A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler , mixed martial artist , or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting the wrong image. Since the advent of the Internet , it is relatively easy to discover a fighter's real name.
175-599: Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi ( Samoan pronunciation: [a.noˈaʔ.i] ah-no- AH ee ; born May 25, 1985), better known by his ring name Roman Reigns , is an American professional wrestler and former football player. He is signed to WWE , where he performs on the SmackDown brand. He is the leader of the babyface iteration of The Bloodline stable and a member of the Anoaʻi family . Reigns's title reign of 1,316 days as Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion
350-541: A Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules , which Reigns won. On May 17 at Payback , Reigns failed to win the world title from Rollins in a fatal four-way match that also involved Orton and Ambrose. On June 14 at Money in the Bank , Reigns competed in his first Money in the Bank ladder match, which he failed to win after Bray Wyatt interfered and attacked him. On July 17 at Battleground , Wyatt defeated Reigns after Luke Harper interfered and attacked Reigns. He would enlist
525-449: A WarGames match . Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or
700-520: A tables, ladders, and chairs match being arranged for the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 15, which Reigns lost after interference from Ziggler and The Revival ( Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson ). At the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2020, Reigns defeated Corbin in a falls count anywhere match , after receiving assistance from The Usos. Later that night, he entered
875-500: A villain . Anoaʻi later acknowledged the reaction as "a cool situation". In mid-2014, Stone Cold Steve Austin said he saw great potential in Reigns while David Shoemaker of Grantland wrote that Reigns had "mystery and intensity" as well as "superstar written all over him". After The Shield disbanded for the first time, Reigns, unlike the other former Shield members, retained much of The Shield's aesthetic, including ring attire,
1050-641: A "Thank you Strowman!" chant for costing Reigns his WWE Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble. This chant was repeated after Strowman cost Reigns a match on the February 6 episode Raw , with Tom Colohue of Pro Wrestling Torch writing that Strowman's vendetta against Reigns may have "accidentally turned" the villain into a fan favorite. In February 2017, Meltzer said it was "obvious" that WWE's push of Reigns "will never end". Later that month, wrestling podcaster Peter Rosenberg lamented that—unlike
1225-489: A Cell on September 16 in a Hell in a Cell match, which ended in a no contest after Brock Lesnar returned and attacked both men. On October 6 at Super Show-Down , The Shield defeated Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre in a six-man tag team match before losing to them in a rematch on Raw two nights later. A triple threat match between Reigns, Strowman and Lesnar for the Universal Championship was scheduled for
1400-521: A call made by WWE ... rather than [game] developer 2K " and that by ranking Reigns higher than historic wrestlers "in their prime" like the 1997 version of the Stone Cold Steve Austin character, Reigns is being treated as the "greatest wrestler of all-time". In a December 2017 interview, Anoaʻi called himself "the best performer, in-ring, in the world right now". In response, Brian Campbell of CBS Sports wrote that Anoaʻi "isn't even
1575-420: A chance to work with. In the same interview, Reigns mentioned he appreciated the renewed crowd support in the wake of leukemia diagnosis (the revelation of which Reigns said was like "lifting a billion pounds of weight off my chest"), as well as stating just getting to be inside the ring was "like being in a title match". "Before it was always, 'I want to be on top and I need to stay at the top,' but for me, there
1750-534: A face-off on the March 6 episode of Raw , hinting a confrontation at WrestleMania 33. The crowd chanted "Roman sucks!" loudly during both Reigns' entrance and the face-off between the two, but when releasing the video on their YouTube channel WWE edited the audio to make those chants inaudible, which led to many media outlets reporting and criticizing the edit. Wade Keller of Pro Wrestling Torch noted that "the crowd popped" for Shawn Michaels when he came out for
1925-540: A fatal five-way match at Extreme Rules on June 4 against Bray Wyatt, Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe and Seth Rollins, with the winner becoming the number one contender for the Universal Championship. Joe would win the match after forcing Bálor to pass out to a submission hold. On the June 19 episode of Raw , Reigns was attacked by a returning Strowman, who challenged Reigns to an ambulance match at Great Balls of Fire on July 9, which Reigns lost. At SummerSlam on August 20, Reigns
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#17328010615982100-417: A feud between Reigns and Big Show, in which Reigns defeated him multiple times by countout and disqualification. Reigns then entered the 2015 Royal Rumble match on January 25, which he won after lastly eliminating Rusev , therefore granting him a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 31 . After his victory, Reigns was booed heavily by the crowd, despite portraying a heroic character. On
2275-421: A feud with King Corbin and his allies Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode . Reigns was named team captain for SmackDown at Survivor Series on November 24, where he and his four teammates defeated Team Raw and Team NXT in a five-on-five-on-five tag team elimination match. During the match, Corbin caused Mustafa Ali to be eliminated. Reigns responded by spearing Corbin and allowing him to be eliminated. This led to
2450-657: A feud with Kevin Owens, after Reigns believed Owens to be disrespecting his family. Reigns successfully defended the title against Owens in a TLC match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 20, in a Steel Cage match on the December 25 episode of SmackDown , and in a Last Man Standing match at the Royal Rumble on January 31, 2021, respectively. Reigns then retained his title against Daniel Bryan at both Elimination Chamber on February 21 and Fastlane on March 21. At this time, Reigns would also feud with Edge , who had won
2625-465: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked
2800-471: A forced fumble. Anoaʻi was released by the Eskimos on November 10, and proceeded to retire from professional football. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Anoaʻi signed a contract with WWE in 2010 and was later assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He made his televised debut on August 19, 2010, using
2975-512: A hiatus in August 2020, he was repackaged as a villainous character portraying a Samoan tribal chief , which was generally met with acclaim. Leati Joseph Anoaʻi was born on May 25, 1985, in Pensacola, Florida , to Sika Anoa’i and Patricia Hooker. His father is of Samoan descent and his mother is of Sicilian ancestry. Both his father and his brother Rosey were professional wrestlers. As
3150-569: A hiatus. At the event on February 19, Reigns defeated Goldberg via technical submission to retain the title. On the second night of WrestleMania 38 on April 3, he defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship for a fourth time and also became the first superstar to hold both the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship simultaneously and be recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion . It
3325-535: A long time. I'm not going away". On the Raw after WrestleMania 32, Reigns declared that he was now not a "bad guy" nor a "good guy", but "The Guy", which supposedly indicated a morally ambiguous character turn, but this went nowhere. In April, Pro Wrestling Dot Net reported that WWE "went out of their way to use [the charity] Make A Wish in hopes of getting [Reigns] over as a good guy". As soon as broadcasting for Payback on May 1 stopped, Reigns reportedly turned on
3500-625: A member of the Anoaʻi wrestling family , his cousins include The Tonga Kid , Rikishi , Umaga , and Yokozuna , while his first cousins once removed include The Usos and Solo Sikoa . Anoaʻi attended Pensacola Catholic High School before transferring to Escambia High School . He majored in management at the Georgia Institute of Technology . He later said that he considers Bret Hart his wrestling idol. Anoaʻi played football for three years at Pensacola Catholic High School and one year at Escambia High School; in his senior year, he
3675-586: A mixed reaction by the crowd, with Pro Wrestling Dot Net writer Jason Powell stating that an estimated "70 percent of the fans booed Reigns while only 30 percent cheered for him before the match." He would also describe the match as "disappointing". Reigns was drafted to the SmackDown brand during the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up . On the April 16 episode of SmackDown . Reigns attacked Elias and Vince McMahon upon his arrival, with WWE's announcers describing Reigns as "SmackDown's greatest ever acquisition", as well as
