Major WWE Star ‘Considered Himself Retired’ Before Huge Return

WWE

Paul Heyman has revealed when WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns previously considered himself retired from wrestling.

Roman Reigns has been on the run of his career since his WWE return at SummerSlam in August 2020. A week after his comeback, Reigns won the Universal Championship, which he later unified with the WWE Championship, and still holds to this day almost four years later.

Reigns has also established himself as the Tribal Chief, a key player in the highly praised multi-year Bloodline WWE storyline.

Speaking with Uproxx, Paul Heyman has revealed that all of this almost didn’t happen, as Reigns considered himself retired when stepping away from the ring during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Heyman explained:

“He considered himself retired. He wasn’t coming back.

“I was executive director of Monday Night Raw, and Roman was assigned to SmackDown. But every week I heard all the SmackDown writers and producers and personnel saying, ‘God, I just wish Roman would come back.’ And I would ask, has anybody talked to him? Yeah, he says he’s retired. He’s not coming back. No way. Thanks a lot. Done. Finished. Goodbye.

“So the fact that he came back for this run, for what we have accomplished, is nothing short of a miracle because as far as he was concerned, he was out.”

Roman Reigns had stepped away from the ring in early 2020 shortly after the COVID-19 lockdown, as a health precaution due to him being immunocompromised from his leukemia.

Reigns recently passed 1300 days as champion ahead of WrestleMania 40, where he will wrestle twice across the April 6-7 event.

On WrestleMania 40 Saturday, Reigns will team with The Rock to face off against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. The following night, he will put his title on the line against Cody Rhodes.

Roman Reigns recently reflected on the quality of his title reign, which you can read more about right here.

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• retirement
• paul heyman
• Roman Reigns
• wwe

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