Ex-Champion Refused WWE Promo Targeting Roman Reigns’ Cancer Battle
Roman Reigns has battled cancer since he was first diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) at the young age of 22 in 2007. This rare blood cancer forced him to take a pause from football and later wrestling.
On Monday Night Raw on October 22, 2018, The OTC announced that his leukemia had returned after 11 years, after years of successful remission. He relinquished the WWE Universal Championship and took time away to undergo intensive treatment, including chemotherapy.
After four months, he returned to the WWE ring in February 2019, announcing that his cancer was in remission once again. Since then, he has continued to compete at top levels, often speaking openly about his health challenges to inspire others.
Why Baron Corbin Didn’t Want To Exploit Roman Reigns’s Cancer?
During a recent appearance on the Busted Open Radio podcast, ex-WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin revealed that on the same night that Roman Reigns announced that his leukemia had returned, WWE had scripted a promo for him to degrade The Tribal Chief by referencing his cancer diagnosis.
But he refused to deliver such an insensitive promo, expressing that it would have been wrong to exploit Roman Reigns’ personal health battle. He even took the issue up with Vince McMahon, who agreed with Corbin to retract the promo.
It’s like taking shots at him about having cancer, and I was like, ‘Okay, time out. Does Roman or Joe know that this is the promo?’ And they were like, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ And I said, ‘I’m not saying this unless he tells me it’s cool to say,’ and he was already gone… So I took it to Vince [McMahon], and I was like, ‘Hey man, this is what they want me to say,’ he’s like, ‘Yeah, we’re not going to say that,’ and he changed it.
Baron Corbin was released from WWE in November 2024 after management decided not to renew his contract, reportedly due to creative differences and a lack of character progression. Despite his departure, Corbin remains active in wrestling, currently performing under the ring name Bishop Dyer in Major League Wrestling (MLW) and the indies.
[H/T to Wrestling Inc]