"I was ready to retire" - Roman Reigns reflects on his WWE run before turning heel

Roman Reigns is arguably one of the greatest WWE superstars of his generation. The Bloodline leader, however, recently revealed he had considered retirement before The Tribal Chief Character came to be.

The former Undisputed WWE Universal Champion returned to the Stamford-based company amid the ongoing pandemic to turn heel for the first time in his career. The move turned out to be an instant success as Roman Reigns's portrayal of The Head of The Table character received praise from the fans.

In the latest A&E Biography: WWE Legends, the former Big Dog opened up about his run after returning from stepping away due to leukemia. He referred to it as the most miserable time of his career. He further revealed that he chose to leave during the pandemic for his and his family's safety:

"I think that was the most miserable time of my career. This is the time that I was just trying to make everything easy. 'I'm paid well. I should make the job easy for everybody. That's what being a top guy is, right?' That's what I translated as being a top guy, and it just didn't work. So, I left once the pandemic hit. That's where it all changed. So, at that point, it was so early on in the pandemic. We didn't have any protocols set up. It was still very unknown. So I made the choice to just go home, and I told them, 'Until We can figure out how to make it safe. I'm not putting me or my family at risk,'" he said.

Roman Reigns further stated that stepping away from the business gave him time to reflect on his career. It was when he realized that he still hadn't reached his full potential:

"I was ready to retire, and once I fully removed myself by choice, not due to circumstances, that's when I was able to be truthful with myself. That's when I could really take an authentic genuine eye and look at what I've been doing and look at what I've done. That's when I knew I just wasn't happy with it. I still felt like I didn't achieve what I had set out to do. I didn't reach my potential. I was still under that ceiling, and it was time to break it." [H/T: Fightful]

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Roman Reigns breaks silence after WrestleMania XL loss

Cody Rhodes defeated The Tribal Chief at The Show of Shows to become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. The loss marked the end of The Head of The Table's 1316-day title reign.

Roman Reigns recently took to X/Twitter to share his first update after suffering the loss. The Bloodline leader posted a video of himself working out, suggesting he is looking forward to the next chapter.

Roman Reigns' historic title run started at Payback 2020, where he defeated Braun Strowman and The Fiend in a triple-threat match to win the Universal Championship. After dropping the title after over three and a half years, it will be intriguing to see what lies ahead for The Tribal Chief.