Above is video of Roman Reigns talking to Charly Caruso after making his big WWE TV return on last night’s RAW in Atlanta. Reigns announced that he is in remission from his second battle with leukemia. The Big Dog was later involved in some in-ring action, leading to speculation on a big eight-man match for WWE Fastlane with The Shield and Braun Strowman vs. Elias, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre.
“Tonight’s been incredible,” Reigns said of the big night. “You know, I feel like I sat around and thought about how this would go for a long time. What I would say. To be honest, I was nervous and I was so choked up, so emotional at the time, I just hope it came off well and I hope that everyone knows exactly how grateful I am. The second half of the night was cool because I felt like we were able to show the through action, exactly how much better I’m doing. Hopefully after seeing me go through some physicality, and kick some ass, hopefully they can tell that yeah, he is much better, he’s doing better, he’s looking better, he’s moving better. So, hopefully it’s just a snowball effect and people will stop worrying about me and we’ll just deflect all of this beautiful energy that has been sent to me, and just use it to help others.”
Caruso asked what it’s like to talk to the WWE Universe and feel how touched they were to have him back, and how emotional they were to see him. Reigns said it was awesome.
“It was awesome. You’ve heard it and seen it with me, I’m a bit of a polarizing character at times, and just to see everybody put away their opinion and critiques, and just put love behind what they were sending to me, it was awesome,” he said. “And I’ll never forget it, and I’ll always feel like that’s my family out there. The way they supported me, the way that they had my back, it was like, ‘We can pick on this guy sometimes but nobody else can, including cancer.’ It was really nice to see everybody rally behind me and then to kind of crescendo it tonight, that was really the cherry on top.”
Charly also asked if Reigns ever thought that he wouldn’t be able to get back to this point. Reigns said he always had faith, but this battle was tougher than the first.
“You know, I always had faith,” Reigns said. “I was scared, like I said out there. I was terrified of this because you just never know. I’m not a doctor, I’m not a scientist, I’m in God’s hands at that point, hoping that my medical team can make things happen, and they did. But I always had faith, I always knew, I just didn’t know when. I’ve never had a situation like this, to this extent, to where my body really felt it. I was a much younger man the first time, 22 years old, a spring chicken. I’ve been on the road now for 6, almost 7 years, so I could tell that the energy drop was totally different. But to be able to bounce back is just completely God-sent. I’m ecstatic about it, it doesn’t even feel real at this point. It feels like I might be going to Disney World or something. It’s been really cool.”
Regarding the WWE Universal Title, which Reigns relinquished back in October when announcing the diagnosis, The Big Dog says he feels like he’s got a long way to go before he gets back in the running.
“I feel like I’ve got a long ways to go,” Reigns said when Caruso asked about going for the title again. “Right now it’s not really about the titles, it’s about being in the ring, being with my fans, entertaining them, supporting this company and just being a part of the show. That’s what I missed the most, is just being back here, being with everybody, the camaraderie. I’ve spent a lot of time molding these relationships and I just want to see them through, and I want to see it all the way to the end.”
