“Hope He’s Well”: Roman Reigns’ Health Issues Feared Online After Considerable Weight-Loss Evidence Before WrestleMania XL

WWE superstar Roman Reigns has been the top man of WWE for a very long time. The Tribal Chief constructed himself into one of the biggest heels after his life-threatening fight with leukemia. While the WWE Championship status of The Head of The Table is undisputed, the same might not be true for his health.

Leukemia, or any other form of cancer, takes a heavy toll on the body even after remission. While Roman Reigns has come back and is drawing scores of spectators for WWE, he has been a part-time pro wrestler for a very long time. Recently, however, some people have been claiming that his former ailment might have returned. And it was all to do with his recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Roman Reigns is currently preparing for the biggest-ever edition of WWE WrestleMania. Being the show’s biggest star, The Tribal Chief will headline both nights of this year’s Grandest Stage of Them All. While he’s been silently training behind the scenes, his sit down with Fallon and Dwayne’ The Rock’ Johnson raised a few alarm bells.

In a post on Reddit, user r/WWE shared two pictures of Reigns – one from The Tonight Show (where he was donning an all-black ensemble) and the other from Royal Rumble (with a bare torso, sporting his fighting gear). The user wrote, “It is my idea or Roman is skinnier? It is just an observation and hope it isn’t the leukemia back, but kinda had the impression since Royal Rumble but watching his appareance in Jimmy Falon’s show it feels like he isn’t as buff as before.”

There were many speculations from those in the WWE Universe, with some opining that Reigns may be getting leaner to let his abdominal muscles pop out more since Cody Rhodes was doing the same, while others felt it was his black suit that made him look slimmer. But the overarching sentiment in the responses was concern for Reigns’ health. Has his cancer returned? 

After being diagnosed in 2007 and battling leukemia, Reigns’ was in remission until 2018. On October 22, the then-Universal Champion revealed on WWE Raw, “The reality is my name is Joe, and I’ve been living with leukemia for 11 years. Unfortunately, it’s back. Because the leukemia is back, I can’t fulfill my role. I can’t be that fighting champion, and I’m going to have to relinquish the Universal Championship.” But promising to best leukemia and “come back home,” he did precisely that.

Since his return, Roman Reigns has been right on top. However, especially considering the recent rumors of Reigns’ hiatus after WrestleMania XL, fans couldn’t help but voice their concerns about The Tribal Chief’s health.

When Roman Reigns got everyone scared for his health

Roman Reigns has only wrestled in one match this year, which came in January when he retained the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Since then, he hasn’t gotten back in the ring. Referring to this and his evident weight loss, a fan expressed concern while not wanting to think of the worst. They wrote, “Looking at this photo, I don’t wanna overspeculate, but I hope he’s well. Maybe explains his absence recently a bit more, too.”

Comparing the two pictures posted by the Reddit user, a fan acknowledged the noticeable weight loss between Royal Rumble and right now. “Cheeks definitely sunk,” they wrote. While almost everyone was freaking out about the rumored return of Reigns’ leukemia, a fan suggested, “He is on pretty intense leukemia meds, apparently, so he can hardly be blamed.”

In an episode of Biography: WWE Legends, Reigns revealed, “For leukemia, if you caught it [at] an early enough stage like I did, you’re able to take, essentially, a medication, a very potent medication that I’m still on to this day.” Considering how “potent” the medication is, the fan’s assumption could very well be accurate. However, there were others who resorted to worrying about The Tribal Chief’s family.

“If it’s leukemia again, it would make sense. He needs to just stop and worry about his health. Remission or not, cancer is f**king scary. I remember those promo ads wrestlers would do with their kids, and seeing Roman play with his daughter was so wholesome. I’d hate for anything to happen to that family. He’s made enough, he can go relax and get well,” they wrote. Some looked at the possible bright side of the weight loss, though.

A Reddit user expressed how he may be preparing for his speculated hiatus after WrestleMania XL. In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted, “I don’t think anyone believes Reigns would retire with a loss, and WWE has taught fans not to believe it. But given his schedule, it’s probable he’d take some time off.” Referring to this, the user wrote, “Hopefully, this doesn’t mean he has health issues again but that he’s only slimming down because he’s getting ready for time off.” But they also shed light on the assumption that Reigns is, in fact, unwell again.

They added, “I totally can see him and WWE hiding health issues until this Cody story is over.” With Cody Rhodes wanting to “finish the story” at WrestleMania XL, Roman Reigns weighed in on that while talking to Jimmy Fallon. He said, “I think Cody’s reading the wrong book at this point because we don’t care about his story… this is where we close the book completely on this guy.” 

Considering all this, do you think Roman Reigns will, in fact, take a hiatus after WrestleMania XL? And if he does, could it possibly be related to what fans are fearing? Let us know in the comments!

ALSO READ – “You Told Me”: Roman Reigns Details Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s “Shark Tank” Advice While Dissing Cody Rhodes Ahead of WrestleMania XL