Roman Reigns' family shares statement following recent WWE fan issues

A member of Roman Reigns' family has issued a statement to the WWE Universe after some photos and videos from Sika Anoa'i's funeral have surfaced online. Sika Anoa'i was a member of the legendary Wild Samoans tag team and the father to Roman Reigns in real life.

The Tribal Chief has been off of WWE television since losing to Cody Rhodes in the main event of Night Two of WrestleMania XL. His father passed away last month at the age of 79 and the funeral recently took place. There have been photos and videos of the funeral posted online and Sika's nephew, Jahrus Tusipa Anoa'i has sent a message on behalf of the family to fans on his Instagram story. You can check it out by clicking here.

"If you're a fan page and have access to the content/videos some of the Anoa'i family is sharing be respectful and don't repost. If you have access to families pages, it doesn't mean its your place to share their experiences. Remain respectful from a distance and understand what's content to share and what's not for sharing. Keep videos private. Sharing a photo of Roman Reigns and his cousin Jimmy Uso is fine. Sharing the actual funeral part is not ok with the Anoa'i family. Thank you," he wrote.

The Anoa'i family has shared a statement on Instagram.[Photo Credit: Screenshot of Jahrus Tusipa Anoa'i's Instagram story]

WWE fans have been chanting "We want Roman!" during the Head of the Table's hiatus. The new version of The Bloodline brutally attacked Paul Heyman and put The Wiseman through the announcer's table last month on SmackDown.

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WWE Hall of Famer believes Roman Reigns needs to return as a babyface

Wrestling veteran Teddy Long recently claimed that Roman Reigns should return to WWE as a fan favorite.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Time Machine show, Long stated that Reigns should return to SmackDown as a babyface. The legend added that he would also need to get rid of Paul Heyman as his manager in order for that to happen.

"I like the idea, though, Mac, I think Roman, he needs to come back as a babyface. That can't be just one [appearance]. He has to get a little bit of a run out of it [...] The only way that really will become believable, and work, is you have to drop [Paul] Heyman," said Long. [8:29 onwards]

You can check out the video below for Long's comments:

Paul Heyman got a huge pop from the crowd when he refused to acknowledge Solo Sikoa as his Tribal Chief on WWE SmackDown. It will be fascinating to see what the promotion has planned for Reigns and Heyman in the weeks ahead.