"It's definitely something serious" - Roman Reigns reveals aftermath of suffering from COVID-19

WWE Superstar Roman Reigns recently opened up about the lasting effects of battling against COVID-19 earlier this month.

The Universal Champion tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week of December 2021 and missed Day 1 as a result. He eventually returned on the January 7th edition of WWE SmackDown after recovering from COVID.

However, Reigns recently stated that he is still feeling the long-term effects of COVID-19. The Tribal Chief admitted to pushing himself for further conditioning as there has been a monumental change in his booking on WWE television.

He also said that his condition wasn't as severe compared to so many others who were affected by the pandemic. However, Roman Reigns agreed that he can still feel major changes in his body even weeks after recovering. He detailed his experience during his latest appearance on the SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina and said:

"For me, in comparison to some of the worst scenarios that are out there and we've seen through this process in the pandemic, it wasn't bad. For me, it was mainly a pretty good sinus infection, the bronchitis cough, a lot of chest tightness. I still feel that, actually. When I'm doing my conditioning, because we don't wrestle quite as much as we're doing a lot of six-man (tag matches), I don't have singles matches as much as I used to, so I have to really push the conditioning on my own."

"I've noticed that in the past couple of weeks when I really blow myself up on the bike or running, I can feel that tightness and a little bit of wheezing. It's definitely something serious. Someone who has been vaccinated and boosted, it still got to me and I still felt the effects. They weren't as severe as they can be for some, it did hang around and linger for a while. Obviously, I missed Day 1, I tested positive a week before that and it took me to where we were chasing that negative test, and finally a few days before SmackDown the following week, I got the negative test," concluded Reigns. (h/t Fightful)

Reigns was initially scheduled to put his Universal Championship on the line against Brock Lesnar at Day 1. However, his absence led to The Beast Incarnate competing for the WWE Championship in a Fatal Five-Way match.

He eventually pinned Big E to win the title at the first premium live event of the year.

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Roman Reigns' upcoming title match

Roman Reigns is scheduled for a huge title defense at Royal Rumble 2022. He will put his Universal championship on the line in a match against Seth Rollins.

We recently saw Rollins compete in a high-stakes match on SmackDown. The Architect teamed up with Kevin Owens to take on The Usos in the hope of getting Jey and Jimmy Uso banned from ringside during his title bout at Royal Rumble. He would have had to forfeit his title opportunity at the upcoming event if his team lost.

Roman Reigns' interference led to KO and Seth Rollins' victory via disqualification in a shocking turn of events. Now that The Usos can no longer be there to help The Tribal Chief in the upcoming clash, it will be exciting to see how the latter will work to beat his former Shield brethren in a title match for the first time in history.