Vince McMahon scrapped a WWE script once because it contained distasteful content about Roman Reigns’ personal health struggles.
Roman Reigns once broke character on live TV, revealing himself to be Joe Anoa’i, and then proceeded to relinquish the WWE Universal Championship owing to his chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) having returned, thus forcing him to take a break from wrestling to focus on treatment and his health.
This was the second time in his life Reigns had to fight cancer, and the writers allegedly wanted to capitalize on the opportunity by drawing heat on his rival, Baron Corbin. They gave Corbin a script that had lines which poked fun at The Big Dog’s cancer diagnosis.
Corbin, who now goes by the ring name Bishop Dyer, was always a company man. He did and said everything WWE wanted him to, but this is where he drew the line. And he needed the former CEO, Vince McMahon, to help him avoid the bullet.
Bishop Dyer Reflects On Vince McMahon’s Support To Remove Distasteful Roman Reigns Line In WWE Script
Appearing on the Busted Open Radio, Bishop Dyer revealed that the WWE script that was handed to him on the night Roman Reigns announced his cancer diagnosis had some lines that would have put him in a very difficult position, especially with Reigns.
He noted that the writers would never have taken the bullet for him if things went south, so he had to protect himself. Dyer had no personal beef with Roman Reigns, who was already one of WWE’s heavily pushed stars during the time.
It’s like taking shots at him about having cancer and I was like ‘Okay time out, does Joe [Roman Reigns] know that this is the promo?’ And they were like, ‘No I don’t think so.’ And I said, ‘I’m not saying this unless he tells me it’s cool to say and he was already gone.’
So I took it to Vince [McMahon] and I was like, ‘Hey man, this is what they want me to say.’ And he’s like ‘Yeah, we’re not going to say that,’ and he changed it,” Bishop Dyer recounted.
This was in October 2018. On the Road to WrestleMania the following year, Roman Reigns returned to TV, announcing that he was in remission. He has been performing regularly ever since. Reigns recently spoke extensively about his journey in the sport while battling leukemia from an early age.
The former Baron Corbin’s WWE contract expired late last year, and the company decided not to renew his deal, and he was let go. He pointed out that there were fans who believed some of the things he said during promos in the Stamford-based promotion were a reflection of his personality, when in reality, it was just what was asked of him to do.