WWE

Roman Reigns out for WWE Day 1 with COVID-19, Brock Lesnar added to WWE Championship Match

Written by Doug Rush

Roman Reigns out for WWE Day 1 with COVID-19, Brock Lesnar added to WWE Championship Match

With a short time left until WWE Day 1, a huge change has been made to the event.

Roman Reigns was set to defend his WWE Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar, however, that match is off, as Reigns has contracted COVID-19.

With this, Lesnar has been added to the Fatal-4-Way match tonight for the WWE Championship between Big E, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley and it will be a Fatal-5-Way match now.

Hopefully for Reigns, who has had bouts with leukemia in the past, his bout with COVID-19 is an easy one and he is able to get over it quickly and return to Smackdown, where he’s had an almost two year dominant reign as the show’s champion.

About the author

Doug Rush

Doug Rush is entering his 18th season as a writer. His career dates back to when he was with The Asbury Park Press covering high school football, The Harlem Globetrotters and The Lakewood Blueclaws.


In 2009, he joined Bleacher Report, covering the New York Yankees and New York Giants, amassing over 2 million reader views.


After 2013, he left B/R to join Sports Media 101 to cover the Yankees and Giants. While with Sports Media 101, Rush was named to the Pro Football Writers Association of America. He was there until July of 2016.

In January of 2018, Rush joined USA Today as part of the Giants Wire staff to cover the Giants. He is still currently with them, as he does weekly analysis for them during the season.


In September of 2021, Rush joined Pro Sports Extra, where he will be covering MLB, the NFL, NBA, WWE and AEW.


Doug is from Toms River, New Jersey where he has two children, Carson and Peyton.