Star refused to cut insensitive WWE promo on Roman Reigns

A star has revealed that they refused to cut an insensitive promo on Roman Reigns in WWE. The promo was centered around taking shots at Reigns's health struggles in real life.

In October 2018, Reigns addressed the fans on RAW as Joe Anoaʻi, his real name, and revealed that he was battling leukemia once again. This led to him relinquishing his Universal Title and taking time off from the company.

However, during a recent appearance on Busted Open Radio, former WWE star Baron Corbin revealed that the writers planned to capitalize on this and penciled in a promo for him that called for him to take shots at Reigns' cancer diagnosis. Corbin, who now goes by the ring name Bishop Dyer, said he refused to do 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,” he said. [H/T: Wrestling Inc]

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The former United States Champion then revealed why he didn't take the promo on air. He mentioned that he didn't want "beef" with Reigns because of this script and that all the heat would be on him. Hence, according to Dyer, he had to protect himself as well.

Roman Reigns would return to WWE after a few months in February on the Road to WrestleMania after his cancer went into remission.

Roman Reigns was written off TV at Clash in Paris

At Clash in Paris, Roman Reigns took on Bronson Reed in a one-on-one match. The Tribal Chief ended up coming out on top after delivering a Samoan Drop from the second rope, followed by a Spear.

However, as Reigns was celebrating with the fans after the match, he was attacked by Bron Breakker. Both Breakker and Reed then proceeded to brutally beat down The OTC1.

Reed delivered a Tsunami on him after Breakker had laid him out with a Spear. They attacked Reigns again as he was being stretchered out of the arena. On RAW, WWE announced that the former WWE Champion was going to be out indefinitely after suffering multiple fractured ribs per the storyline.

However, this was done to write Reigns off TV while he completes the filming for the live-action Street Fighter movie. Roman Reigns will portray the role of Akuma in the film.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Sherjeel Malik