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#17328010615983850-475: A months-long feud where Reigns beat Uso at every turn. Reigns' and Uso's work was praised by critics, which eventually led to Reigns adopting the catchphrase, "acknowledge me!" Throughout 2020 and most of 2021, Reigns' heel championship run was praised by critics. In November 2020, John Bradshaw Layfield said on WWE's The Bump that Reigns was the most compelling character he has seen on wrestling television in twenty years. In May 2021, Cageside Seats called
4025-400: A negative reaction". In the 2017 Royal Rumble match on January 29, Reigns entered as the surprise last entrant despite losing a WWE Universal Championship match against Kevin Owens earlier that night. Fans had anticipated other surprise entrants including Finn Bálor , Kurt Angle , Samoa Joe , Shinsuke Nakamura and Kenny Omega —international media outlets noted that this drew "This
4200-589: A negative, not me. ... X amount of thousands of people are screaming, booing at the top of their lungs, and I'm the center of attention, so I must be doing something right. Anoa'i describing his reaction to being booed, in an ESPN audio interview released in January 2017 Going into 2017, WWE continued to edit reactions for Reigns, one example being after he lost the United States Championship to Chris Jericho , when an audience member
4375-683: A non-title match. On the February 5 episode of FCW , he defeated Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship. He failed to win the championship when he lost to Kruger the following week. Leakee later won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Dalton and would drop the titles to CJ Parker and Jason Jordan shortly after. After WWE rebranded FCW to NXT in August 2012, Anoaʻi, with
4550-529: A non-title match. Reigns and Rollins lost the tag team titles to Rhodes and Goldust in a no disqualification match on the October 14 episode of Raw , following interference from Big Show. At Hell in a Cell on October 27, Reigns and Rollins failed to regain the championship in a triple threat tag team match. At Survivor Series on November 24, The Shield teamed with Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger to take on Rey Mysterio , The Usos, Cody Rhodes and Goldust in
4725-498: A number one contender's match between the two the following week, which Reigns won. At SummerSlam on August 19, Reigns defeated Lesnar and won the Universal Championship for the first time in his career. Reigns went on to reignite his feud with Braun Strowman, who was the Money in the Bank holder. Strowman would also ally himself with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre in order to challenge The Shield. Reigns then faced Strowman at Hell in
4900-426: A post-match attack by Reigns after he lost an ambulance match to Strowman, which was widely described as the protagonist Reigns attempting to murder the villainous Strowman. As a result, there has been some speculation on whether or not this angle was a double turn (where Reigns and Strowman swap roles as the hero and the villain), with Reigns being described as a "sore loser" attacking Strowman, who won fairly to
5075-490: A promo with Reigns on the March 13 episode of Raw , but then booed Michaels after he endorsed Reigns, who would again be beaten down by Strowman to the delight of the crowd. Keller's colleague Tom Colohue noted that "everybody wants [Reigns] to fail", but applauded his "simple, effective promo" that was "probably the best work Roman's ever done on the mic". In March 2017, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE's long term plans ("which obviously could change") for 2018's WrestleMania 34
5250-454: A real plan for." After WrestleMania 35, Reigns was kept out of the title scene and involved in various other feuds. The most notable of these feuds were the ones with Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan in the summer of 2019 and then one with Baron Corbin towards the end of 2019 and into 2020. In an interview with AOL.com in October 2019, Reigns stated he enjoyed not being in the title scene and working with wrestlers he might not have otherwise had
5425-552: A record-setting nine times ( 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 37 , 38 , 39 , and both nights of XL ). 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 . Following his return from
Roman Reigns - Misplaced Pages Continue
5600-434: A rematch at Clash of Champions on September 25, Reigns would defeat Rusev to win the United States Championship, and retained the title against Rusev in a Hell in a Cell match at the titular event on October 30 to end their feud. At Survivor Series on November 20, Reigns made up part of Team Raw alongside Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins, in a losing effort to Team SmackDown. At Roadblock: End of
5775-517: A returning Luke Harper . Reigns would later defeat Rowan in a lumberjack match on the 20th Anniversary of SmackDown and subsequently team with Bryan to defeat Rowan and Harper at Hell in a Cell on October 6 in a tornado tag team match to end the feud. At Crown Jewel on October 31, Reigns was part of Team Hogan (alongside Rusev, Ricochet , Shorty G , and Ali ), defeating Team Flair ( Randy Orton , King Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Shinsuke Nakamura , and Drew McIntyre). In November, Reigns began
5950-606: A singles match was set up between Reigns and Rollins for Night of Champions on September 21, but Reigns developed a legitimate incarcerated hernia which required surgery prior to the event. As a result of Reigns being unable to compete, Rollins was declared the winner via forfeit . Reigns returned on the December 8 episode of Raw , accepting a Slammy Award for "Superstar of the Year". At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, Reigns interfered during Rollins's match with John Cena, attacking Rollins and Big Show. This started
6125-553: A six-man tag team match on the April 22 episode of Raw , which The Shield won. On the May 13 episode of Raw , The Shield's undefeated streak in televised six-man tag team matches ended in a disqualification loss in an elimination tag team match against Cena, Kane and Bryan. On May 19 at Extreme Rules , Reigns and Rollins defeated Team Hell No in a tornado tag team match to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. On
6300-407: A traditional Survivor Series match ; Reigns would win the match for his team. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, The Shield were defeated by CM Punk in a 3-on-1 handicap match, after Reigns accidentally speared Ambrose. At the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2014, Reigns entered the Royal Rumble match at number 15 and went on to eliminate 12 competitors in the match, a record that
6475-754: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It
6650-474: A very slightly remixed version of the group's theme music, and ring entrance. From December 2014 to January 2015, Reigns' positive crowd reactions were diminishing. Reigns' win of WWE's 2014 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award garnered surprise to the point of accusations of vote-rigging, although both Dave Meltzer and Pro Wrestling Insider alleged the fan vote was legitimate. Writers from
6825-405: A villain. Meanwhile, during interviews promoting WrestleMania 32, Anoa'i acknowledged the fan backlash, but declared that WWE is a "kids show" and that he was not wrestling to impress "grown men" who boo him. He defiantly told his critics that he would not believe any of their negative opinions of him. As for his detractors, Anoa'i told them to "continue to be ready to boo. You're going to be mad
7000-514: A villain. Despite the fan backlash in early 2015, critics praised Reigns' performances at Fastlane , WrestleMania 31 and Extreme Rules as exceeding expectations while the negative reactions continued at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam . In late 2015, critics described WWE presenting Reigns' character as a "hard-luck underdog" chasing the world title , with WWE having "spent an overwhelming amount of time" on Reigns, "bending over backwards to create new obstacles for him to overcome ... at
7175-676: A week later before the start of the 2007 NFL season . In 2008, he was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Wearing the number 99, Anoaʻi played for one season with the Eskimos, featuring in five games, of which he started three. Anoaʻi's most notable game came against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in September, where he tied for the team lead with five tackles and had
Roman Reigns - Misplaced Pages Continue
7350-766: Is a focal point of extensive press coverage, with public attitudes towards him fluctuating at various points throughout his career. Reigns debuted on the WWE main roster in November 2012 (having performed in its developmental system since 2010) as part of a faction called " The Shield " and was well-received by critics. Support began to dwindle upon Reigns's transition to a heroic main event singles act in 2014, largely due to his perceived forced push . This would manifest itself in Reigns main eventing four consecutive editions of WWE's premier annual pay-per-view event , WrestleMania , while being booed in all four appearances. During
7525-525: Is a good reaction". Meltzer said that the character of Reigns was being modeled after Daniel Bryan 's, with the similar storyline that WWE "management is screwing him over and that's why he's not the champion", and that despite fans not buying this storyline, no one in WWE had a better idea for Reigns. At Money in the Bank , Reigns' match with Jinder Mahal was widely rejected by the crowd in Illinois. Within
7700-646: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by
7875-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It
8050-426: Is bullshit!" chants from the live crowd and even more boos when he eliminated The Undertaker . Reigns was still booed after eliminating villain wrestlers Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt . Stone Cold Steve Austin believed that Reigns was the "set up guy" and "did a favor" to help Randy Orton by letting Orton eliminate him to win the Royal Rumble. The following night on Raw , the villainous Braun Strowman received
8225-413: Is real life. Reigns' response to a heckling Chicago crowd during an October 2015 promo on Raw Sometimes, as a former football player, we have to go into that away game and silence the crowd. ... And just let them know I am the man. I'm going to be here for a long time. Anoa'i commenting on crowds booing him en route to 2016's WrestleMania 32 , where Reigns won its main event At
8400-410: Is that it is a performance, it is a show, there is a storyline. When people start doing the 'He deserves this, He deserves that', really did Brad Pitt deserved [ sic ] to be Achilles in [the film] Troy ? Anoa'i in a 2015 interview promoting WrestleMania 31 which he main-evented despite fans' rejection What, y'all can't hear me or something? ... This isn't boring, baby, this
8575-555: The Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter criticized Reigns in 2014 and 2015, for a "very limited" in-ring moveset, "forced promo delivery" and a "petulant and annoyed" attitude ill-befitting of a top fan favorite . Fellow professional wrestler Mikey Whipwreck said Reigns was "trying to be like John Cena ", who was "very polarizing". I don't think I'm headbutting with [hardcore fans], I feel like they are headbutting me. ... One thing that kind of confuses me
8750-715: The 2015 Royal Rumble on January 25, Reigns was booed heavily after his victory despite portraying a heroic character. In February on WWE Raw , Paul Heyman praised Reigns as better than "any other guy in history", which garnered negative reactions as Heyman implied esteemed wrestling figures, including Bruno Sammartino , Hulk Hogan, André the Giant , Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and John Cena, were inferior to Reigns. By March, Anoaʻi altered his character's physical appearance by wearing contact lenses in order to have blue eyes. From late 2014 to early 2015, various critics raised concerns that Reigns, despite being "not fully ready",
8925-471: The 25th Anniversary of Raw on January 22, 2018, ending his reign at 63 days. Reigns competed in the 2018 Royal Rumble match on January 28, but was the last participant eliminated by eventual winner Shinsuke Nakamura . After defeating Bray Wyatt on the February 5 episode of Raw , Reigns qualified for the Elimination Chamber match, which he won, earning the right to face Brock Lesnar for
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#17328010615989100-570: The Crown Jewel event, however, on October 22, Reigns relinquished the title and announced his hiatus on Raw , revealing that his leukemia had returned after 11 years of privately battling it and being in remission. Following this announcement, Reigns would go on an indefinite hiatus to receive treatment. Reigns was first diagnosed in May 2007 when he was signed to the Minnesota Vikings , and went into remission around two years after
9275-643: The Elimination Chamber pay-per-view was arranged, in which The Shield lost after Ambrose abandoned the match mid-way through. In March, The Shield came out to seemingly attack Jerry Lawler, only to attack Kane instead, turning all three men face in the process. This led to a match between The Shield and Kane and The New Age Outlaws ( Billy Gunn and Road Dogg ) at WrestleMania XXX on April 6, which The Shield won. The feud with Kane also prompted The Shield to sever ties with Triple H, who reformed Evolution to counteract them. The Shield then defeated Evolution at both Extreme Rules on May 4 and Payback on June 1. On
9450-546: The Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event on October 25, where Reigns defeated Wyatt in a Hell in a Cell match . On the October 26 episode of Raw , Reigns defeated Alberto Del Rio , Dolph Ziggler , and Kevin Owens in a fatal four way to become the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. However, champion Seth Rollins legitimately injured his knee on November 4 and vacated
9625-496: 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
9800-470: The Pro Wrestling Torch said that WWE was damaging its product by associating Reigns with "really good" and "popular" performers in a "hapless attempt" to get him over. Pro Wrestling Dot Net columnist Jason Powell said that McMahon's "obsession" with generating support for Reigns had handicapped Seth Rollins, whom fans wanted to see as a fan favorite in May, but was kept as a villain to oppose
9975-681: The Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter wrote that Raw was "still the Roman Reigns Show", "with him necessarily closing out the show with the last laugh" (post-SummerSlam, " Raw is Roman" continued). Also in August, Anoa'i no longer wore the contact lenses, again changing the Reigns' character look. Although Reigns dropped from world title contention to being United States Champion in September, he remained unable to connect with fans. Nonetheless, calculated efforts to garner crowd support persisted. Wade Keller of
10150-544: The Raw after TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, although a WrestleView writer reflected that "it's been downhill ever since" for Reigns from then until March 2016. In 2015 and 2016, WWE has reportedly taken several measures to hide fans' disapproval of Reigns, including confiscating anti-Reigns fan signs, editing out anti-Reigns fan signs for photos on their website, muting hostile crowds (including at WrestleMania 32) and piping in canned cheers during Reigns' appearances. In 2016, Reigns main evented
10325-422: The Raw following Payback, Rollins turned on The Shield and aligned himself with Triple H and The Authority. Following Rollins's betrayal, Reigns would briefly continue teaming with Ambrose, before embarking on a singles run and being quickly placed into world title contention. After winning a battle royal Reigns was inserted into a ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in
10500-422: The Royal Rumble on January 29 that saw Jericho being suspended above the ring in a shark cage , where Reigns lost after Braun Strowman interfered. Later in the event, Reigns entered at number 30 in the Royal Rumble match, eliminating Bray Wyatt, Chris Jericho, and The Undertaker before being last eliminated by Randy Orton. At Fastlane on March 5, Reigns defeated Strowman, giving Strowman his first pinfall loss on
10675-437: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and
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#173280106159810850-621: The ring name Roman Leakee, in a 15-man battle royal , which was won by Alex Riley . On the January 16, 2011 episode of FCW , Leakee was a competitor in a 30-man Grand Royal , but was eliminated. Later in 2011, Leakee formed a tag team with Donny Marlow and the pair unsuccessfully challenged Calvin Raines and Big E Langston for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on July 8. In January 2012, Leakee pinned FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Leo Kruger in
11025-426: The wild card rule , was interrupted by Shane McMahon , who was still bothered by Reigns' earlier attack on his father. Reigns then challenged Shane to a match at Super ShowDown , which the latter accepted. At Super ShowDown on June 7, Reigns lost to McMahon after interference from McIntyre. Reigns defeated McIntyre at Stomping Grounds on June 23, despite interference from McMahon. The following night on Raw , Reigns
11200-737: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and
11375-510: The "Original Tribal Chief" moniker, Reigns received generally positive crowd reactions, leading Sports Illustrated to remark that "WWE has finally made Roman Reigns the monster babyface they always believed he could be." While in NXT (the new developmental system) during 2012, Roman Reigns' character was described as a "businessman" who was "always dressed to impress" and viewed himself as "the most valuable commodity in WWE". Reigns debuted to
11550-617: The "Tribal Chief" persona, leading the Bloodline faction. By 2023, wrestling media sentiment turned positive toward Reigns again, with his work with The Bloodline and Sami Zayn receiving general acclaim. His 1,316 day reign as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion , which was the longest WWE world title reign since the 1980s, received widespread acclaim and he received numerous awards from publications such as Wrestling Observer Newsletter and Pro Wrestling Illustrated during this time. After returning to fan-favorite status in summer 2024 under
11725-420: The 1,316 day world title reign. After his title loss, Reigns' work as champion was highly praised by The Undertaker, calling it "arguably one of the greatest runs ever". After the title victory, Cody Rhodes stated "I hope that I can be half the champion that Roman Reigns was". Kenny Omega , who worked for WWE's rival promotion All Elite Wrestling , also pointed out that he was a fan of Roman Reigns. Following
11900-404: The Bank on July 14 and The Prime Time Players ( Darren Young and Titus O'Neil ) at Night of Champions on September 15. In August, The Shield began working for chief operating officer Triple H and The Authority . Their association with The Authority led them to begin a rivalry with Cody Rhodes and Goldust . At Battleground on October 6, Reigns and Rollins lost to Rhodes and Goldust in
12075-416: The Bank on June 17, Reigns then entered a feud with Bobby Lashley , where both men believed that they were the rightful challenger to Lesnar's championship. This set up a match at Extreme Rules on July 15, where Lashley was victorious. The following night on Raw , two triple threat matches were set to determine Lesnar's challenger for SummerSlam . Reigns and Lashley won their respective matches, setting up
12250-471: The Bank on June 29; however the match was won by John Cena. His second consecutive pay-per-view main event was at Battleground on July 20, where Reigns again challenged for the title, this time in a fatal four-way match involving Cena, Kane, and Randy Orton, which Cena again won. Following the event, Reigns began a feud with Orton, culminating in a match at SummerSlam on August 17, which Reigns won in his singles debut match on pay-per-view. The next month,
12425-457: The Bank title shot. The subsequent Shield reunion and attack on Strowman was positively received by the Brooklyn audience, but was viewed by many as a cheap attempt to garner positive reactions for Reigns. At Hell in a Cell , Reigns defended his Universal Championship against Braun Strowman, during which Reigns was booed heavily while the villainous Strowman was wildly cheered by fans. The match
12600-427: The February 2 episode of Raw , Reigns suffered his first pinfall loss in singles competition on the main roster when Big Show defeated him after interference from Rollins. Reigns then successfully defended his WrestleMania title shot against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane on February 22. At WrestleMania 31 on March 29, Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract while Reigns's main event match with Brock Lesnar
12775-652: The January 28 episode of Raw , it was revealed that Punk and his manager Paul Heyman had been paying The Shield and Brad Maddox to work for them. The Shield then indistinctly ended their association with Punk while beginning a feud with John Cena , Ryback and Sheamus that directed to a six-man tag match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber , which The Shield won. The Shield then made their WrestleMania debut, where they defeated Sheamus, Randy Orton and Big Show at WrestleMania 29 in April. The following night on Raw , The Shield attempted to attack The Undertaker , but they were stopped by Team Hell No. This set up
12950-407: The June 14 episode of SmackDown , The Shield were given their first decisive loss in televised six-man tag team matches at the hands of Team Hell No and Randy Orton, when Bryan submitted Rollins. Reigns and Rollins defeated Bryan and Orton at Payback on June 16 to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. Further successful title defenses followed against The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) at Money in
13125-472: The Line on December 18, Reigns faced Owens for the Universal Championship, but lost via disqualification when Chris Jericho attacked Owens to prevent Reigns from winning the match and the title. On the January 9, 2017, episode of Raw , Reigns lost the United States Championship to Jericho in a handicap match also involving Owens ending his reign at 106 days. This led to a no disqualification rematch with Owens at
13300-437: The October 16 episode of SmackDown . At Hell in a Cell on October 25, Reigns made Jey quit after attacking the injured Jimmy, thus retaining his title. Due to the loss, Jey was ordered to follow Reigns' commands and address him as "The Tribal Chief", thus turning him into a villainous character. At Survivor Series on November 22, Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Drew McIntyre in a Champion vs. Champion match, before beginning
13475-842: The Reigns story "heads, shoulders, knees and toes above anything else in WWE". At Money in the Bank , the first WWE pay-per-view since the WWE resumed touring after taking a break due to the pandemic, the crowd booed Reigns. He also was awarded with Wrestling Observer Newsletter' s Best Gimmick award and Sports Illustrated's Wrestler of the Year award in 2021. By the end of 2021, some critics began to complain that Reigns' new character had grown stale, with Sam Fels of Deadspin writing that "WWE has built no credible challengers for him". Fans also expressed annoyance that WWE relied on older, part-time wrestlers such as Edge , John Cena and Brock Lesnar to challenge Reigns for his universal title, while neglecting younger and full-time talent. Chris Rolling of Bleacher Report editoralized that although Reigns
13650-432: The Royal Rumble and eventually challenge Reigns to a match in the main event of WrestleMania 38 , marking the third time Reigns would face Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania. On the February 4 episode of SmackDown , Goldberg would make his return to challenge Reigns to a match at Elimination Chamber for the title a match two years in the making after their match at WrestleMania 36 was called off due to Reigns taking
13825-452: The Royal Rumble match, but was the last competitor eliminated by the eventual winner Drew McIntyre. At Super ShowDown on February 27, Reigns defeated Corbin in a steel cage match to end their feud. The following night on SmackDown , Reigns challenged Goldberg for the Universal Championship, leading to a match between the two being set up for WrestleMania 36 . However, on April 3, it was announced that Braun Strowman would replace Reigns at
14000-452: The Royal Rumble match. In the main event of the second night of WrestleMania 37 on April 11, Reigns defeated Bryan and Edge in a triple threat match to retain the Universal Championship after assistance from Jey. On the April 30 episode of SmackDown , Reigns defeated Bryan in a championship vs. career match, which resulted in Bryan being forced to leave SmackDown. Reigns' next challenger for
14175-473: The Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34 . At WrestleMania on April 8, Reigns failed to win the championship from Lesnar. They had a rematch for the championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble on April 27, this time in a Steel Cage match , which Reigns narrowly lost after spearing Lesnar through the cage wall. After defeating Samoa Joe at Backlash on May 6 and Jinder Mahal at Money in
14350-454: The Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36 . However, right after the COVID-19 pandemic started in mid-March 2020, Reigns pulled out of the match. There was speculation that it was due to Reigns having health concerns or having a falling out with WWE, but in an interview with The Hindu , Reigns explained it had nothing to do with personal health problems or any issues with WWE but rather
14525-492: The WWE Universal Championship twice; he won his fourth WWE Championship during his second Universal Championship reign and as such, was recognized as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion . 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
14700-416: The WWE Universal Championship, the crowd cheered. The following night on Raw , Reigns was again booed early in the show, but received a mixed reaction for suggesting that he defend his newly-won championship against Finn Bálor later that night. After beating Bálor, Reigns was again heavily booed by the crowd, which increased in intensity after the match when Braun Strowman attempted to cash in his Money in
14875-496: The WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the process. Reigns was forced by McMahon to defend his championship in the 2016 Royal Rumble match on January 24, 2016. In the match, Reigns was eliminated by eventual winner Triple H, thus losing the championship. At Fastlane on February 22, Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match to receive a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H at WrestleMania 32 on April 3, where he defeated Triple H in
15050-519: 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
15225-446: The aforementioned alliance. Reigns was due to team with Rollins and Ambrose at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on October 22, but he was removed from the match due to an illness concern. He was replaced by Kurt Angle and The Shield went on to win the match. Reigns returned on the November 13 episode of Raw and challenged The New Day ( Big E , Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods ) to a six-man tag team match at Survivor Series . At
15400-452: The attacker as a man who merely resembled Rowan. Nonetheless, Reigns found additional footage that showed Rowan pushing over the equipment. Rowan then admitted that it was him and admitted that he was responsible for the hit and run as well. This caused Bryan and Rowan to split due to Rowan lying, and a no disqualification match between Reigns and Rowan was scheduled for Clash of Champions on September 15, which Rowan won after interference from
15575-472: The best performer in his own company" and "wouldn't even finish in the top five" in the world. Meanwhile, fellow wrestler Kenny Omega commented that "it sounds so ridiculous" and that there was "no possible way" Anoaʻi believed what he said. Also that month, WWE vice president Triple H said regarding Reigns: "I think he is one of the best that WWE have right now ... the truth is, and some people will listen to this and want to argue against it, but honestly most of
15750-412: The championship against Seth "Freakin" Rollins, losing the match by disqualification; however championships cannot change hands by disqualification, thus Reigns retained the title. Later that same night, he interfered in the WWE Championship match between Lesnar and Bobby Lashley, re-uniting with Heyman to cause the upset victory for Lashley to regain the championship. During the same night, Lesnar would win
15925-425: The championship was Cesaro, whom Reigns defeated at WrestleMania Backlash on May 16. Afterwards, Reigns initiated a rivalry with Rey Mysterio, after Reigns brutalized Mysterio's son Dominik . The two faced off for the championship in a Hell in a Cell match on the June 18 episode of SmackDown , with Reigns emerging as the victor. On the June 25 episode of SmackDown , while addressing his victory over Mysterio, Reigns
16100-554: The company ... for the next decade"; while "many fans are aware" that former Shield member Dean Ambrose "is the true dark horse , both on camera and behind the scenes". ESPN described that "WWE started building Roman Reigns as the next great hero of the company about 18 months ago", but Reigns instead became "the most despised wrestler WWE has had since it turned Sgt. Slaughter into an Iraq-sympathizing traitor in 1990". Leading up to WrestleMania 32, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rikishi and Hulk Hogan have encouraged WWE to turn him into
16275-839: The company's leaders primarily for Anoaʻi failing to reach his potential. In 2016, Reigns was voted the Most Overrated by Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers as well as the Most Hated Wrestler of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers, a first for a heroic character since the award was devised in 1972. Anoaʻi stated that the negative reception stemmed from jealousy over his "major success", and he mocked those who questioned if he deserved his fictional role, discounted critiques from non-wrestlers, and declared that he would not change to appease his critics. Anoa'i saw an improved reception from critics and fans from summer 2020 when he turned heel and took on
16450-549: The crowd in New Jersey reportedly walked out of the arena during Reigns' match with Joe, a match Reigns was booked to win. Brian Campbell and Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports wrote that it was "just impossible to ignore how poorly WWE continues to treat its own fanbase ... this has escalated to the point where the psychology and storyline simply makes no sense in ways that can't be good for business". Meltzer described that "lots of people were leaving" during Reigns' match and that
16625-466: The crowd was chanting that the match was boring. Pro Wrestling Dot Net editor Jason Powell described WWE Chairman Vince McMahon as "completely insane when it comes to his obsession with Reigns being his company's top babyface" when the "definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". Powell went on to mock WWE's "frequently repeated line about how WWE listens to its fans" and another WWE claim that "any reaction
16800-399: The crowd, attempting to stop him from speaking, before simply stating "This is my yard now" and leaving the ring. Reigns then resumed his feud with Strowman, after Strowman kayfabe injured Reigns's shoulder. A match was set up between the two at Payback on April 30, which Reigns lost. The feud between the two was put on hold after Strowman legitimately injured his elbow. Reigns competed in
16975-408: The crowd, yelling angrily at them. Also in May, Dave Meltzer said WWE wanted Reigns as "the guy who does the charity work, so he has to be positioned as a babyface" (the heroic character), adding that WWE's "new gimmick " was positioning that people actually "really like" Reigns and only boo because "it's fun to boo him", which Meltzer said was "absolutely not true" in reality. Critics wondered if WWE
17150-417: The early stage of his career as a top star, WWE fans took issue with Reigns over various reasons: his perceived special treatment, real-life demeanor, wrestling moveset, speaking skills and character presentation. The crowd's rejection of Reigns elicited a range of reactions from the wrestling media, particularly from 2016–2017: Pro Wrestling Torch editor Wade Keller stated that WWE promoter Vince McMahon
17325-632: The event on November 19, The Shield emerged victorious over The New Day. The following night on Raw , Reigns defeated The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship , thus becoming the twenty-eighth Triple Crown and seventeenth Grand Slam champion, the second member of The Shield after Ambrose to achieve the Grand Slam. Following his title win, Reigns would successfully defend the title against Elias , Jason Jordan , Cesaro , and Samoa Joe before losing it back to The Miz on
17500-403: The event, after Reigns pulled out of the event amid concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and his being immunocompromised from his leukemia. Following WrestleMania, Reigns continued to remain absent from WWE programming in the midst of the pandemic, telling Hindustan Times : "For me, I just had to make a choice for my family. The company (WWE) has done everything that they can to make it
17675-508: The event. At the event on August 21, Reigns defeated Cena to retain the title. Immediately after the match, Reigns would be confronted by a returning Brock Lesnar. After that, Reigns begins a rivalry with Finn Bálor, successfully defending his title against him on the September 3 episode of SmackDown , and in an Extreme Rules match at Extreme Rules on September 26 with Bálor in his Demon persona. On October 21, at Crown Jewel , Reigns successfully defended his title against Brock Lesnar, again with
17850-442: The expense of almost everyone else on the roster". In November 2015, Reigns received a "mixed, at best" reaction upon winning and losing his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the 2015 Survivor Series event after Sheamus , another villainous character, cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Reigns, a move made to try and get Reigns over with the crowd, and a positive reaction on winning his second world title at
18025-575: The fact his wife was expecting twins. Reigns was off WWE programming for five months following the withdrawal. On August 23, 2020, at SummerSlam , Reigns returned to WWE programming. Within a week, Reigns won the Universal title for a second time at Payback and turned heel for the first time since 2014, aligning himself with Paul Heyman . He has since then branded himself as The Tribal Chief. The first part of this storyline saw him force Jey Uso (his real-life cousin) to eventually come to his side, in
18200-515: The fans who were booing him to "shut their mouths". Reigns' wellness policy suspension on June 21 resulted in Yahoo! TV urging WWE to "quit pretending he's some kind of lovable underdog" with a villain turn for Reigns, after wasting a "dozen" chances "since the boos first reigned" at the 2015 Royal Rumble. As soon as Reigns returned from suspension in July and leading into SummerSlam , writers from
18375-400: The first seven WWE pay-per-view events (before the brand split started) and was booed in all of them: Royal Rumble , Fastlane , WrestleMania 32 (which ended with a chorus of boos when Reigns won his third world title), Payback , Extreme Rules , Money in the Bank and Battleground . CNET described a "fan rebellion" against WWE "moving heaven and earth" to make Reigns "the face of
18550-991: The first two minutes of the match, once again, chants of "CM Punk" and "Boring" were heard. The crowd continued to ignore the match by playing with beach balls, performing the Mexican wave, and continued chants of other wrestlers names, booing officials who confiscated the beach balls, and continued negative chants about the match. Every single other match on the card, however, was comparatively well received. In July 2018 on Raw , Reigns told fans who "boo", "hate", or claim that he "is being crammed down our throats" to "learn to like it or close your mouth." Meanwhile, Wade Keller of Pro Wrestling Torch criticised Anoa'i for arguing that he deserves his push due to hard work and winning many titles. Keller pointed out that Anoa'i "doesn't work harder than dozens of other colleagues, yet he acts as if he's special", and that Reigns' title wins were "granted by Vince McMahon." At Extreme Rules , Reigns again received overwhelming boos while his opponent Bobby Lashley
18725-428: The four, before the trio performed their signature pose, officially reuniting the group for the third time. The Shield defeated the team of McIntyre, Lashley, and Corbin at Fastlane on March 10. On the March 25 episode of Raw , Reigns accepted a challenge from McIntyre for a match at WrestleMania 35 . At the event on April 7, Reigns was successful in defeating McIntyre. During the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up , Reigns
18900-410: The future of SmackDown and WWE. Reigns' acquisition was met with positive reactions. Reigns participated in a six-man tag team match along with Ambrose and Rollins against Corbin, Lashley and McIntyre in the exclusive pay-per-view show, WWE The Shield's Final Chapter on April 21. The match, which The Shield won, was also billed as both the stable's final match and Ambrose's final match with WWE. Reigns
19075-432: The help of Ambrose in order to take on the reformed Wyatt Family, with the duo defeating Wyatt and Harper at SummerSlam on August 23. The following night on Raw , Reigns and Ambrose were attacked by Wyatt's new ally, the debuting Braun Strowman . On September 20 at Night of Champions , Reigns and Ambrose teamed with Chris Jericho , but were defeated by Wyatt, Harper and Strowman. The feud between Reigns and Wyatt ended at
