Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns is the ring name of Leati Joseph Anoa'i, an American professional wrestler and former football player who is one of the most prominent stars of WWE. A member of the renowned Anoa'i wrestling family, he has held multiple world championships and become a defining figure of his era in the company.

Early life

Anoa'i was born on May 25, 1985, in Pensacola, Florida, into a family of Samoan descent with one of the most extensive professional wrestling lineages in the sport, including his father, Sika, his brother Rosey, and cousins among the well-known Anoa'i clan. He grew up partly in Pensacola and attended Georgia Institute of Technology, where he played college football as a defensive tackle and earned all-conference recognition. After college he pursued a professional football career, spending time with teams in the NFL and signing with a team in the Canadian Football League before leaving the sport to follow his family into wrestling.

Career

Anoa'i signed with WWE and trained in its developmental system, then known as FCW and later NXT, before debuting on the main roster in late 2012 as part of the faction The Shield, alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. The group's success helped launch his career, and after the trio eventually split he was positioned as a top singles competitor. Wrestling as Roman Reigns, he won multiple WWE championships, including the company's top titles, and headlined numerous major events, including the company's flagship event, WrestleMania, on several occasions, though his prominent push initially drew mixed crowd reactions.

Recent work

After publicly disclosing a battle with leukemia in 2018 and temporarily stepping away from competition, Reigns returned later that year following remission and subsequently reinvented his character as the menacing, arrogant "Tribal Chief," aligned with members of his real-life family, including Paul Heyman as his advocate, in a long-running storyline faction. This run featured one of the longest world championship reigns in modern WWE history and is widely regarded as a creative and commercial peak of his career. Outside wrestling, Reigns has appeared in film, including a role in the "Fast & Furious" spin-off "Hobbs & Shaw," continuing the crossover into mainstream entertainment pursued by several members of his family. Widely regarded as one of the top draws of his generation, he has headlined many of WWE's biggest shows and helped anchor the company's flagship programming and premium live events. His extended title run and the storytelling surrounding his family faction drew significant mainstream attention to professional wrestling. He remains a marquee attraction for WWE, performing on a reduced, part-time schedule built around its largest events.