Feb 1, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman during the Men’s Royal Rumble match during the WWE Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

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What disease did Roman Reigns have? All about the Illness that almost made Roman Reigns quit from WWE!

Learn all about what disease Roman Reigns suffers from and whether he is considering leaving the WWE or not.

Feb 1, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman during the Men’s Royal Rumble match during the WWE Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Roman Reigns will be locked in a triple-threat battle for his thirteenth WrestleMania match at WWE WrestleMania 41 Night 1 on April 19, 2025. His opponents in the match will feature his former “Shield” teammate Seth Rollins and CM Punk. Moreover, Paul Heyman will be managing CM Punk instead of Roman Reigns. Notably, this presents a challenge for “OTC” who will be eager to overcome it all and emerge out of the match as the superior one.

Roman Reigns‘ popularity has only increased over the years ever since he made his heel turn after his return in 2020. However, in his personal life, he also had to deal with a life-threatening illness. But what is this illness that almost made the Grand Slam Champion quit the WWE in October 2018. Read on more to find out about his illness.

Roman Reigns has Blood Cancer (Leukemia)

Roman Reigns suffers from Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). This type of cancer is notable for affecting the blood and bone marrow of the patient.

Notably, Roman Reigns was first diagnosed with the disease when he was 22-years old in 2007. Unfortunately, it again returned on October 22, 2018 and left WWE for an indefinite period of time for treatment. This night was also heartbreaking for another reason. The Shield, which had reformed, again disbanded as Deam Ambrose turned heel on Seth Rollins and attacked him. This happened even after the Raw Tag Team Champions by defeating Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.

Fortunately, Roman Reigns made his return on February 25, 2019 and reunited with Seth Rollins. He received a large ovation from the fans after informing them that his leukemia was again in remission. He has since then discussed his battle with the disease in April 2024 (via Only My Health). He stated,

“Well, I’m still on oral chemotherapy. It’s a medication that I’m going to have to remain on my entire life most likely. As long as I can perform, then you already know that that’s at bay, so we’re good. We’re still in remission. But it is something that is still a part of my life.”

Will Roman Reigns Leave WWE?

Roman Reigns has made plans for retiring as a pro wrestler and leaving the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) behind. He has revealed that his present contract will be ending after WrestleMania 42 in 2026 as per Cageside Seats. After that, he will probably get a year or two before he calls it quits and takes on a less physical form of entertainment.

Notably, a major reason behind Roman Reigns’ future retirement and leaving WWE may be his Hollywood career. He has already starred in several movies and TV shows. He might want to focus on Hollywood full-time. Notably, he has received a lot of scripts but he is not able to focus on acting due to his career as a pro wrestler. His retirement from the WWE can allow him to become a full-time actor and select roles he wants to do. Roman Reigngs has also stated about his future career as an actor (via Cageside Seats)-

“I almost want to model it after Tarantino, where we’re not just doing anything and everything. I really want to plot out: I want this one. I want that one.”

It seems that that WWE will soon need to find a new face of the company, now that Roman Reigns has decided to retire and leave. Fortunately, there are a lot of potential stars and upcoming stars who can carry the company forward in the future.

CM Punk

Paul Heyman

Roman Reigns

Seth Rollins

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WWE WrestleMania 41

Arka Mukherjee

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I’m a sports content writer focusing on MMA, WWE and MLB writer at The Playoffs. I have a Master’s degree in Media Science (M.Sc) from my college The Heritage Academy. I got into the sports industry through my previous company where I worked from 2023 to March 2025. I’m a fan of combat sports like pro wrestling and MMA. My favorite part about working at The Playoffs is speculating what can be happening in WWE, especially face-heel turns and results of matches.