The Stunning Evolution Of Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns, real name Joe Anoa'i, become one of the biggest WWE stars of his generation and has been at the forefront of a boom period for the company that doesn't show any signs of slowing down, especially on the financial front. He has been involved in two of the most beloved and successful factions in all of wrestling, is the only man in history to reach double digits when it comes to WrestleMania main events, and he is one of those rare WWE performers who will leave an enormous void in the company's main event scene when he does eventually hang up his ula fala in the future.

However, for as much success as he's had, and for as much fanfare he has gained over the years, it hasn't been easy for the man commonly referred to as "The Tribal Chief." Reigns has gone through some radical transformations over the years, was outright rejected by the WWE Universe at a time when the company practically forced him down people's throats, and is, to this day, fighting an illness that he himself has admitted he will be fighting until the day he dies.

With all that said, as the 15th anniversary of his wrestling debut edges ever closer, it's time to look back on how Roman Reigns reached the mountain top of professional wrestling on multiple occasions against all of the odds. So sit back, relax, and take a journey through the WWE career of one of wrestling's most accomplished individuals, his triumphs and tribulations, and how a former college football defensive tackle ended up sitting at the head of the table, with millions of fans around the world acknowledging everything he does.

It's already been mentioned briefly, but wrestling wasn't always the dream for Joe Anao'i. Despite majoring in management at the Georgia Institute of Technology, football was the main goal for the future WWE Champion.

Anoa'i played defensive tackle for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at the same time as Pro Football Hall of Famer Calvin "Megatron" Johnson. The team won its conference in the 2006 season, but would ultimately lose that year's Gator Bowl to the West Virginia Mountaineers 38-35. For their efforts, Anoa'i and Johnson were included in that year's All-ACC Team and in the 2007 NFL Draft.

In the 2007 draft, Johnson would be the second pick in the draft's first round, joining the Detroit Tigers, where he would spend the next nine seasons before retiring in 2015 as one of the most dominant wide receivers of the modern era. As for Anoa'i, he wouldn't be so lucky. He would go undrafted in the 2007 draft before being signed by the Minnesota Vikings, but after going through all of his physical exams, he was diagnosed with leukemia and released later that month. Anoa'i was then picked up by the Jacksonville Jaguars, but would end up being released one week before the start of the 2007 NFL season, and after one year in Canada playing with Edmonton Eskimos, Anoa'i was released once more, and called time on his football career at the end of 2008.

Anoa'i would then work for his sister as an office furniture installer, a job he absolutely hated as he knew the world had something better lined up for him, and he was right.

While he was technically in the family business working for his sister, given that his last name is Anoa'i, wrestling is the real family business.

The son of Sika of The Wild Samoans, Joe signed a developmental contract with WWE in the summer of 2010, with the man who would become Roman Reigns adopting his original ring name Roman Leakee to wrestle for WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). His official debut came on August 19, 2010 in a battle royal that was eventually won by Alex Riley, but Roman wasn't the only future main event star in the match, as future WWE Champion Big E, and Roman's real life cousin and current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Jey Uso, were also involved.

By the spring of 2011, Roman Leakee had lost his first name, which was the style at the time, and would simply be referred to as Leakee, but that didn't stop him from achieving success. He won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championships in the summer of 2012 alongside Mike Dalton, who would become better known as Tyler Breeze, and would even get the chance to wrestle at a handful of WWE house shows around that time.

In the summer of 2012, Leakee was part of the inaugural roster that made up the formative years of the "WWE NXT" brand, with Leakee not only getting his first name back once he made it in front of a camera, but Roman Leakee was no more; Roman Reigns had arrived. He was a slimy heel that wore a smug look across his face whenever he was around, but his run in "NXT" was short lived as WWE knew they had struck gold when they started pairing Reigns with two former standouts of the independent scene, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose.

In the closing moments of the 2012 Survivor Series pay-per-view, three men dressed in all black invaded the ring and began attacking Ryback. These three men were Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins, the Shield. Despite claiming that they were fighting injustice in WWE, many believed that they were working for CM Punk as it was Punk's rivals who kept getting attacked by the Shield. However, that wasn't the case, and the three men quickly became one of the most feared trios in all of wrestling.

Ambrose was the leader in many fans, eyes as he was the mouthpiece who was fine with brawling until he had nothing left; Rollins was the speed of the group and used his athleticism to his advantage; and Reigns was the silent powerhouse who became a game-changer whenever he made the hot tag in any of the Shield's matches. They were able to be beaten individually, but as a unit they were unstoppable.

This combination led to the Shield becoming extremely popular amongst fans, and were seen as the first crop of former FCW performers who could genuinely go on to main event pay-per-views and win championships. Ambrose had a year-long reign with the WWE United States Championship, Reigns and Rollins held the WWE Tag Team Championships (although The Freebird Rule was in effect for them), and Reigns even came second in the 2014 Royal Rumble, being beaten by Batista. 

After vanquishing Evolution in the summer of 2014, it looked like nothing could stop the Shield. However, the Authority had other ideas and convinced Rollins to turn on his brothers and join them instead. The chair shot that Rollins gave to Reigns would become an integral part of their story going forward, a shot so powerful it ended the Shield.

