Roman Reigns Reportedly Refused To Travel To Saudi Arabia For WWE ‘Crown Jewel’

Prior to announcing back in October of 2018 that his leukemia had resurfaced and he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from WWE, Roman Reigns was scheduled to defend his Universal Title against Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman in a Triple Threat match at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.

However, Reigns’ announcement that his leukemia had returned forced The Big Dog to vacate his Title and the PPV match then saw Lesnar defeat Strowman to become the new Universal Champion.

According to Fightful, Roman Reigns actually informed WWE officials, prior to his leukemia announcement, that he did not want to make the trip back to Saudi Arabia in light of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Reigns was not the only WWE star to refuse the trip to Saudi Arabia, as former Champion John Cena and current Champion Daniel Bryan did not attend Crown Jewel, forcing WWE to rebook original event plans.

Roman Reigns made an appearance at WWE’s first event in Saudi Arabia, Greatest Royal Rumble, and lost a Universal Title cage match against Brock Lesnar. Following the PPV event, which was a major cash grab for WWE, the company came under fire from numerous mainstream media outlets and late night talk show hosts for their continued relationship with Saudi Arabia despite the Khashoggi murder.

As seen on WWE Raw tonight, Roman Reigns made his return to WWE after a four month absence and announced he is in remission from leukemia. The Big Dog then proclaimed he is “back” in WWE, making a match at WrestleMania 35 likely for the former Universal Champion.

Despite Reigns announcing his cancer is in remission and that he is back, he did not announce when his in-ring return will take place, although it appears as if he is indeed medically cleared to return whenever WWE decides to schedule his return match.