Roman Reigns Announces He Has Leukemia, Relinquishes WWE Universal Championship

Joseph Zucker @@JosephZuckerFeatured ColumnistOctober 23, 2018

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 19: Roman Reigns attends WWE Live AccorHotels Arena Popb Paris Bercy on May 19, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images

Roman Reigns announced he has leukemia and surrendered the WWE Universal Championship on Raw Monday night.

Reigns was set to defend the title in a Triple Threat match against Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel on Nov. 2. It's unclear how his announcement will impact the main event.

Bleacher Report's Dave Schilling shared a statement from WWE regarding the news:

Dave Schilling @dave_schilling
Press release from WWE: https://t.co/KR1DX0kTl4

Reigns is the second universal champion to relinquish the belt for health reasons. Finn Balor defeated Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016 to become the first-ever universal champion, but he suffered a shoulder injury in the match and that ended his title reign after one day.

Some questions arose as to Reigns' status when the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer reported he didn't make any house show appearances over the weekend. Barstool Sports' Robbie Fox reported Monday that Reigns was suffering from an undisclosed injury.

Reigns clarified during his speech his wrestling career isn't yet over, so fans haven't seen the last of The Big Dog in a WWE ring.

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