Roman Reigns announced on this week's episode of Monday Night Raw that he was in remission and that "The Big Dog was back" after more than four months on the sidelines. It was later revealed by Fightful that it was completely Reigns' decision to return to the company immediately after he was given the green light from his cancer treatment, which could be why it seems to have happened so quickly.
Reigns announced that he was walking away from the company back on October 22nd, the same night that Dean Ambrose finally turned heel. Over the past four months, a lot has happened in WWE which could be why Reigns made the decision to return to WWE so soon. Either way here are four reasons why Reigns could have decided to come back to the company last night.
#4. Raw Ratings
Interestingly, Raw's ratings over the past few weeks haven't been what WWE would have wanted in the build-up to WrestleMania. Whilst last week's Raw ratings did see a sign of improvement, this was because WWE was forced to bring in a number of new NXT recruits to add some interest to the product.
WrestleMania season is WWE's busiest of the year and the fact that ratings don't seem to show will have the company panicking. Roman Reigns will have known that his return would have boosted last night's ratings and having him back in the company will add some excitement to WrestleMania.
Reigns is one of the company's top stars and a locker room leader. WWE needs him now more than ever before, with so many stars looking to move over to All Elite Wrestling. So it's completely feasible that Reigns wanted to return to his duties because he missed his friends and wanted to help WWE rebuild.
#3. Dean Ambrose's looming departure
Dean Ambrose made his WWE debut alongside Roman Reigns back in 2012 and in the six and a half years that have followed, the two superstars have remained close. Ambrose and Reigns traveled together for much of their career, and it was then announced whilst Reigns was away from the company that "The Lunatic Fringe" had decided not to renew his contract.
Ambrose talked about how emotional it was for him to be without Reigns in WWE and it could have been one of the main reasons why he decided against renewing his contract. No one in WWE knew how long Reigns would be on the sidelines but now that he's back, Ambrose's decision could change.
The former World Champion has been overlooked for most of his career, but a Shield reunion means that he will at least be part of a storyline moving forward after being completely forgotten on the Elimination Chamber card.
#2. He missed the business
Roman Reigns has always been around sport. He was a football player before he was struck down by an injury and forced into the wrestling business. He isn't the kind of superstar who would enjoy being on the sidelines and soaking up the sympathy.
Reigns comes from a family of hard Samoan men who have all been part of the business and it's easy to see that Reigns could have missed being part of the company for the past four months. Reigns also has a lot of friends and family in the locker room that he would have wanted to see and share the news with personally.
The WWE Universe has also missed Reigns and has shared tributes to him and supported him over the past few months. Naturally, the former World Champion probably believed that he owed it to the WWE Universe to tell them the news as well.
#1. WrestleMania Main Event Record
WrestleMania has become Roman Reigns' own personal playground, the former World Champion has already main evented 'the show of shows' four times in the past few years, and this year would have been his chance to make history with his fifth consecutive main event.
Initially, there were plans for Reigns to take on The Rock for the Universal Championship in the WrestleMania main event, but now Reigns could be added to Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar instead since he has a legitimate claim to the Championship that he never lost.
This would be the only way that Reigns would continue his impressive streak since it's expected that the Raw Women's Championship will be the main event for the show overall.
Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns has already main evented WrestleMania and could well be the match that the company decides to push forward this year.