When former WWE Champion refused to mock Roman Reigns' leukemia on TV

On October 22, 2018, the wrestling world was shocked to discover that Roman Reigns would have to step away from the ring for the foreseeable future due to his battle with leukemia. Meanwhile, a current AEW star refused to mock Reigns' illness during his time with the company as part of a storyline.

The star in question is Roman Reigns' former stablemate in The Shield, Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose). The multi-time AEW World Champion turned heel on the same episode of RAW where Reigns discussed his battle with leukemia. Moreover, The Tribal Chief's diagnosis was allegedly set to be a significant part of Dean Ambrose's heel run.

Moxley, however, did what he felt was the right thing: refusing to poke fun at something that wasn't a wrestling storyline. The former WWE Champion's real-life friend was battling a significant illness, and he did not wish to include it in an on-screen angle.

Moxley told the behind-the-scenes story about the pitch to include Reigns' leukemia battle in a storyline on the Talk is Jericho podcast shortly after making AEW debut.

While Moxley didn't state the exact lines he refused to say on WWE TV about Reigns' health issues, he mentioned that had he said what the writers wanted him to say, he would have most likely been fired.

Rumors started to swirl in the days following Jon Moxley's appearance on Talk is Jericho, with a Reddit user claiming that he found out what the line was. However, Chris Jericho quickly shot this down, and the controversial line has since never been spoken about.

Roman Reigns eventually returned to WWE in February 2019 when he announced he was in remission. He had one last Shield reunion with Moxley and Seth Rollins before The Lunatic Fringe left the company that Spring.

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Are Roman Reigns and Jon Moxley still friends?

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose shared a close bond during The Shield's initial run in WWE. They rode together from town-to-town, shared hotel rooms, and spent most of their free time with each other.

Now that Dean Ambrose has evolved into Jon Moxley and is one of AEW's biggest stars, is he still friends with The Tribal Chief? During an interview in 2022, Reigns admitted that while they aren't as close as they once were, nothing would stop them if they wanted to catch up.

Do you think Jon Moxley will ever go back to WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.