Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi, better known by the ring name Roman Reigns, is an American professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently signed to WWE on the SmackDown brand, where he is the current and longest-reigning WWE Universal Champion in his second reign and the current WWE Champion in his fourth reign—with both championships, he is referred to as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. He is also the leader of The Bloodline stable and a member of wrestling's renowned Anoa'i family.
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). Under the ring name Roman Reigns, he made his main roster debut in 2012 as a member of The Shield alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. They teamed together until disbanding in 2014, after which Reigns entered singles competition, though the trio would occasionally reunite until Ambrose left WWE in 2019.
Reigns is a six-time world champion in WWE, having held the WWE Championship four times and the WWE Universal Championship twice. In 2022, he became the longest reigning Universal Champion—his ongoing reign of 1,013+ days is recognized as the sixth-longest world championship reign in the promotion's history and the longest reign of any WWE championship since 1988. He is also a one-time WWE United States Champion, a one-time WWE 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 28th Triple Crown Champion and the 17th Grand Slam Champion. Reigns has headlined numerous pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania seven times (31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38 and 39). Additionally, he was ranked at No. 1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual PWI 500 list of the top 500 singles wrestlers in 2016 and 2022.
From 2014 onwards, 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.[11] Following his return from a hiatus in August 2020, he was repackaged as a villainous character nicknamed "The Tribal Chief" and "Head of the Table", which was generally met with acclaim.