19250-473: The help of The Usos. On November 8, it was announced that Reigns would face WWE Champion Big E at Survivor Series in a Champion vs. Champion match, with Reigns emerging victorious at the event on November 21. On the December 3 episode of SmackDown , Reigns successfully defended his title against Sami Zayn after Lesnar attacked Zayn. On the December 17 episode of SmackDown , Reigns fired Heyman as his manager due to Heyman's past association with Lesnar. Reigns
19425-461: The heroic (and thoroughly booed) Reigns until a "horrible" turn into a fan favorite in September. In November, Fin Martin of Power Slam remarked: "Vince [McMahon] has successfully trained or retrained most of his audience to consume what he is serving. Roman Reigns being the exception, of course. It says something that fans will cheer Shane McMahon 's toe-curlingly naff attempts at pro wrestling in
19600-482: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which
19775-402: The initial diagnosis. On February 25, 2019, Reigns made his return to Raw , revealing that his leukemia was once again in remission to a huge ovation from the crowd. Later in the night, Reigns and Rollins would appear to assist Ambrose from an attack by Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Elias, and Baron Corbin. The following week on Raw , Ambrose assisted Reigns and Rollins from another attack by
19950-537: The main event to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for a third time. After WrestleMania, Reigns began a feud with AJ Styles and successfully defended the championship against him at Payback on May 1 and then again at Extreme Rules in an Extreme Rules match on May 22. After the latter match, Reigns was attacked by a returning Seth Rollins. At Money in the Bank on June 19, Reigns lost to Rollins, marking his first clean loss on
20125-487: The main roster and ending his reign at 77 days. On June 21, Anoaʻi was legitimately suspended by WWE for 30 days due to violating the WWE Wellness Program , WWE's internal drug testing program. Pro Wrestling Torch and TheWrap reported that WWE knew of Anoaʻi's violation before the event, leading to Reigns being scripted to lose his world title at the event. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft , Reigns
20300-478: The main roster as part of The Shield on November 18, 2012, at Survivor Series . After transferring to WWE's main roster, his character was changed to the "powerhouse" and "heavy hitter" of The Shield, as well as an "exceptional athlete". Noted as the least talkative of The Shield members, Reigns' character was tweaked from "the quiet muscle" to being an "ultra-confident" source of leadership with "quiet strength" in mid-2013. CM Punk alleged in an interview that he
20475-404: The main roster. The following night on Raw , Reigns was chokeslammed by The Undertaker after they both joined forces to attack Strowman. This led to a No Holds Barred match between Reigns and Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 on April 2, which Reigns won in his third consecutive WrestleMania main event. The next night on Raw , Reigns opened the show to ten minutes of severe boos and chants from
20650-576: The momentum Strowman had acquired during the previous months and might even damage his career and future in WWE. Many believed that a better, more logical booking move would have been for The Undertaker, who was heavily rumored to face Reigns at WrestleMania 33 after Reigns eliminated him during the Royal Rumble match, to interfere in the match, causing Reigns to either win by disqualification , thus letting Strowman remain unpinned, or lose because of The Undertaker, thus still looking strong. The rumor did end up being true and Reigns and The Undertaker had
20825-546: The new ring name Roman Reigns and a villainous character , made his debut on the October 31 episode of NXT by defeating CJ Parker. Roman Reigns made his main roster television debut as on November 18, 2012, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, assaulting Ryback during the triple threat main event for the WWE Championship , allowing CM Punk to retain
21000-417: The newly announced WWE Universal Championship against Rollins at SummerSlam on August 21, as he lost to the debuting Finn Bálor in a qualifying match. In August, Reigns began a feud with United States Champion Rusev , provoking a title match between the two at SummerSlam . At the event on August 21, Reigns and Rusev brawled before the match began, leading to the match being declared a no contest . In
21175-534: The people interviewing him" and "not thinking about the fans who are paying the money for the seats". Keller also scolded Reigns and WWE for publicly claiming they are happy with any crowd reaction for Reigns, whether positive or negative, describing such statements as "insincere" and "spin" since they "turn the volume down; they seek out fans who are cheering him; they doctor footage to make it seem like fans are cheering him when they're not ... they manipulate in every way that they can to make it seem like he's not getting
21350-445: The people who argue against it aren't qualified to make that argument. I am". In March 2018, Reigns said regarding his reception that "everyone wants to see you do good, but not too good"; and that there is "possible jealousy" from fans regarding his "major success". Before WrestleMania 34 in April 2018, Reigns said that he would not try to change for anyone that did not like him. Reigns' main event match with Lesnar at WrestleMania 34
21525-468: The plans for the Lesnar–Reigns match at WrestleMania 34 were scrapped, but after seeing Reigns get pinned by Lesnar, he stated that the plans might still be in place. In September on Raw , both (storyline) general manager Kurt Angle and commentator Corey Graves described Reigns as a wrestling "icon". At No Mercy , Reigns defeated John Cena, seemingly ending Cena's full-time wrestling career as this
21700-444: The post-WrestleMania 33 crowd as "non-traditional WWE fans" who may cheer for those they normally boo and boo those they normally cheer "all in the name of fun", which echoed similar comments a year prior for the post-WrestleMania 32 crowd. Pro Wrestling Torch editor Wade Keller wrote that these comments would anger fans as "genuine dissatisfaction with the product is reframed by Vince McMahon's propaganda machine" – Undertaker received
21875-623: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Persona and reception of Roman Reigns Professional wrestler Roman Reigns (Joe Anoaʻi)
22050-406: The ring and his entrance dance ... yet they won't cheer for Reigns, no matter how heroically he is portrayed". As a result of his achievements in 2016, despite topping Pro Wrestling Illustrated ( PWI ) annual PWI 500 which is mainly about kayfabe results, Reigns was voted by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers as Most Hated Wrestler of the Year, a first for a heroic character since the award
22225-404: 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
22400-419: The ring, but I just can't put the same trust when it has my children, my wife, and my family involved." It was later claimed by Paul Heyman that Reigns officially considered himself retired from professional wrestling during this period. Following a five-month hiatus, Reigns returned at SummerSlam on August 23, attacking the new Universal Champion "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, and Braun Strowman after their match for
22575-431: The safest work environment possible. It is not the workplace that I was necessarily concerned about. The decision was taken mainly because each performer travels so much, and we are all such a diverse group and from all over the place. I'm not convinced, and I can't trust the fact that everybody is taking it as seriously and locking themselves down at home like I am. I trust my life with my co-workers every time I step foot in
22750-431: The similarly powerful Hulk Hogan—Reigns "doesn't show vulnerability, ever". On March 5 at Fastlane , Reigns defeated Strowman and became the first man to successfully pin him in WWE. Although the match itself was praised, this booking choice was poorly received by critics, who agreed that, despite adding nothing to Reigns' reputation, the match's ending would severely hurt Strowman's "unstoppable beast" image, "undid" all
22925-477: The sound" from the audience "and then they hit the pyro", but boos were still heard during a break in Reigns' music being played. On the Raw after WrestleMania, Reigns was loudly booed and the crowd microphone volumes were turned down when he appeared, but multiple chants of " Delete ", "Fuck you, Roman", "You suck", "Asshole", "Roman sucks", "Shut the fuck up" and "Go away" were still heard before Reigns chose to speak. After that segment, WWE commentators labelled
23100-428: The stipulation, to the point of attempted murder. However, nothing of this sort ultimately came to fruition and Reigns was even awarded a WWE Universal Championship shot at SummerSlam with speculation that the plans for Reigns to face Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 had been changed. At the event on August 20, Lesnar retained the title by pinning Reigns in a match also involving Strowman and Samoa Joe. Meltzer claimed that
