Paul Heyman says that Roman Reigns was functionally retired after he returned at WWE SummerSlam 2020. Reigns stepped away from WWE before WrestleMania 36 due to the COVID pandemic, and didn’t return until that year’s SummerSlam. Heyman said during an interview with Uproxx that Reigns initially had no plans to return after he stepped away.
“He considered himself retired,” Heyman said. “He wasn’t coming back. I was executive director of Monday Night Raw, and Roman was assigned to SmackDown. But every week I heard all the SmackDown writers and producers and personnel saying, ‘God, I just wish Roman would come back.’ And I would ask, has anybody talked to him? Yeah, he says he’s retired. He’s not coming back. No way. Thanks a lot. Done. Finished. Goodbye.”
He continued, “So the fact that he came back for this run, for what we have accomplished, is nothing short of a miracle because as far as he was concerned, he was out.”
Reigns won the WWE Universal Championship at Payback 2020 then unified it with the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 38. He has held both titles since and will defend them against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40.
