Roman Reigns

Leati Joseph Anoaʻi (Samoan pronunciation: [a.noˈaʔ.i] ah-no-AH ee; born May 25, 1985), better known by his ring name Roman Reigns, is an American professional wrestler, actor and former football player. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE since 2010, where he performs on the Raw brand on a part-time basis. Regarded as one of the best professional wrestlers in the world, Reigns' 1,316-day reign as WWE Universal Champion is the longest reign of the title's history, the fourth longest world title reign in WWE history, and the longest championship reign recognised by the company since 1988.

After playing U.S. college football for Georgia Tech, Anoaʻi started a professional football career with brief off-season stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) in 2007. He played a full season for the Canadian Football League's (CFL) Edmonton Eskimos in 2008 before his release and retirement from football. A member of the Anoaʻi wrestling family, Anoaʻi was signed by WWE in 2010 and made his main roster debut under the ring name Roman Reigns in 2012 as a member of The Shield alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins; with Rollins, Reigns held the WWE Tag Team Championship once. The trio teamed together until disbanding in 2014, after which, Reigns entered singles competition.

From 2014 to 2020, WWE positioned Reigns as a heroic character and attempted to establish him as their next "face of the company", which was met with intense disapproval by audiences and critics. During this period, Reigns won numerous championships and accomplishments, including winning the WWE Championship three times, the WWE Universal Championship once, and winning the Royal Rumble in 2015. After a hiatus, Reigns was repackaged as a villainous character between 2020 and 2024, which was generally met with acclaim by audiences and critics. Reigns then won his second Universal Championship and fourth WWE Championship, holding both simultaneously as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship; upon losing the Undisputed title, the Universal Championship was retired with Reigns recognized as its final champion. In 2026, Reigns won the Royal Rumble match for a second time.

Reigns has headlined numerous WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming events, including WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania, a record 10 times. Reigns holds the joint-record for most eliminations in a Survivor Series match (4) and is also WWE's 28th Triple Crown Champion and 17th Grand Slam Champion. He was also ranked at No. 1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual PWI 500 list of the top 500 singles wrestlers in 2016 and 2022, and was named Wrestler of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 2021.

Early life

Leati Joseph Anoaʻi was born on May 25, 1985, in Pensacola, Florida, to Sika Anoaʻi and Patricia Hooker. His father was of Samoan descent and his mother is of Sicilian Italian ancestry. Both his father and his brother Rosey were professional wrestlers.

As a member of the Anoaʻi wrestling family, his cousins include The Tonga Kid, Rikishi, Umaga, and Yokozuna, while his first cousins once removed include The Usos and Solo Sikoa.

Being raised in a Catholic family, Anoaʻi attended Pensacola Catholic High School before transferring to Escambia High School. He then attended the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where he played college football for the Yellow Jackets. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Georgia Tech, majoring in management.

Football career

Anoaʻi played football for three years at Pensacola Catholic High School and one year at Escambia High School; in his senior year, he was named Defensive Player of the Year by the Pensacola News Journal. He played his college football career at Georgia Tech along with future Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson. Anoaʻi was a three-year starter beginning in his sophomore year and was also one of the team captains as a senior. He earned first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) honors in 2006 after recording 40 tackles, two recovered fumbles and 4.5 sacks.

After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL draft, Anoaʻi was signed by the Minnesota Vikings in May 2007. He was diagnosed with leukemia after his team physical and was released later that month. The Jacksonville Jaguars signed him in August 2007, only to release Anoaʻi less than a week later before the start of the 2007 NFL season. In 2008, he was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Wearing the number 99, Anoaʻi played for one season with the Eskimos, featuring in five games, of which he started three. Anoaʻi's most notable game came against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in September, where he tied for the team lead with five tackles and had a forced fumble. Anoaʻi was released by the Eskimos on November 10, and proceeded to retire from professional football.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Developmental territories (2010–2012)

Anoaʻi signed a contract with WWE in 2010 and was later assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He made his televised debut on August 19, 2010, using the ring name Roman Leakee, in a 15-man battle royal, which was won by Alex Riley. On the January 16, 2011, episode of FCW, Leakee was a competitor in a 30-man Grand Royal, but was eliminated. Later that year, Leakee formed a tag team with Donny Marlow and the pair unsuccessfully challenged Calvin Raines and Big E Langston for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on July 8.

In January 2012, Leakee pinned FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Leo Kruger in a non-title match. On the February 5 episode of FCW, he defeated Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win the championship from Kruger the following week. In June, Leakee won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Dalton and would drop the titles to CJ Parker and Jason Jordan the following month.

After WWE rebranded FCW to NXT in August 2012, Anoaʻi, with the new ring name Roman Reigns and a villainous character, made his debut on the October 31 episode of NXT by defeating CJ Parker.

The Shield (2012–2014)

Reigns made his main roster debut on November 18, 2012, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, attacking Ryback during the triple threat main event for the WWE Championship, allowing CM Punk to pin John Cena and retain the title. The trio declared themselves The Shield, vowed to rally against "injustice" and denied working for Punk, but routinely emerged from the crowd to attack Punk's adversaries. This led to a six-man tag team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 16, where The Shield defeated Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) and Ryback in their debut match. They continued to aid Punk after TLC, both on Raw and at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2013 It was revealed on the January 28 episode of Raw that Punk and his manager Paul Heyman had been paying The Shield and Brad Maddox to work for them.

The Shield then quietly ended their association with Punk while beginning a feud with Cena, Ryback and Sheamus, who they defeated on February 17 at Elimination Chamber. On April 7, they defeated Sheamus, Randy Orton and Big Show at WrestleMania 29. The following night on Raw, The Shield attempted to attack The Undertaker, but they were stopped by Team Hell No. This set up a six-man tag team match on the April 22 episode of Raw, which The Shield won. On the May 13 episode of Raw, The Shield's undefeated streak in televised six-man tag team matches ended in a disqualification loss in a six-man elimination tag team match against Cena, Kane and Bryan.

On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Reigns and Rollins defeated Team Hell No in a tornado tag team match to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the June 14 episode of SmackDown, The Shield suffered their first decisive loss in televised six-man tag team matches against Team Hell No and Randy Orton when Bryan made Rollins submit. Reigns and Rollins defeated Bryan and Orton at Payback on June 16 to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. In August, The Shield began working for chief operating officer Triple H and The Authority. They retained their titles against The Usos at Money in the Bank on July 14 and The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) at Night of Champions on September 15. At Battleground on October 6, the recently (kayfabe) fired Cody Rhodes and Goldust reclaimed their jobs by defeating Rollins and Reigns in a non-title match. Reigns and Rollins lost the titles to Rhodes and Goldust in a no disqualification match on the October 14 episode of Raw, after interference from Big Show and failed to regain them in a triple threat tag team match at Hell in a Cell on October 27.