked the fans for their prayers and announced that his leukemia was officially in remission.
He said, "I’m back, I didn’t get enough. You know I said it before, I’m gonna say it a lot, thank you. And I didn’t really get a chance ‘cause, I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous. And it was overwhelming to hear the response. I’m like: ‘They actually cheered me?’ Crazy. But I just wanna say, you know I hugged the hell out of her out there, I just wanna say thank you to my mom, thank you to my family, and thank you to my children.
"But most of all, thank you to my wife… along with everybody else that sent their support and prayers. I just don’t feel like I would be in this position or, you know, feeling this good without all you guys. So one more time, and it’s not the last time, but it’s one more time, thank you."
Reigns became the Universal Champion for the first time after defeating Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. However, some days later on the October 22 episode of Raw, Reigns shocked everyone when he announced that he had been battling leukemia for 11 years and that it has relapsed.
