“He says he’s retired,” Paul Heyman recalls the time when Roman Reigns had supposedly called it quits on his WWE career

Paul Heyman has been linked with Roman Reigns for over 4 years now.

“He says he’s retired,” Paul Heyman recalls the time when Roman Reigns had supposedly called it quits on his WWE career

Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns (via WWE)

The pandemic sank every industry into crisis mode. Most of them shut down, and many were struggling. However, WWE never backed down and continued to deliver top-notch entertainment for the WWE Universe. Thanks to this era, fans got to see the best of Roman Reigns, who used the era to great effect. However, it was almost never meant to be. Recently, Paul Heyman described how WWE management believed The Tribal Chief was gone for good during this time.

The Bloodline’s Wiseman stated in an interview with Uproxx how Roman Reigns decided to retire amid the global lockdown. Moreover, the Special Counsel revealed that he was the executive director of Raw while the Pensacola native was signed to SmackDown. He added how the blue brand writers and personnel wished for the latter to return to programming. Upon asking about his current situation, Heyman got to know Reigns wasn’t coming back.

YouTube video
I was executive director of Monday Night Raw, and Roman was assigned to SmackDown. But every week I heard all the SmackDown writers and producers and personnel saying, ‘God, I just wish Roman would come back.’ And I would ask, has anybody talked to him? Yeah, he says he’s retired.
Paul Heyman on Roman Reigns’ initial retirement

SummerSlam 2020 had the tagline, “You’ll Never See It Coming.” In the main event, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defeated Braun Strowman to win the Universal Championship. After the match, Reigns returned, not as The Big Dog anymore but as The Tribal Chief. He attacked both the Superstars and claimed himself to be the only “monster.” Later, he aligned with Paul Heyman, and the rest is history.

FS Video

Initially, The Big Dog was scheduled to challenge former WWE Superstar Goldberg for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36. However, the 38-year-old Superstar took into account his immunodeficiency after battling leukemia twice. As a result, Reigns opted to go on a lengthy hiatus and skip ‘Mania.

Roman Reigns and The Rock slated to bring their greatness to The Tonight Show

WWE is a global wrestling giant. They always promote their upcoming PLEs, especially WrestleMania. This year, one of the biggest Hollywood actors will join one of the biggest WWE Superstar to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Both Roman Reigns and The Rock graced the famous talk show individually earlier. 

Roman Reigns and The Rock
Roman Reigns and The Rock (via Cageside Seats and USA Network)

It will be interesting to see what the Head of the Table and The Final Boss have to say about their upcoming matches. As a matter of fact, many fans want both Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Cody Rhodes to jump their ‘Mania opponents at the show.

The Bloodline were advertised to return next week on the go-home Raw episode for WrestleMania XL. However, Rocky returned this week to wreak havoc on Cody Rhodes and turn him black and blue. Meanwhile, the leader of The Bloodline will return to the red brand for the first time after Raw after ‘Mania 39. With the two Superstars coming to their opponents’ brand, things will surely heat up. It will be a historic week for the faction, as Paul Heyman will be inducted into the Hall of Fame 2024.

In casr you missed it: