Leati Joseph Anoaʻi (Samoan pronunciation: [a.noˈaʔ.

i] ah-no-AH ee; born May 25, 1985) is an

American professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently signed to WWE,
where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Roman Reigns. He is the current
and longest-reigning WWE Universal Champion in his second reign and the current WWE Champion
in his fourth reign, thus making him the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. He is also the leader
[4]
of The Bloodline stable and a member of the Anoaʻi family. Reigns's ongoing reign of 1,305 days
as Universal Champion is the fourth-longest world title reign in WWE history and the longest
[a]
championship reign since 1988.
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. 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
[8][9]
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
[10]
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
[11]
critics. Following his return from a hiatus in August 2020, he was repackaged as a villainous
[12][13] [14][15]
character portraying a tribal chief, which was generally met with acclaim. Reigns is
[16][17][18]
generally regarded as one of the best professional wrestlers active in the world today.