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Roman Reigns has been one of WWE's workhorses since his main roster debut in late 2012. Roman Reigns went years without time away like his fellow Shield members Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley).
His initial hiatuses happened because of an incarcerated hernia in 2014 (during which he also got married to Galina Becker) and then leukemia in late 2018. 2020 was the first time he took an extensive hiatus from WWE without an injury.
Roman Reigns shockingly pulled out of WrestleMania 36, where he was scheduled to face Goldberg in the marquee Universal Championship match. There were two reasons why Roman Reigns pulled out of WrestleMania and took a 5-month hiatus from WWE: The COVID-19 pandemic as well as helping his family while his wife was expecting twins.
Speaking to Corey Graves on the After The Bell podcast, Roman Reigns said:
"For me, it was about putting my family first. And right there, if I had to retire and that's what was gonna be asked of me, I was willing to do it. For one of the first times in a long time, I put my family—they were 1A. There was nothing that was gonna change my mind. I needed to go away and wait 'til we were in a place of better understanding of the process and knowing exactly what this virus has done and how it's affected everybody. And I just feel far more comfortable the way WWE has taken care of me to make me feel safe, make my family feel safe, make my wife feel safe that I'm going out and then coming back in, that's been huge and critical to get me back in the ring." (H/T Bleacher Report)
It was a valid concern since Roman Reigns had dealt with multiple bouts of leukemia and had to prioritize his health and family. While admitting that he didn't watch WWE programming during his hiatus, it all seemed to help as he returned to kickstart the best run of his career.
Roman Reigns' career resurgence in 2020
Turning heel for the first time in 6-and-a-half years, fans were overjoyed when Roman Reigns debuted his new persona and won the Universal Championship. As of this writing, he is close to completing a year as the Universal Champion - a reign that has been praised as one of the best world championship runs of the modern era.
Roman Reigns seems to have found his footing as well and taking a hiatus from WWE in 2020 may have been the best thing that could have happened to him.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
