WWE's Roman Reigns Announces He's Battling Leukemia

Roman Reigns broke character on 'Monday Night Raw' to share news of leukemia returning

WWE superstar, Roman Reigns (real name, Joe Anoa'i) shocked the wrestling world on Monday Night Raw by announcing that his leukemia has returned and he's leaving the company to deal with the illness.

The 33-year-old Reigns, who was the WWE champion, said that he was first diagnosed with leukemia 11 years ago, before telling the fans that he is dealing with the cancer once again. He went on to say, "Sometimes life throws you a curveball and right now the best thing for me to do is go home to focus on my family and my health," but quickly stated that this was not a retirement speech.

"After I'm done whooping leukemia's ass once again, I'm coming back home," Reigns declared. 

Reigns, who has been in remission since late 2008, ended his annoucement by relinqueshing his WWE title and embracing his fellow Shield members, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, before heading backstage.

There's no brotherhood greater.#Raw @WWERomanReigns @TheDeanAmbrose @WWERollins pic.twitter.com/QHFemFd9A5

— WWE (@WWE) October 23, 2018

WWE superstars quickly took to Twitter to offer their support to their colleague.

@WWERomanReigns My Family And I Are Thinking Of You And Are Keeping You In Our Prayers! We Are Here For You! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) October 23, 2018

[tweet:https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/status/1054533144584556546

[tweet:https://twitter.com/SamiZayn/status/1054532524897157120}

Just saw the @WWERomanReigns news. Absolutely heartbreaking. Roman is one of nicest guys I have ever met in this business and was a pleasure every time I had the pleasure to work with him. My best wishes to him!

— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) October 23, 2018

♥️ THANKYOU, @WWERomanReigns. Praying for you and your family.

— Nattie (@NatbyNature) October 23, 2018

Thank you @WWERomanReigns, we are with you! #ThankYouRoman #RAW

— Booker T. Huffman (@BookerT5x) October 23, 2018

Reigns has been on the WWE's main roster since 2012.