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What's the story?
Jon Moxley, formerly WWE’s Dean Ambrose, revealed on 'Talk Is Jericho' how he felt when he mocked Roman Reigns’ leukemia diagnosis during a promo in November 2018.
In case you didn't know…
Roman Reigns announced in October 2018 that he had been diagnosed with leukemia for the second time and he had to relinquish his Universal Championship.
WWE used Reigns’ illness as part of a storyline by having Dean Ambrose turn heel and betray Seth Rollins at the end of the same episode of Raw.
In the weeks that followed, Ambrose began to cut promos about the demise of The Shield, while he even mocked Reigns’ diagnosis during a widely criticised promo on Raw:
“...and we’re all gonna get what we deserve. I mean, look at Roman. For Roman’s part, for what Roman did in The Shield, he has to answer to the man upstairs. And what’s worse… you [Rollins] have to answer to me.”
The heart of the matter
Discussing his line regarding Roman Reigns’ leukemia, Moxley told Chris Jericho:
“I cut the promo and as soon as that line left my mouth, I went, 'Oh my God, I can’t believe I just said that.'”
He went on to reveal that Vince McMahon wanted him to say something else about Reigns during another promo, but Moxley refused.
“Remember what I was saying about the line in the previous promo the week before? This promo also had a line regarding my actual friend who is going through actual leukemia that Vince wanted me to say, that he tried to talk me into saying. This is where I absolutely drew the line. He tried to talk me into it but I was like ‘absolutely not’. He said, ‘If you feel uncomfortable, that’s fine’ and I’m like, 'No'... that’s where I had to finally put my foot down. It is the worst line. I’m not going to say it on air, I’ll tell you [Jericho] after we’re done, but I’m not even going to say it on air – that’s how bad it was. It would have been a thing where somebody would’ve had to get fired.”
What's next?
Thankfully, Roman Reigns announced in February 2019 that his leukemia is in remission and he has since returned to in-ring action with WWE.
While Reigns is currently preparing to face Shane McMahon at Super ShowDown on June 7, Jon Moxley will take on Juice Robinson in NJPW on June 5 before competing for AEW at Fyter Fest on June 29.