23275-505: The storyline between The Bloodline and Sami Zayn. In particular, that storyline was highly praised, noticing the complexity with PWInsider's Dave Scherer calling the storyline "some of the best wrestling ever, not just now. The whole story has been deep and nuanced". On April 7, 2024 at Night 2 of WrestleMania 40, Roman Reigns would lose the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship to Cody Rhodes, ending
23450-412: The title against Jey Uso by technical knockout , after Reigns viciously beat down Jey, and Jimmy Uso threw in the towel. After this, Reigns granted Jey a rematch at the Hell in a Cell event, and the match was later confirmed as a Hell in a Cell match, with the added stipulation of being an "I Quit" match . In the middle of the rivalry with Jey, Reigns successfully defended his title against Strowman on
23625-483: The title from Sheamus in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs following interference by The League of Nations (Alberto Del Rio and Rusev), attacking Triple H in anger after the match. The next night on Raw , Vince McMahon granted Reigns a title rematch against Sheamus, under the stipulation that if Reigns lost, he would be forced to retire. Reigns managed to win after overcoming interferences from McMahon, Del Rio and Rusev, regaining
23800-509: The title the following day, which led to a tournament to crown a new champion. Reigns defeated Big Show in the first round, Cesaro in the quarterfinals, Alberto Del Rio in the semifinals, and Dean Ambrose in the finals at Survivor Series on November 22 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Immediately afterward, Sheamus cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Reigns, thus ending Reigns' reign after only five minutes. On December 13, Reigns failed to regain
23975-655: The title, thus establishing themselves as villains . The trio declared themselves The Shield and vowed to rally against "injustice", while also denying working for Punk, even though they would routinely emerge from the crowd to attack Punk's adversaries, including Ryback and WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No ( Daniel Bryan and Kane ). This led to a six-man tag team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 16, in which Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins defeated Team Hell No and Ryback in their debut match. The Shield continued to aid Punk in January 2013, attacking both Ryback and The Rock . On
24150-527: The title. On the following SmackDown , Reigns aligned himself with his new manager, Paul Heyman, turning heel for the first time since 2014. At Payback on August 30, Reigns defeated defending champion The Fiend and Strowman in a No Holds Barred Triple Threat match to win the Universal Championship for the second time. Reigns then began a rivalry with his cousin Jey Uso . In his first championship defense at Clash of Champions on September 27, Reigns retained
24325-439: The usual reaction from fans, as did Reigns, just more intensely. Following Reigns' victory over The Undertaker and given that Reigns was reportedly selling more merchandise than any other full-time WWE wrestler (John Cena, who sold more, was considered a part-timer), Forbes writer Blake Oestriecher declared Reigns as "indeed the new face of WWE, one who could remain in that spot for the next decade". Great Balls of Fire saw
24500-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude
24675-475: Was drafted to the Raw brand . Despite Reigns's suspension, WWE continued to advertise Reigns as part of the Battleground main event, and went on to acknowledge Reigns's suspension on television. At Battleground on July 24, Reigns made his televised return, facing Rollins and Dean Ambrose for the now-renamed WWE Championship, which Ambrose won. The following night on Raw , Reigns also failed to contend for
24850-424: Was "being pushed too hard, too soon" while WWE tried to make him their next "flagship star", "no matter how fans reacted". Anoaʻi reacted by saying that he only entertained criticism of his wrestling by people that were involved with wrestling, discounting negative opinion by critics that "weren't wrestlers" and who wouldn't understand how to "lock up". Going into WrestleMania in 2015, Dave Meltzer said that Reigns
25025-471: Was "done for sympathy for Reigns when it was over to make him a babyface as they concentrated on showing him all beaten up". On April 30, the go-home edition of Raw before Backlash , Reigns was met with great hostility from the crowd in Montreal. Reigns was heavily booed, in contrast to his rival Samoa Joe, who received overwhelming cheers despite being portrayed as a heel. At Backlash, a large number of
25200-418: Was "leaving money on the table" by not slotting former Shield teammate Seth Rollins as a fan favorite and Reigns as a villain, as fans were cheering Rollins and booing Reigns. In June, Reigns wrestled against Rollins at both Money in the Bank and the next night on Raw , where Reigns played a villain in the first match and a fan favorite in the second, while on the next night on Raw during his promo he told
25375-494: Was "still an awesome character and heel", his championship reign had become "boring" and he was "overexposed" at the expense of other wrestlers. Brent Brookhouse of CBSSports.com wrote that Reigns had "run out of steam" because WWE had "failed to build up compelling opponents". However, midway through 2022, Reigns' perception had improved once again, thanks in large part to critically praised storylines and matches with Lesnar, McIntyre, Logan Paul , Owens, and Cody Rhodes , and
25550-473: Was also one of the team captains as a senior . He earned first-team All- Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) honors in 2006 after recording 40 tackles, two recovered fumbles and 4.5 sacks. After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL draft , Anoaʻi was signed by the Minnesota Vikings in May 2007. He was diagnosed with leukemia after his team physical and was released later that month. The Jacksonville Jaguars signed him in August 2007, only to release Anoaʻi less than
25725-685: Was attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar to renew their rivalry and set up a Last Man Standing match at SummerSlam on July 30, in which Reigns won, ending their 7-year feud. At Clash at the Castle on September 3, Reigns successfully retained the titles against Drew McIntyre following interference from the debuting Solo Sikoa . At Crown Jewel on November 5, Reigns successfully retained the titles against Logan Paul . Three weeks later at Survivor Series: WarGames on November 26, Reigns, along with The Bloodline, defeated Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens and The Brawling Brutes ( Sheamus , Ridge Holland and Butch ) in
25900-408: Was attacked by the returning Edge, leading to a title match between the two at Money in the Bank on July 18, where Reigns retained with the assistance of Seth Rollins. After the match, Reigns was confronted by a returning John Cena. Over the following weeks, Cena challenged Reigns for a title match at SummerSlam , and after initially rejecting Cena's challenge, a match was made official for the two at
26075-432: Was booed before, during and after the main event (his third WrestleMania main event in a row), which saw Reigns beating The Undertaker, who seemingly retired (although he eventually returned). Before the match, Pro Wrestling Insider' s Dave Scherer predicted that if Reigns beat and retired The Undertaker, then "the fans that hate him will hate him forever". Critics reported that after the match, WWE "did clearly turn down
26250-466: Was constantly reminded to make Reigns look "really, really strong" despite The Shield being booked to lose to Punk at the 2013 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event. In 2013, Reigns was voted the Most Improved by Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers. During the 2014 Royal Rumble match on January 26, the live crowd cheered for Reigns over eventual winner Batista despite Reigns being
26425-400: Was deeply mired in controversy, the first incident being when special guest referee Mick Foley counted Reigns down for a three count, but instead of Strowman getting the victory, the pinfall was simply ignored, and the second being when the match ended in a no-contest after interference from a returning Brock Lesnar. After the match ended, the network stream abruptly ended with many saying this
26600-418: Was devised in 1972. Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers instead awarded Reigns the 2016 Most Overrated award. Reigns had finished in second place for Most Overrated in both 2014 and 2015. In January 2017, Pro Wrestling Torch began their weekly "Monday Night Reigns-o-meter", which monitored his "ability to beat the odds and come out on top". I think it just pushed me. ... Some people look at that as
26775-523: Was done to avoid broadcasting the heavy boos from fans with many taking to social media claiming that chants of "Bullshit!" and "We want refunds!" along with heavy booing broke out as Reigns, Strowman and Lesnar all had walked to the back. "Everyone seemed relieved and elated that he delivered good news about his health." Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch describing the positive crowd reaction after Reigns had announced his leukemia
26950-446: Was drafted to the SmackDown brand on the April 16 episode of SmackDown , with WWE's announcers describing Reigns as "SmackDown's greatest ever acquisition", as well as the future of SmackDown and WWE. During the episode, Reigns attacked Elias and Vince McMahon. The following week, Elias challenged Reigns to a match at Money in the Bank on May 19 which Reigns accepted and also won. On the May 20 episode of Raw , Reigns, who appeared via
