Inside the rebirth of Roman Reigns - From hated to hero and back again

ROMAN REIGNS STOOD in a WWE ring, his slick, long hair pulled back into a ponytail. The red WWE Universal championship belt sat on his left shoulder, while he held a microphone in his right hand.

It was Oct. 22, 2018, and as had been happening for years, the Raw crowd booed Reigns as soon as he put the mic to his mouth. Reigns had been positioned as the top babyface — or good guy — in WWE. But the fans were rejecting it, treating Reigns like he was undeserving of that role.

What Reigns said next turned those fans that night in Providence, Rhode Island, from hostile to stunned to respectful. Reigns told them that his real name was Joe, that he had been battling leukemia for more than a decade and that cancer had returned to his body. He said he had to give up the Universal title and go away indefinitely for treatment.

Reigns, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound former All-ACC defensive tackle at Georgia Tech, let down his guard. He dropped character. And he confessed a secret to millions that only his closest friends and family knew up to that point.

«It was the most terrifying thing I've ever had to do in front of a live crowd,» Reigns told ESPN.

Four months later, Reigns returned to WWE and announced his remission. A year after that, Reigns stepped away again, removing himself from a high-profile WrestleMania match, at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The starts and stops have given way to a new Reigns, a villainous, more authentic character that ironically has finally earned the fans' respect. Reigns, now dubbed «The Tribal Chief,» will go into the biggest match of this historic run — a record of 575 days holding the Universal title — against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 on Sunday in Arlington, Texas. His journey to the