Roman Reigns
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi (born May 25, 1985)[4][7] is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former professional gridiron football player. He is part of the Anoaʻi family[6] and is currently signed to WWE as a member of the SmackDown brand under the ring name Roman Reigns.
After playing college football for Georgia Tech, Anoaʻi started his professional football career with brief off-season stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) in 2007. He then played a full season for the Canadian Football League's (CFL) Edmonton Eskimos in 2008 before his release and retirement from football. He then pursued a career in professional wrestling and was signed by WWE in 2010, reporting to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). As Roman Reigns, he made his main roster debut in November 2012 alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as The Shield. The trio teamed together until June 2014, after which Reigns entered singles competition.
Reigns is a four-time world champion in WWE, having held the WWE Championship three times and the Universal Championship once. He is also a one-time United States Champion, a one-time Intercontinental Champion, a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with Rollins), the 2015 Royal Rumble winner, and the 2014 Superstar of the Year. He tied the WWE record for most eliminations in a Survivor Series match with four in the 2013 event and also previously held the record for most eliminations in a Royal Rumble match with 12 in the 2014 event. Upon winning the Intercontinental Championship, he became the twenty-eighth Triple Crown Champion and the seventeenth Grand Slam Champion. Additionally, Reigns was ranked number one in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual PWI 500 list of the top 500 singles wrestlers in 2016.
Since 2014, WWE has attempted to establish Reigns as their next "face of the company", which has been met with audience disapproval.[10] Reigns has headlined numerous WWE pay-per-view events, including four straight WrestleManias (31, 32, 33 and 34).[11][12]
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.[7] He then attended Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was a member of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team along with Calvin Johnson, who later became a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL).[7] Anoaʻi was a three-year starter beginning in his sophomore year and was also one of the team captains as a senior.[7] Anoaʻi was named to the first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2006 and earned All-ACC first-team honors with 40 tackles, two recovered fumbles and 4.5 sacks.[13]
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.[8][14][15] 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.[8]
In 2008, Anoaʻi was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[9] Wearing the number 99, Anoaʻi played for one season with the Eskimos, featuring in five games, of which he started three.[9][16] 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.[17] Anoaʻi was released by the Eskimos on November 10, and proceeded to retire from professional football.[9]
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
Developmental territories (2010–2012)
Anoaʻi signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2010 and was later assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).[4] 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.[18] On the January 16, 2011 episode of FCW, Leakee was a competitor in a 30-man Grand Royal, but was eliminated.[19] Later in 2011, 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.[20]
In January 2012, Leakee pinned FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Leo Kruger in a non-title match.[21] 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.[22] He failed to win the championship when he lost to Kruger the following week.[23] Leakee later won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Dalton[24][25] and would drop the titles to CJ Parker and Jason Jordan shortly after.[26]
After WWE rebranded FCW to NXT in August 2012,[27] Anoaʻi, with the new ring name of Roman Reigns and a villain character, made his debut on the October 31 episode of NXT by defeating CJ Parker.[28]
The Shield (2012–2014)
Roman Reigns made his main roster television debut as on November 18, 2012 at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, assaulting Ryback during the triple threat main event for the WWE Championship, allowing CM Punk to retain the title, thus establishing themselves as villains.[29] The trio declared themselves The Shield and vowed to rally against "injustice", while also denying working for Punk, even though they would routinely emerge from the crowd to attack Punk's adversaries, including Ryback and WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane).[30][31][32][33] This led to a six-man tag team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 16, in which Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins defeated Team Hell No and Ryback in their debut match.[34] The Shield continued to aid Punk in January 2013, attacking both Ryback and The Rock.[35][36] On the January 28 episode of Raw, it was revealed that Punk and his manager Paul Heyman had been paying The Shield and Brad Maddox to work for them.[37]
The Shield then indistinctly ended their association with Punk while beginning a feud with John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus that directed to a six-man tag match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber, which The Shield won.[38][39] The Shield then made their WrestleMania debut, where they defeated Sheamus, Randy Orton and Big Show at WrestleMania 29 in April.[40][41] The following night on Raw, The Shield attempted to attack The Undertaker, but they were stopped by Team Hell No.[42] This set up a six-man tag team match on the April 22 episode of Raw, which The Shield won.[43] 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 an elimination tag team match against Cena, Kane and Bryan.[44]
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.[45] On the June 14 episode of SmackDown, The Shield where given their first decisive loss in televised six-man tag team matches at the hands of Team Hell No and Randy Orton, when Bryan submitted Rollins.[46][47] Reigns and Rollins defeated Bryan and Orton at Payback to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.[48] Further successful title defenses followed against The Usos at Money in the Bank and The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) at Night of Champions.[49][50]
In August, The Shield began working for chief operating officer Triple H and The Authority.[51][52] Their association with The Authority led them to begin a rivalry with Cody Rhodes and Goldust.[53] At Battleground on October 6, Reigns and Rollins were defeated by Rhodes and Goldust in a non-title match.[54] Reigns and Rollins would later lose the tag team titles to Rhodes and Goldust in a no disqualification match on the October 14 episode of Raw, following interference from Big Show.[55] At Hell in a Cell on October 27, Reigns and Rollins failed to regain the championship in a triple threat tag team match.[56] At Survivor Series, The Shield teamed with Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger to take on Rey Mysterio, The Usos, Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a traditional Survivor Series match; Reigns would win the match for his team.[57] At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, The Shield were defeated by CM Punk in a 3-on-1 handicap match, after Reigns accidentally speared Ambrose.[58] At the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2014, Reigns entered the Royal Rumble match at number 15 and went on to eliminate 12 competitors in the match, a record that was later broken by Braun Strowman in 2018.[59] Reigns would be the runner-up in the match after being lastly eliminated by Batista.[60][61] The next night on Raw, The Shield competed in a six-man tag team match against Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and John Cena, with all three members of the winning team qualifying for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which The Shield lost via disqualification after The Wyatt Family interfered and attacked Cena, Bryan and Sheamus.[62] A six-man tag team match pitting The Shield against The Wyatt Family on February 24 at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view was arranged, in which The Shield lost after Ambrose abandoned the match mid-way through.
In March, The Shield came out to seemingly attack Jerry Lawler, only to attack Kane instead, turning all three men face in the process.[64] This led to a match between The Shield and Kane and The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) at WrestleMania XXX, which The Shield won.[65] The feud with Kane also prompted The Shield to sever ties with Triple H, who reformed Evolution to counteract them.[66] The Shield then defeated Evolution at both Extreme Rules in May and Payback in June.[67][68] On the Raw following Payback, Rollins turned on The Shield and aligned himself with Triple H and The Authority.[69]
Controversial rise to main event status (2014–2015)
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