Roman Reigns: Opting out of WrestleMania 36 'was about putting my family first'

Back in March, Roman Reigns decided to opt out of WrestleMania 36 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During an appearance on "WWE After the Bell" with "SmackDown" announcer Corey Graves, Reigns explained his choice, saying that it was entirely based on keeping his family safe.

"For me, it was about putting my family first. And right there, if I had to retire and that's what was gonna be asked of me, I was willing to do it. For one of the first times in a long time, I put my family—they were 1A. There was nothing that was gonna change my mind. I needed to go away and wait 'til we were in a place of better understanding of the process and knowing exactly what this virus has done and how it's affected everybody. And I just feel far more comfortable the way WWE has taken care of me to make me feel safe, make my family feel safe, make my wife feel safe that I'm going out and then coming back in, that's been huge and critical to get me back in the ring."

Reigns' wife Galina gave birth to a pair of twin boys earlier this year, and the couple also had a daughter in 2014. While Reigns does not regret his choice to skip, he admitted that having to watch the action from home "sucked." Reigns is one of the biggest names in WWE, holding the WWE Championship three times and the WWE Universal Championship twice. WWE has even tried to push him as the face of the sport, though the success of that push has been debatable.