Ted DiBiase On Roman Reigns’ Suspension: ‘He Deserves A Second Chance’
Just a little over a week ago, WWE fans were shocked to learn that former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns had been hit with a 30-day suspension for violating WWE’s wellness policy. The substance that Reigns failed for still hasn’t been revealed, but there is a rumor going around that he tested positive for fat burners.
Of course, Reigns’ suspension will end just in time for him to participate in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship triple-threat match against Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose at WWE Battleground on July 24, but he won’t be back in time to participate in the WWE draft, which takes place on July 19. Does that mean he won’t get picked in the draft? We’ll just have to wait and see.
I apologize to my family, friends and fans for my mistake in violating WWE’s wellness policy. No excuses. I own it.
— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) June 21, 2016
Reigns’ wellness failure was the first time a high-profile, main-event-level WWE star had failed the test in several years. Prior to Reigns’ violation, only preliminary guys like Hornswoggle and R-Truth had been suspended.
Several people, including Stephanie McMahon, have called the Roman Reigns situation “an embarrassment.” At this moment, Reigns’ status as the man to take John Cena’s spot as the new face of WWE seems to be up in the air, but WWE Hall of Famer, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase thinks that Reigns deserves a second chance.
During an interview with BBC Radio Norfolk, DiBiase said that everybody makes mistakes, and everybody deserves a second chance, and Reigns is no different. He also said that he knows that Reigns isn’t a “dope addict,” and that he’s not really addicted to anything.
“Everybody knows there’s been some controversy recently with Roman Reigns getting a 30-day suspension. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody deserves forgiveness and a second chance and certainly I think this young man does as well. From what I know of him, and I don’t know him well, but what I have seen of him and as I’ve been around him and what I’ve heard from other people, is that he’s a really great kid. He’s not a dope addict, he’s not addicted to anything. He’s just a kid who, you know, hey, we all have… I wrote a book about it! Everybody deserves a second chance and I hope that he gets his as well. I think he still has an extremely bright future in the WWE.”
Roman Reigns will still be a top guy in WWE when he returns, and who knows? Maybe he’ll regain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Battleground. But, he may have to prove himself to WWE before they decide to get completely behind him again.
WWE is actually hoping that Reigns’ suspension will help him get over with the fans, which he’s been struggling to do for the past year. But, judging from the fans’ reaction to the suspension, it hasn’t helped him gain any sympathy so far.
It looks like WWE will build up the triple-threat match at Battleground without showing Roman Reigns on television one time prior to the match. So, it’ll be interesting to see how the fans react to him when he makes his return at next month’s pay-per-view.
Before he was suspended, WWE was planning on having Reigns be the face of Monday Night Raw, while John Cena would be the face of SmackDown. But, there have been rumors going around that their plans may have changed, and Cena could very well end up on Raw.
If Roman Reigns ends up regaining the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Battleground, and if he ends up being the face of Raw, then it’ll be quite clear that WWE took DiBiase’s advice, and decided to give him a second chance.
]Image via WWE]
