Roman Reigns

Jan 12, 2013 - by Jamie Cruickshank

WWE

Real name: Leati Joseph Anoa’i (known as Joe Anoa’i)
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 265 lbs.
Date of birth: May 25, 1985
Born: Pensacola, Florida
Pro debut: 2010
Trained by: Afa & Sika Anoa’i, FCW
Finishing move: Moment of Silence

Biography

– Prior to beginning his wrestling career, Anoa’i had spells with the Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars and Edmonton Eskimos
– Anoa’i signed a WWE development deal in 2010 and was assigned to FCW
– On August 19, 2010, Anoa’i (as Roman Leakee, later shortened to Leakee) made his FCW debut in a Battle Royal match
– On February 3, 2011, Leakee & Donny Marlow defeated FCW Tag Team Champions Damien Sandow & Titus O’Neil by DQ
– On February 12, 2011, Leakee & Marlow again defeated Sandow & O’Neil by DQ
– On April 14, 2011, Leakee fought FCW Champion Lucky Cannon to a double-DQ
– On June 15, 2012, Leakee & Mike Dalton defeated Corey Graves & Jake Carter to win the FCW Tag Team Titles. They retained the titles in the rematch one week later
– In July 2012, Leakee began working main roster house shows, defeating Curt Hawkins (on Raw) and Heath Slater (on Smackdown)
– In early September 2012, Leakee changed his ring name to Roman Reigns
– At Survivor Series 2012, Reigns (alongside Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins) interfered in the WWE Championship match to gift the win to CM Punk
– The next night on Raw, the group christened themselves ‘The Shield’. They would routinely interfere in matches on Raw and Smackdown over the next few weeks, attacking (among others) Randy Orton, Team Hell No and Sheamus
– At TLC 2012, The Shield defeated Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) & Ryback in a TLC Match
– In 2013, The Shield began appearing in NXT
– On January 7, 2013, The Shield again gifted a WWE Title match to CM Punk by attacking Ryback
– At Wrestlemania 29, The Shield defeated The Big Show, Randy Orton, and Sheamus
– The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) defeated Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) at Extreme Rules ’13 in St. Louis, MO, to capture the WWE Tag Team titles
– At Payback ’13, The Shield defeated Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton
– At Night of Champions ’13, The Shield (Reigns & Rollins) defeated The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O’Neil) to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– At Survivor Series ’13, The Shield & The Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro & Jack Swagger) defeated Cody Rhodes, Goldust, Rey Mysterio & The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) in an Elimination Match
– At WrestleMania XXX, The Shield defeated Kane & The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg)
– At Extreme Rules ’14, The Shield defeated Evolution (Triple H, Batista & Randy Orton)
– At Payback ’14, The Shield defeated Evolution in a No Holds Barred Elimination Match
– The next night on Raw, Rollins turned on The Shield, signalling the end of the faction
– At Summerslam ’14, Reigns defeated Randy Orton
– On September 20, 2014, Reigns was forced out of action due to a hernia
– On December 8, 2014, Reigns returned to television to collect his Slammy Award for Superstar of the Year
– Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble match to earn a WWE title shot against Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31. Reigns fell short in his attempt at the WWE Title, after Seth Rollins cashed in his Money In The Bank
– At Summerslam ’15, Reigns & Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper
– At Hell In A Cell ’15, Reigns defeated Wyatt in a Hell In A Cell Match
– At Survivor Series ’15, Reigns defeated Dean Ambrose & Alberto Del Rio to win the WWE World Title Tournament, but lost the title immediately after Sheamus cashed in his Money In The Bank
– On December 14, 2015, Reigns defeated Sheamus to win the WWE World Title
– Over the next month, Reigns would engage in a feud with The Authority, culminating in The Authority demanding that Reigns defend the WWE World Title in the Royal Rumble Match
– At Fastlane ’16, Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar & Dean Ambrose in a Triple Threat Match to become Number One Contender to the WWE World Title
– At WrestleMania 32, Reigns defeated Triple H to regain the WWE World Title
– At Payback ’16, Reigns defeated AJ Styles to retain the WWE World Title. The match had been restarted twice following countout and DQ victories for Styles, finishing under no countout, no-DQ rules
– At Extreme Rules ’16, Reigns defeated Styles in an Extreme Rules Match to retain the WWE World Title
– In June 2016, Reigns was suspended for 30 days for his first violation of the WWE Wellness Policy
– In the 2016 WWE draft, Reigns was allocated to Raw
– At Clash of Champions ’16, Reigns defeated Rusev to win the WWE United States Title
– At Hell In A Cell ’16, Reigns defeated Rusev inside the Cell to retain the WWE United States Title
– At Fastlane ’17, Reigns defeated Braun Strowman
– At WrestleMania 33, Reigns defeated The Undertaker in what appeared to be The Undertaker’s retirement match
– At No Mercy ’17, Reigns defeated John Cena
– In October 2017, Reigns reunited with Rollins & Ambrose to reform The Shield
– At Survivor Series ’17, The Shield defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
– Reigns won the titular match at Elimination Chamber ’18, outlasting The Miz, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman, John Cena & Elias, earning himself a match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania
– At Backlash ’18, Reigns defeated Samoa Joe
– At Money In The Bank ’18, Reigns defeated Jinder Mahal
– At Summerslam ’18, Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Universal Title