27125-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as
27300-455: Was engaging in a "war on fans," while David Shoemaker of Grantland wrote that Reigns was the company's "most despised wrestler" in over 25 years, and Yahoo! Sports pondered whether he was "the biggest failure in professional wrestling history." Meanwhile, Anoaʻi's childhood idol, Hall of Fame wrestler Bret Hart stated that he believed WWE "ruined" Reigns' on-screen character by utilizing bad storytelling and poor writing, and he blamed
27475-604: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with
27650-706: Was in progress, turning it into a triple threat match, which Reigns lost when he was pinned by Rollins. "Reigns was a greener-than-grass wrestler who WWE identified as the Face of the Performance Center Machine – taking raw talent without the "bad habits" from the independents and trying to manufacture a WrestleMania Main-Eventer ". James Caldwell of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter in February 2015 on Reigns's background compared to that of his Shield teammates In April, Reigns resumed his feud with Big Show, which culminated on April 26 in
27825-448: Was in remission. On the October 22, 2018 episode of Raw , Reigns announced that he was re-diagnosed with leukemia after 11 years and would be taking a hiatus to treat it. As a result, he relinquished the Universal Championship, ending his reign of 64 days. Reigns initially received a mixed reaction upon entering the arena, but was welcomed with a positive reception as well as chants of "Thank you, Roman!" after his announcement of leukemia
28000-420: Was just something about this year where participation was like being in a title match," Reigns said. "There's just been something very poetic about just being there, being healthy enough to be there, being able to participate and be present, bonding with my friends, creating for the live crowd." After ending his feud with Corbin in February 2020, Reigns went back into the title picture to challenge Goldberg for
28175-680: Was later broken by Braun Strowman in 2018. Reigns would be the runner-up in the match after being lastly eliminated by Batista . The next night on Raw , The Shield competed in a six-man tag team match against Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and John Cena, with all three members of the winning team qualifying for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship , which The Shield lost via disqualification after The Wyatt Family interfered and attacked Cena, Bryan and Sheamus. A six-man tag team match pitting The Shield against The Wyatt Family on February 24 at
28350-590: Was made. Reigns made his return on the February 25, 2019 episode of Raw to announce his leukemia was in remission, where he received a huge ovation from the crowd. On the following episode of Raw , Reigns would reunite with The Shield, leading to a match between Drew McIntyre , Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin at Fastlane , which The Shield would win in Reigns's first match since his leukemia diagnosis. Both times, Reigns would be met with cheers. At WrestleMania 35 , Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre in his first singles match since October 2018. However, he would be met with
28525-552: Was met with cheers during the match. During the following months, Reigns feuded with Shane McMahon , receiving lukewarm crowd reactions. Reigns lost some of the matches against Shane but managed to defeat McIntyre. This sparked criticism among journalists who claimed that if the company was trying to make Reigns the franchise player, losing it to McMahon (who is not a full-time wrestler) hurt his aura even more. Journalist Jason Powell mused that McIntyre seemed to be "just another guy they are feeding to Reigns rather than someone they have
28700-758: Was named Defensive Player of the Year by the Pensacola News Journal . While at the Georgia Institute of Technology, he was a member of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team along with Calvin Johnson , who later became a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Anoaʻi was a three-year starter beginning in his sophomore year and
28875-512: Was pinned by Brock Lesnar in a Universal Championship match also involving Strowman and Joe. Following this, Reigns began a rivalry with John Cena, leading to a match at No Mercy on September 24, which Reigns won. The next night on Raw , Reigns described his victory over Cena as the biggest win in his career. In October, due to mutual issues with The Miz , The Miztourage ( Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel ) and Cesaro and Sheamus , Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins decided to reform The Shield in order to combat
29050-460: Was reported that the WrestleMania main event was cut short due to Reigns sustaining an arm injury. At WrestleMania Backlash on May 8, Reigns and The Usos defeated RK-Bro ( Randy Orton and Riddle ) and McIntyre in a six-man tag team match . On the June 17 episode of SmackDown , Reigns successfully defended the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Riddle, but after the match, he
29225-421: Was resoundingly rejected by the crowd, as Reigns was booed while the crowd played with beach balls and instead chanted "CM Punk", "Boring" and "This is awful!" Troy L. Smith of Cleveland.com concluded that this match was the worst ever WrestleMania main event due to the "utter disdain" it produced, with there never being a more "disinterested" crowd for a WrestleMania main event. Meltzer wrote that Reigns' loss
29400-621: Was saved by The Undertaker from an assault from McMahon and McIntyre. Reigns and Undertaker teamed up to defeat McMahon and McIntyre in a No Holds Barred tag team match at Extreme Rules on July 14. On the July 30 episode of SmackDown , an unidentified person pushed lighting equipment on Reigns. The following week, Reigns was again targeted by the attacker as he was a victim of a hit and run . After ruling out Samoa Joe and Buddy Murphy as suspects, Reigns next investigated Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan due to testimony from Murphy and seemingly incriminating video footage. However, Bryan revealed
29575-468: Was scheduled to defend his title against Lesnar at the Day 1 event on January 1, 2022, but the match was canceled as a result of Reigns testing positive for COVID-19 . On January 16, Reigns surpassed Lesnar's 503-day reign to become the longest reigning Universal Champion, in turn having the sixth longest world championship reign in the company's history. On January 29 at the Royal Rumble event, Reigns defended
29750-455: Was seen as a "passing of the torch" moment in which Reigns had indeed replaced Cena as the face of the company. During the match, Reigns was booked to kick out of four Attitude Adjustments (one of which was off the top rope) and then defeated Cena with two spears . In October 2017, Reigns was revealed as the highest rated wrestler in the WWE 2K18 game. GamesRadar+ wrote that "this is likely
29925-563: Was shown live jumping for joy at the result, but when WWE showed replays of Reigns' loss they showed a clip of the same fan looking unhappy. Veteran wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin and Pro Wrestling Torch editor Wade Keller criticised Reigns' attitude in mainstream interviews, specifically Reigns stating that he "just" worked 9-to-5 before becoming a professional wrestler as well as flaunting his financial prospects within WWE, with Austin saying Reigns has "got to watch" what he says and needs to be "smarter" while Keller saw him as "trying to impress
30100-407: Was the fourth-longest world title reign in WWE history and the longest championship reign since 1988. He is widely regarded as one of the best professional wrestlers currently active in the world, and by some as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. After playing college football for Georgia Tech , Anoaʻi started his professional football career with brief off-season stints with
30275-480: Was the least over WrestleMania main eventer ever. At WrestleMania 31 on March 29, Pro Wrestling Torch described Reigns as needing security for his entrance while receiving "universal boos" and middle fingers. Reigns was unable to defeat Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Reigns to win the world title . Rollins received positive reactions for his victory despite being
30450-469: Was to "once again build for a year and have the big coronation" for Reigns, who would still be a heroic character "between now and then" and beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship "to fully replace John Cena as the face of the company", while the "idea" for Lesnar's role "for this year now" was "to become a monster, be unbeatable, run through everybody, beat them with one F-5 and then lose to Roman Reigns". At WrestleMania 33 on April 2, Reigns
30625-513: Was wildly cheered. Lashley received wild cheers for his victory over Roman, as well as chants of "Thank you Lashley!" In August 2018 at SummerSlam, the audience started out giving Reigns a fairly mixed reaction during his entrance. Following Braun Strowman's announcement of his plan to cash-in post match, the crowd cheered. A brief chant of "Let's go Roman/Roman Sucks" filled the arena at one point, followed by chants of "You both suck" directed at both Lesnar and Reigns. When Reigns pinned Lesnar to win
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