His reign of 1,316 days as Universal Champion is the fourth-longest world title reign in WWE history and the longest championship reign of any title in WWE since 1988.[a] He is also a formerUnited States,Intercontinental, andWWE Tag Team Champion (all held one time), the2015 Royal Rumble winner, the 28th Triple Crown Champion and the 17th Grand Slam Champion. Reigns has been in the last match of manypremium live events, including WWE's biggest yearly event,WrestleMania. He was praised for playing hisheel character as the Bloodline's leader.[7][8] However, he was criticized when he played aface from 2014 to 2020.[9]
Before he started his professional wrestling career, Anoa'i played football at theGeorgia Institute of Technology and was named first-team All-ACC his senior year. He went drafted in the 2007 NFL Draft but ended up being signed by theMinnesota Vikings.[10] He was picked up by theJacksonville Jaguars to provide depth at defensive end to their roster and in 2008 he was signed by theEdmonton Eskimos of theCanadian Football League (CFL) and accepted a spot on the team's practice roster.[11]
In July 2010, Anoa'i was signed to a developmental contract withWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was put on their developmental territoryFlorida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He debuted under the ring nameRoman Leakee on September 9, 2010 and competed in a singles match that resulted in a loss toRichie Steamboat. He then lost toIdol Stevens andWes Brisco and finally earned his first win on September 21 in a match against Fahd Rakman.
Roman Reigns along with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, made their main roster television debut on November 18, 2012 at theSurvivor Series pay-per-view alongside, triple-powerbombingRyback through the announce table during the triple threat main event for theWWE Championship, which allowedCM Punk to pinJohn Cena after an earlier Shell Shock from Ryback to retain the title.[13]
In early 2005, while studying atGeorgia Institute of Technology, Anoaʻi met and began dating Galina Becker.[14] They were married in December 2014,[15] and live inTampa, Florida.[16] Their first child, a daughter, was born in December 2007 .[17][18][19][20] They had twin sons in November 2016, followed by another set of twin sons in March 2020.[21][22]
On the October 22, 2018 episode ofRaw, Anoaʻi announced that he had been living withchronic myeloid leukemia, a form of blood cancer. He was diagnosed in 2007 during his American Football career and continues to take medication.[23][24][25] Because of his leukemia, he took a break from professional wrestling until February 25, 2019,[26] and again for some months in 2020 during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[27]
↑WWE also acknowledges theNWA (before 1993) andWCW titles as world championships, listing Reigns as the sixth-longest reigning world champion in professional wrestling history
↑The title was named "WWE World Heavyweight Championship" during his first three reigns and simply "WWE Championship" during his fourth reign..
↑Meltzer, Dave (February 2023). "February 2023 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Results of the 2022 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards".Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
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