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Joe Anoa'i
Birthday
1985-05-25Place of Birth
Pensacola, Florida, USABiography
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi is an American professional wrestler and former professional gridiron 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. He is part of the Anoaʻi wrestling family, which also includes his father Sika Anoaʻi, brother Rosey, and cousins Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Rikishi, The Tonga Kid, and the late Yokozuna and Umaga. Highly regarded by industry veterans, his heel run has been regarded as one of the greatest character arcs of professional wrestling. 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 November 2012 alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as The Shield. The trio teamed together until June 2014, after which Reigns entered singles competition. Reigns is a five-time world champion in WWE, having held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWE Universal Championship twice. In 2022, he became the longest reigning Universal Champion at 581+ days, which is recognized as the sixth-longest world championship reign in the promotion's history. 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 twenty-eighth Triple Crown Champion and the seventeenth Grand Slam Champion. Reigns has headlined numerous pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania five times (31, 32, 33, 34, and 37). Additionally, Reigns was ranked number one in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual PWI 500 list of the top 500 singles wrestlers in 2016. From 2014 onwards, WWE attempted to establish Reigns as their next "face of the company", positioning him as a heroic character, which was met with intense disapproval by audiences and critics. However, following his return in August 2020, Reigns was repackaged as a new villainous character, "The Tribal Chief", which has generally been met with acclaim by fans and critics alike. His revamped persona was named Best Gimmick by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in 2021
