Paul Heyman: Roman Reigns Considered Himself Retired After Stepping Away During COVID
Paul Heyman more insight into his pairing with Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns stepped away from WWE during the pandemic and ahead of WrestleMania 36, not wanting to put himself or his family at risk. While WWE television continued, Reigns stayed at home.
It wasn’t until SummerSlam 2020, when WWE had moved into the ThunderDome, that Reigns made his return. On the subsequent episode of WWE SmackDown, Reigns’ partnership with Heyman was revealed, kicking off the era of the Tribal Chief.
“He considered himself retired. He wasn’t coming back,” Heyman told Raj Prashad of Uproxx. “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. He’s not coming back. No way. Thanks a lot. Done. Finished. Goodbye. So the fact that he came back for this run, for what we have accomplished, is nothing short of a miracle because as far as he was concerned, he was out.”
Reigns won the WWE Universal Championship at Payback 2020 and has held that title ever since, adding the WWE Championship to his collection at WrestleMania 38.
Reigns is now set to headline both nights of WrestleMania 40 while Heyman will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Fans can find Heyman’s comments about his Hall of Fame speech by clicking here.
