It’s been almost a week since word first got out that Roman Reigns had pulled out of his planned WrestleMania 36 match with Goldberg. It made sense at the time, considering Reigns’ history of health problems and more wrestlers getting sick during this Covid-19 pandemic, but he hadn’t made a statement on the choice himself, until yesterday.
Reigns went live on Instagram, and spoke about the pandemic, his choice to skip Mania, and the vitriol he’s gotten for it. He also talked more broadly about the need for positivity and kindness in the face of times like these.
You already know what’s going on. It’s all over the news, the dirtsheets, whatever you want to call them, that I pulled out of WrestleMania. And it’s funny because for years now, for years now man, years, people have been like, “Don’t show up to WrestleMania, we don’t want you in it.” You know what I mean? There’s a nice handful of dudes and haters that didn’t want me there, but the moment I make a choice for me and my family… I’m a coward? I’m a sissy? A lot of different things that I am now.
But you don’t know the whole story. All you know is what you think. “Oh well, his health and this and that.” But you don’t know what else is going on in my life. You don’t know if I have newborns, you don’t know if I have family in my household, older family. So, yeah I mean, just… like the old saying… go and flip that cover open and read a few pages. Get into a few chapters before you really start running your mouth, and just take this time to better yourself, be present, and make the most out of this because if we can’t grow in a time like this, I don’t think we have a chance, man. This is the most downtime I’ve ever seen in my life. So I just challenge everybody, and I’m taking the steps right there with you. I’m not perfect, I’m a hater too sometimes, you know what I mean? But I try to always put it in perspective of why I want something or why I might be jealous of something, and then I put it in my grind, I put it to work, I figure out how I can get whatever I need or want, and I put it to work, and I don’t focus on others hating on me, and I don’t put focus on driving negativity to anybody else.
If we can, let’s not just do it in the real world, let’s do it on here. It’s easy man, all it takes is starting right now. So just be kind to others, let’s try to better each other, and hopefully we’re gonna come out with so many better habits. But it can’t just be about cleanliness, we gotta be clean inside, too. So, let’s clean up on the outside, let’s clean up our hygiene habits, but let’s also clean up the inside and make each other better, man. We all got to be accountable towards each other. There’s people across the world that have known, and what I do affects them. So, take some pride in that, love each other, respect each other, and hopefully we’re gonna come out way better.
For all my fans, you know I’m sorry I didn’t get to compete this year and put on a show and entertain. But sometimes things are more important and I had to make a choice for me and my family, but no matter what, you already know the deal. Man, I made that town. I made it to Orlando. I had to make a decision for me, but it doesn’t take anything away from what I’ve done and what I’m going to do. I still love this game, I still love pro wrestling, sports entertainment. I love being in the ring. It’s a little weird being in the ring with nobody watching, nobody in the arena, but man, I’m ready to get back to work and I’m just taking these times, this little bit of time we have, to build up the outside and come as close as possible to perfecting the inside, man. So everybody, I love y’all. Thank you for the support. Hopefully we can just continue to get better, man. Until then, stay safe and don’t touch your face. Yes sir!
Right now we don’t know when we’ll see Roman Reigns wrestle again, but he’s obviously excited for that moment to arrive, and whether you’re a fan of his or not, I think that’s going to be a good day for all of us when it finally gets here.