WWE Universal Champion "The Head Of The Table" Roman Reigns recently appeared on The Michael Kay Show to talk about his original Leukemia diagnosis at the time that he was still 21 or 22 years of age and how being a Division 1 college athlete was his entire plan and that he had no backup plan. The Tribal Chief also talked about how it was a lot to digest to be hit with that type of an adversity at an age such as that and for his dreams to be taken away, but he thanks his mom and wife, who were his guides at a time like that to help him through that process.
Roman Reigns said:
“I think it would be the original diagnosis of Leukemia.” “Being 21/22 years old, being a Division 1 college athlete with aspirations of playing in the NFL, that was plan A, B, and C, there was no backup plan, all the eggs were in that basket and that’s how I was. To be hit with that type of adversity, to be hit with that type of roadblock, for my dreams to be taken away from me on top of having, for the first time ever, any real type of health-scare. It was a lot to be able to digest.”
“I’m one of those people that moves forward and when something’s negative around me, I can either push it away or compartmentalize it to where I stay focused on the positive in my life and move forward to the things that are going to be beneficial around me. At such a young age with nothing, I didn’t have an asset to my name. I had nothing going on as an adult, a human being. I was still so young and clueless at that point, thank God I had my mom, thank God I had my wife, and had just such a strong security blanket around me to help guide me through that process.”
Roman Reigns also talked about how he wouldn't have become a wrestler and how he would have just done 12 years in NFL before retiring if he wasn't diagnosed with Leukemia.
Roman Reigns said:
“Oh nah, I would’ve done 12 years in the league and then retired.” “I really believe I would’ve been successful in football. I was a pretty good football player who had a lot to work on and a lot of room to get better, so to me, that was a really big upside because I was already pretty good but in my mind. There were so many different facets of the game that I could strengthen and get better at and gain that experience, as we all do in whatever we’re doing. We learn these life hacks that make things easier, we get smarter and we work that way as opposed to working harder and doing things we don’t have to do.”
Roman Reigns then talked about how he isn't trying to reach the G.O.A.T level status as he is already the G.O.A.T and how he is also surrounded by the greatest, with The Usos as the greatest tag team and Paul Heyman as the greatest mouthpiece and when they are one unit, they are unstoppable.
Roman Reigns said:
“To me, I’m not trying to get there, I believe I’m there.” “I believe I’m living in the day of the G.O.A.T. in my own performance. For me, I’m just constantly pushing myself and for many reasons, I feel like I’m surrounded by the greatest. For me as a singles competitor, as the Universal Champion, as a top guy in WWE, the face of this billion-dollar company, I’m the greatest of all time. When it comes to tag teams, when it comes to Tag Team Championship runs and the men that carry that role, my cousins The Usos, they are the greatest of all time. When it comes to management, when it comes to representation, when it comes to mouthpieces, advocates, and special councils, it’s without question Paul Heyman is the greatest of all time.”
“So when you put us all in one, man, we’re unstoppable. Right now, we just try to push ourselves, there’s so much inner-competition, that we’re able to push each other and continue to drive ourselves. We look at it as an audition for next week. If we want to go out there and open up the show and control segment one, we have to knock it out of the park in order for this to happen next week. Those are the humble beginnings that we take ourselves to, which allows us to put in preparation and capitalize on an opportunity, and have that swag and confidence to be the best.”
You can check out Roman Reigns' full comments at this link. H/T to Wrestling Inc. for transcribing the above quotes.