– At Hell In A Cell ’18, Reigns fought Braun Strowman to a no-contest in a Hell In A Cell Match, with Mick Foley serving as special guest referee. As a result, Reigns retained the WWE Universal Title
– The next night on Raw, Reigns defeated Baron Corbin to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At Super Show-Down, The Shield (Reigns, Rollins & Ambrose) defeated Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre
– In October 2018, Reigns revealed that his leukemia had returned after 11 years of remission and that he would have to relinquish the WWE Universal Title and take time off to aid his recovery
– Reigns returned to TV in February 2019
– At Fastlane ’19, The Shield defeated Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre & Bobby Lashley
– At WrestleMania 35, Reigns defeated McIntyre
– In the 2019 Superstar Shakeup, Reigns was drafted to Smackdown
– At Money In The Bank ’19, Reigns defeated Elias
– At Stomping Grounds ’19, Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre
– At Extreme Rules ’19, Reigns & The Undertaker defeated Drew McIntyre & Shane McMahon in a No Holds Barred Match
– At Hell In A Cell ’19, Reigns & Daniel Bryan defeated The Bludgeon Brothers (Luke Harper & Erick Rowan)
– Reigns was a member of Team Hogan as they defeated Team Flair at Crown Jewel 2019
– Reigns was part of the victorious Team Smackdown at Survivor Series 2019
– At Royal Rumble 2020, Reigns defeated King Corbin in a Falls Count Anywhere Match
– At Super Showdown 2020, Reigns defeated King Corbin in a Cage Match
– Reigns was announced for a match against Goldberg at WrestleMania 36, but withdrew from the event (and indeed from WWE for a time) due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic
– Reigns returned at Summerslam, attacking the Universal Championship participants, leading to his first solo heel run
– At Payback 2020, Reigns defeated Braun Strowman & The Fiend in a No Holds Barred Match to win the WWE Universal Title
– At Clash of Champions ’20, Reigns defeated Jey Uso to retain the WWE Universal Title after Jimmy Uso threw in the towel
– On October 16, 2020, Reigns defeated Braun Strowman to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At Hell In A Cell ’20, Reigns defeated Jey Uso in an I Quit Match inside the cell to retain the WWE Universal Title after Reigns threatened to further injure Jimmy Uso. Following the match, Jey was forced to address Reigns as ‘The Tribal Chief’, eventually leading to the formation of The Bloodline stable
– At Royal Rumble ’21, Reigns defeated Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing Match to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At Elimination Chamber ’21, Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan in short order to retain the WWE Universal Title. Bryan had won a gruelling Elimination Chamber match immediately prior
– At Fastlane ’21, Reigns defeated Bryan with Edge as guest enforcer to retain the WWE Universal Title
– On April 30, 2021, Reigns defeated Bryan in a Title vs. Career Match, forcing Bryan to retire and retaining the WWE Universal Title
– At Backlash ’21, Reigns defeated Cesaro to retain the WWE Universal Title
– On June 18, 2021, Reigns defeated Rey Mysterio in a Hell In A Cell Match to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At Money In The Bank ’21, Reigns defeated Edge to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At Summerslam ’21, Reigns defeated John Cena to retain the WWE Universal Title
– On September 3, 2021, Reigns defeated Finn Balor to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At Extreme Rules 2021, Reigns defeated Finn Balor in an Extreme Rules Match to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At Tribute To The Troops 2021, Reigns defeated Shinsuke Nakamura
– At Crown Jewel 2021, Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At Survivor Series 2021, Reigns defeated Big E
– On the December 3 episode of Smackdown, Reigns defeated Sami Zayn to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At Elimination Chamber 2022, Reigns defeated Goldberg to retain the WWE Universal Title
– At WrestleMania 38, Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar in a Winner Take All Match to retain the WWE Universal Title and win the WWE Title
– At Backlash 2022, The Bloodline (Reigns, Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) defeated Randy Orton, Matt Riddle & Drew McIntyre
– On the June 17, 2022 episode of Smackdown, Reigns defeated Riddle to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles
– At Summerslam 2022, Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing Match to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles
– At Clash At The Castle 2022, Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles
– At Crown Jewel 2022, Reigns defeated Logan Paul to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles
– At Survivor Series 2022, The Bloodline (Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa & Sami Zayn) defeated The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Butch, Ridge Holland, Drew McIntyre & Kevin Owens) in a War Games Match
– At Royal Rumble 2023, Reigns defeated Kevin Owens to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles
– At Elimination Chamber 2023, Reigns defeated Sami Zayn to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles
– At WrestleMania 39, Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles
– At Summerslam 2023, Reigns defeated Jey Uso in a Tribal Combat Match to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles
– At Crown Jewel 2023, Reigns defeated LA Knight to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles
– At Royal Rumble 2024, Reigns defeated Randy Orton, AJ Styles & LA Knight to retain the WWE and WWE Universal Titles

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