WrestleMania 36 will see a major change as Roman Reigns (Joe Anoa’i) opted against doing the show with a report coming from Ryan Satin at Pro Wrestling Sheet.
Satin reported that Reigns did not film his match with Bill Goldberg, which was set to be one of the major matches at WrestleMania, which was being filmed this past week. Satin added that Reigns had ‘expressed to WWE that he didn’t feel comfortable doing any more of the Performance Center shows during the coronavirus pandemic because he’s immunocompromised from his battle with leukemia and didn’t want to risk his health.’
We spoke with one person in the company, who confirmed Reigns didn’t do the match and cited his concerns regarding his pre-existing condition as well as putting anyone else at risk.
Reigns has been replaced for the WrestleMania match, although we have yet to confirm who the replacement is.
It is believed that the new match and segments to explain the change would have been filmed on Thursday.
He was diagnosed with leukemia prior to his wrestling career and battled the disease before it returned in 2018. He announced it had returned in an emotional speech on Raw in October of that year where he relinquished the Universal championship. He returned in February 2019 and has been working on the SmackDown brand since the draft last October.
The next two editions of Friday Night SmackDown for March 27th and April 3rd were taped last weekend with WrestleMania taped on Wednesday and Thursday this week. WrestleMania 36 will air over two nights on Saturday, April 4th and Sunday, April 5th.
