5 times a WWE Superstar was too sick to wrestle

We're currently in one of the strangest times in modern history as the Coronavirus outbreak has ground the world to a halt with countries shutting pubs, clubs and theatres and people being told to isolate themselves in their homes.

This has had an extraordinary effect on the wrestling industry with WWE's big WrestleMania weekend and the accompanying independent wrestling shows that take place alongside it being all but cancelled.

But not even the Coronavirus could stop some of the world's biggest wrestling companies like AEW and WWE from putting on a show and WWE even found a way to keep their biggest show of the year running, holding it in multiple locations behind closed doors.

The Coronavirus may not have been enough to stop most of WWE from continuing to entertain us with their wrestlers still putting on shows, but there have actually been many instances of WWE Superstars being forced to take time away from the ring due to illness.

#5. Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns was scheduled to take on Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman in a huge Triple Threat match at Saudi Arabia show Crown Jewel for the WWE Universal Title. However that match would get changed to a singles match between 'The Monster Among Men' and 'The Beast Incarnate' due to a shocking announcement.

It was an otherwise normal episode of Monday Night RAW, but the moment Roman Reigns made his way to the ring and introduced himself as Joe Anoa'i, that the live crowd and people watching knew something was wrong.

What followed was extraordinary television and one of modern wrestling's more heartbreaking moments as Reigns announced that his leukaemia had returned and that he would be taking an indefinite time away from the ring whilst he fought the disease.

#4. Finn Balor

Finn Balor was scheduled to take on Baron Corbin on an episode of Monday Night RAW in 2018, but didn't make the show after being pulled from the South American tour for an unspecified reason.

Baron Corbin ended up taking on Seth Rollins for the episode of RAW, but WWE didn't reveal what had actually happened and why the former Universal Champion had been pulled from the show at the last minute.

Speculation at the time suggested that he might have been injured, until PWInsider reported that Finn Balor was in fact ill with an unknown illness. Whatever it was can't have been that serious as Balor did go on to wrestle just a few days later in Tables, Ladders and Chairs against Drew McIntyre.

This could've been a case of WWE being careful with their Superstars as viral infections or diseases are certainly nothing to mess around with as we've all found out recently. But WWE had another reminder that contagious illnesses can derail a show a little before this, which we'll get to later.

#3. Mandy Rose

In December 2018, Mandy Rose was scheduled to face Naomi on an episode of SmackDown Live, but often as it happens on a WWE show - a match that was advertised beforehand doesn't happen and then they don't acknowledge it at all.

The general consensus at the time was that this was just another example of the infamous 'plans changed' phrase in full effect, but it later transpired that one of the participants of the match was sick, which was why the match was pulled.

Mandy Rose took to Instagram at the time to reveal that she was feeling under the weather and that she was with her mum, who was making her soup.

Interestingly this was around the same time as Finn Balor's illness and several other Superstars at the time were also allegedly suffering from some sort of sickness, so it seems like some kind of viral sickness bug or flu swept through the WWE roster which the company took steps to contain.

Let's hope something similar doesn't happen in the build-up to WrestleMania 36!

#2. Roman Reigns

Reigns is back on the list for another instance of him being pulled from a match due to illness. This time before Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2017 where he, alongside his Shield team members Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, was supposed to take on The Bar, The Miz, Kane and Braun Strowman.

However, Reigns had contracted a serious viral disease which is now thought to have been mumps meaning that he couldn't participate in the big Shield payoff match as advertised due to the risk of infecting other wrestlers.

Reigns was replaced by the unlikely former General Manager Kurt Angle for the match who gamely helped Rollins and Ambrose overcome the odds and win the 5 Vs 3 Tables , Ladders and Chairs Handicap match to end the pay-per-view.

This also led to Kurt Angle and Triple H taking it in turns to replace Reigns in upcoming house shows as 'honorary' members of the Shield. I was personally lucky enough to see Angle return to the ring at a house show for the first time since his return to WWE at a show in Birmingham, UK!

Incredibly, however, this wasn't the only match derailed by the same illness that was due to take place at TLC 2017

#1. Bray Wyatt

TLC 2017 was also supposed to give us the big payoff between Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt as well as the debuts of two new gimmicks for both Superstars with WWE leaning into the supernatural element of both wrestlers.

However Bray Wyatt also had to take time away from the ring to recover from suspected mumps meaning that Finn Balor needed a new opponent for the show. Instead of a battle of demonic entities we were treated to a pure wrestling match between Balor and new opponent AJ Styles.

The build-up to this blood feud between two supernatural entities was met with ridicule at the time with Bray Wyatt's portrayal of Sister Abigail drawing particular ire from the WWE Universe, so perhaps it's a blessing in disguise that this match didn't get to go ahead, especially as we ended up getting the Fiend.

I would've liked to have seen Balor's Demon King persona though. Hopefully there's room for a comeback at some point as I might be one of the few people still interested in seeing a clash of the supernatural between Balor and Wyatt.