10 Ways 2018 Was WWE's Craziest Year EVER

4. Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns Universal
WWE.com

Roman Reigns' career highs and lows seem trivial in the cold aftershock of the saddest promo he was ever forced to cut in October, but the reveal of his leukaemia diagnosis capped off another tumultuous on-and-off screen year for 'The Big Dog' that spoke to both the ill and goodwill WWE can often inspire.

In the wake of the tragic revelation, the roster and fanbase came together in glowing support in this; his most important ever fight. If this sounds like a WrestleMania build, it's because the company probably said as much back in March. Not that they could ever show it.

Reigns lay bloodied on the 'Show Of Shows' canvas because they were f*cking it up again. He defeated Samoa Joe in front of half a crowd at Backlash because they were f*cking it up again. His SummerSlam ascension didn't so much fade to black as sprint there because WWE had - quite profoundly - f*cked it up again.

Real life elected to shape the story in a way that immediately rendered all of the above redundant. Roman Reigns can win (but never really win) and lose (but never really lose), but 'The Big Dog's battles are now meaningless beyond the original malaise.

A husband and father must take on mortality - but he'll never need to worry about bad booking again if he can win the cruelest war of all.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.