Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi (born May 25, 1985) is an American professional wrestler, former professional Canadian football player, and a member of theAnoaʻi family. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring nameRoman Reigns.
After playing collegiate football forGeorgia Tech,[1] Anoaʻi started his professional football career with brief off-season stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars of theNational Football League (NFL) in 2007.[7] He then played a full season for the Canadian Football League'sEdmonton Eskimos in 2008 before his release and retirement from football.[8]
Anoaʻi then pursued a career in professional wrestling and was signed by WWE in 2010, reporting to theirdevelopmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).[2] As Roman Reigns, he made his main roster debut in November 2012 alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose as The Shield.[9] The trio teamed together until June 2014,[10] after which Reigns entered singles competition, and that same month he began headlining pay-per-views in world title contention.[11] In his WWE career, Reigns is a three-timeWWE World Heavyweight Champion,[12]a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion(with Rollins), and was the 2015 Royal Rumble winner and the 2014 Superstar of the Year. He also tied the WWE record for most eliminations in a Survivor Series elimination match with four in the2013 event,[13] and set the record for most eliminations in a Royal Rumble match with 12 in the 2014 event.[14]
Reigns has headlined numerous WWEpay-per-views including WrestleManias31 and 32, with WWE intending him to be their next "face of the company". However, Reigns' ascendancy as a world title-chasing heroic character has been marked by critics' disapproval and hostile crowd reactions.
