WWE News: Roman Reigns discusses how he leaned on the Shield upon his return from fighting Leukemia

What's the story?

Roman Reigns had a whirlwind few months after SummerSlam last year. After having to leave the WWE in order to battle Leukemia, Reigns recently discussed how leaning on The Shield upon his return helped make the transition back into the WWE so smooth. Fightful.com had transcripts from Reigns' interview with the Pensacola News Journal.

In case you didn't know...

After over two years of pursuing Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship, Reigns captured the title at SummerSlam in 2018. He had to relinquish the title in October of 2018 in order to battle a recurrence of Leukemia. "The Big Dog" returned to the WWE in time for Fastlane and wrestled Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 35.

The heart of the matter

With both Reigns missing several months while dealing with Leukemia and Dean Ambrose's contract expiring in April 2018, WWE really wanted to maximize another reunion of the Shield.

Reigns was able to receive a clean bill of health as well as the okay to return to the ring in February of this year. He participated in several farewell matches for the Shield as Ambrose was still planning to leave the company once his contract expired.

Since he would be returning from such a taxing battle with a serious illness, Reigns was happy that he wasn't asked to carry such a huge load when he returned to the WWE. Rekindling the Shield helped him get back into the swing of things in the WWE.

"Man, I've been killing it lately as far as my nutrition and my training so I feel really good right now, but, yeah man, there was definitely that transition getting back, just before (WrestleMania). And I think that's why you saw me kind of leaning on The Shield at the time, in that very first match back. I mean, it's live out there, anything can happen, so they just wanted to make sure to kind of keep the training wheels on me for that match, and I was gliding in there. I felt really good with the role I was playing," said Reigns.

What's next?

While it was nice to be able to lean on trusted friends once he rejoined the WWE, that partnership is over with Ambrose now outside the WWE as Jon Moxley. Reigns will continue to be a featured star on programming and will enter into a title program sooner rather than later.