Roman Reigns is the reigning WWE Universal Champion. He will be defending the title against Seth Rollins at the 2022 Royal Rumble on Saturday. However, is he fit enough?
It will be an exciting clash, as Roman Reigns defends his Universal Championship title against former champion Seth Rollins during the WWE Royal Rumble 2022 pay-per-view (PPV) at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday. Reigns has been holding the title for more than 500 days. However, it is unclear if he is fit enough to compete at the event.
Reigns had suffered from COVID-19 last month, leading him to miss out on his title defence against current WWE Champion Brock Lesnar at the Day 1 PPV on New Year's Day. Although Reigns is back, he is seemingly suffering from post-COVID complications. Recently, during the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, he revealed that he is still suffering from chest tightness following his COVID recovery.
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"For me, in comparison to some of the worst scenarios that are out there, and we've seen through this process in the pandemic, it wasn't bad. For me, it was mainly a pretty good sinus infection, a bronchitis cough, a lot of chest tightness. I still feel that, actually," Reigns stated.
However, Reigns affirmed that he is still into his conditioning, as he does not have regular singles matches. As a result, he is pushing hard during training to get rid of chest tightness as soon as possible. He admitted that he feels tight when he is on the bike or while jogging, accompanied by a bit of wheeziness.
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"It's definitely something serious. Someone who has been vaccinated and boosted, it still got to me, and I still felt the effects. They weren't as severe as they can be for some. It did hang around and lingered for a while. Obviously, I missed Day 1, I tested positive a week before that, and it took me to where we were chasing that negative test and finally, a few days before SmackDown the following week, I got the negative test," Reigns concluded.
Reigns' condition is not to be taken lightly. Notably, a few years back, he took a short sabbatical break from the sport after being diagnosed with Leukaemia. Although he has been doing well since then, the chest tightness indicates that he still possesses some health complications, and it is the very reason he was watchful about competing during the first year of the pandemic.