Leati Joseph Anoa'i is a 6'3 - 265 pound performer who is better known under the name Roman Reigns. This 28 year old star began his training at an early age. How is that possible you're asking? Well, his dad is the famous Sika from The Wild Samoans. His older brother is better known as Rosey, who was once a regular on WWE TV alongside The Hurricane. So you've guessed right, he had a wrestling ring growing up.
Nice family to grow up in right? Yes, yes it is. His family is one of the BIGGEST wrestling families in the sport. His uncle alone is Afa, from The Wild Samoans who tagged with his own brother for over 20 years and wrestled in various wrestling territories, holding various tag titles. There is also: Manu, Samu, L.A. Smooth, Black Pearl, the late Yokozuna, Rikishi, Tonga Kid, the late Umaga & of course, one of WWE's most exiting tag teams at the moment, The Uso's.
A couple of those names may stick out in your memory. Samu & Fatu (now better known as Rikishi) were once the crazy tag team known as The Headshrinkers in the WWF. Rikishi went on to be a famous solo performer years later. Yokozuna was not only a big man but a big name in WWF as he wrestled & defeated some of the greats including Hulk Hogan & Bret Hart just to name a few. Umaga was another WWE wrestler who showed the world that these Samoans were no joke. Umaga was a high flying fast paced wrestler for a man who weighed over 300 pounds! Umaga had a great gimmick & career, holding various tag titles around the world & WWE's Intercontinental title.
Guess I should mention that Reigns' extended family also includes the Maivia family. That's right, Peter Maivia, Rocky Johnson & Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Many would say Reigns has it made but that might not be the case. He has a lot of history behind him. Most of his family members had long careers but stuck to what they knew. Back in the day many Samoan wrestlers didn't get solo careers on TV. Most of them were tag teams that never broke up or turned their backs on each other. Samoans stuck together. They were unbreakable. Reigns is part of The Shield at the moment. But he wasn't always the Roman Reigns we known. Reigns signed a developmental contract with WWE in 2010. He made his FCW debut as Roman Leakee that same year. (Florida Championship Wrestling was the developmental promotion of the WWE which is now known as NXT.) Roman had a pretty good start in FCW. He lost a couple, won a couple, tag teamed for a bit, but it was definitely a good start for him. WWE saw something in him and after only 2 years he was already part of the main roster, wrestling to get a title match. Eventually he would get his title shot only to come up short and not win the belt. His career continued though and he went on to form a tag team and captured the Florida Tag Team Championship. During the same year (October 2012) WWE decided to rebrand their development company and go from Florida Championship Wrestling to NXT. As NXT got a new name and look so did Roman. He dropped the Leakee from his gimmick and picked up "Reigns".
Reigns didn't last too long in NXT as he debuted alongside Rollins & Ambrose as part of The Shield at the November 2012 pay-per-view Survivor Series, attacking Ryback.
Reigns was now part of something bigger. He was part of a trio which included two performers much more experienced than him. The spotlight wasn't set on Reigns but on the team itself.
The Shield however made their name by attacking top talent such as Ryback, Kane & Daniel Bryan and associating/working with CM Punk. They picked up speed very quick and performed on various ppv's coming out on top. They also made their WrestleMania (29) debut in 2013 and defeated Sheamus, Randy Orton & the Big Show. The year brought a lot of surprises for fans as Ambrose would go on to win the WWE U.S. Title and the remaining Shield members: Reigns & Rollins would go on to defeat Team Hell No for the WWE Tag Team belts at the ppv Extreme Rules. Things were looking up for Reigns who at this point only had 3 years of professional wrestling experience. He was not only wrestling in the WWE but was also a main attraction to the fans. As 2013 rolled on, Reigns and Rollins had tag team feuds with The Uso's and the Rhode's brothers (Cody & Goldust). Come Survivor Series, the Shield wrestled in a 5 on 5 match (Shield & Real Americans vs Rhodes, Uso's & Rey Mysterio) with Reigns being the star of the match by defeating 4 out of 5 wrestlers from the opposing team. Ending the year of 2013 The Shield would go on to challenge CM Punk who they were once associated with. The team lost to Punk but a few weeks later Reigns would go on to defeat him on an episode of Raw in a solo match. As of 2014 Roman has had the spotlight shining on him. He entered the annual Royal Rumble and definitely left his mark after eliminating 12 other competitors including his Shield members. The Shield had many great matches against the enemies of The Authority, The Wyatt's and against The Authority itself. WrestleMania 30 brought another win for The Shield too. We are only half way through the year so we've got a lot more to come from Roman & The Shield.
Roman Reigns has a lot to live up to live up to and he is still very young. We've seen him go from a "green", inexperienced wrestler in FCW to a powerhouse, yelling at the top of his lungs as he gets ready to powerbomb his opponent in the WWE. A guy with only 4 years of professional training/ wrestling under his belt he's come a long way. His character & promos have improved a lot as have his wrestling skills. Looks like Reigns is only one Superman punch & spear away from getting a belt very soon.
