Report: Nobody on the WWE roster knew about Roman Reigns’ leukemia until his promo on Raw

It’s still surreal to read that Roman Reigns is battling leukemia, is no longer the WWE Universal champion and is not an active wrestler for the foreseeable future.

In the days since his announcement on Raw that he was fighting leukemia, we are slowly learning what Reigns is dealing with and the outpouring of support he has received from his peers. From all accounts Reigns was a great co-worker and even better human being to be around.

The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required and encouraged) provides some more details about the days leading up to Reigns’ promo and how close to the vest the WWE played it until the moment he opened this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.

Dave Meltzer reports that only a few people knew Reigns was going to relinquish the title and even fewer knew he had leukemia. According to the WON, only Vince McMahon, Triple H, Kevin Dunn, Mark Carrano in talent relations and writers Dave Kapoor and Ed Koskey knew what Reigns was going to say on Raw.

The report goes on to say that a hour before Raw went on air, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were told Reigns was dropping the title but they were not told the reason why. The report also states lead announcer Michael Cole was told about the title but not the reason beyond Reigns giving it up.

Meltzer also notes that he believes Reigns found out about his diagnosis on Thursday, Oct. 18 and the WWE began to make plans on how to move forward the next day.

Looking back, how did you think the WWE handled the Roman Reigns news?