Following the Shield's breakup, Rollins and Ambrose entered a deeply personal and violent feud, leaving Reigns by himself for the first time. At first, fans were happy to see him maintain the Shield's entrance music and attire, but as the weeks and months went on and fans started to see the holes in Reigns' game, things started to take a turn.

Fans didn't think Reigns was ready for the spot that WWE had positioned him for, which was the new face of the company, resulting in heavy negative reactions for the man now nicknamed "The Big Dog." His Royal Rumble victory in 2015 is one of the infamous moments in recent memory, leading to #CancelWWENetwork trending online. His first WrestleMania main event in 2015 was one many fans dreaded as they didn't want either Reigns or Brock Lesnar winning, causing Rollins to cash in his Money in the Bank contract at the last second, and when he did eventually get his crowning moment in the main event of WrestleMania 32 against Triple H, it didn't go well.

WWE commentary would routinely say things like "love him or hate him, he makes you feel something" whenever his music would hit as Reigns was booed out of every building he walked in to. He was only the second person to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania in 2017, he became a Grand Slam Champion over the course of the following two years, and had finally positioned himself as "The Big Dog" that WWE had wanted him to be, much to the fans disdain. However, life is cruel even at the best of times, and on October 22, 2018, Roman Reigns took a backseat for the night as Joe Anoa'i had a very important announcement.

Less than two weeks before his scheduled defense of the WWE Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman at the 2018 Crown Jewel pay-per-view, Reigns revealed that the leukemia he had originally been diagnosed with in 2007 had come back in a very serious way.

Reigns had been treating the Chronic Myeloid Leukemia during that time, but by the end of 2018, he need to take a step back from wrestling and fight his own personal battle, relinquishing the title in the process. On his way backstage, he was met by Ambrose and Rollins, who embraced Reigns at the top of the entrance ramp with tears in their eyes as they didn't know if that would be the last time they would see him in a WWE ring.

Fortunately, things worked out as best as they could, as Reigns made his return to WWE on the February 25, 2019, episode of "WWE Raw" to announce that he was officially in remission. Since that night, Reigns has admitted that he is still taking oral chemotherapy to fight his leukemia and will continue to do so for the rest of his life; but he made clear that as long as he is able to perform, that's all that matters.

Following his return, Reigns had various feuds, but after he challenged Goldberg to a match for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36 in 2020, the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the virus, and his concerns over his own health amidst the pandemic, Reigns pulled out of WrestleMania 36 and was gone from WWE until he felt it was safe enough for him to return.

Once he did return, Roman Reigns was a completely changed man. After five months away, Reigns showed up at the end of the 2020 SummerSlam pay-per-view attacking Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt, but something was different about him. There was an anger and aggression the likes of which some fans had never seen before, while others hadn't seen it since his days in the Shield. All was revealed on the August 28, 2020, edition of "WWE SmackDown" when it was revealed that Reigns had aligned himself with none other than Paul Heyman, and a few days later at Payback 2020, he became the WWE Universal Champion once again.

This new attitude worried his family members Jimmy and Jey Uso, with Jey then being the first challenger to Reigns' title. Things didn't end well for Jey, who upon losing their "I Quit" Hell in a Cell match at that year's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, Jey was ordered to call Reigns by his new name, one that has stayed with him to this day; The Tribal Chief. With Jey as his right hand man, and Heyman as his "Special Counsel," Reigns would go on to dominate "SmackDown" in the months after, defeating the likes of Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, and Edge to keep hold of his title.

Jimmy wasn't too happy with how Reigns was conducting his business, but he eventually fell in line, and once WWE returned to full-size crowds following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bloodline was officially formed. The Usos would then capture the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships at the 2021 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, making every in-ring member of the stable a champion, but this was only phase one of what would become one of the most dominant runs in WWE history.

With his WWE Universal Championship still in hand, Reigns would encounter an old foe at WrestleMania 38 in 2022, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. They would have a champion vs. champion match, with Reigns would win, making him the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. The Usos would then capture the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships one month later, making them the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions, and things were only going to get better from there.

In July 2022, Vince McMahon was forced to retire from his duties in WWE due to various sexual assault allegations, leading to Triple H taking over the creative direction of WWE, giving the company a new lease on life. Triple H put the Bloodline front and center of his storytelling machine. With the likes of Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn being added to the story, The Bloodline would become one of the must see attractions in wrestling, while also making Reigns out to be one of the most dominant WWE Champions of all time as he managed to vanquish every challenger that stepped in his way.

And step they did. Reigns' list of challengers came to include Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn (once he decided that the group had taken things too far regarding his old friend Kevin Owens), and even Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39, a match many thought would be the end of Reigns' time on top of the company. "The Tribal Chief" remained atop of WWE as the one true "Head of the Table," to the point where the company had to bring the WWE World Heavyweight Championship back to "WWE Raw" in 2023 as Reigns had such a stranglehold on the top title. However, much like his days in the Shield, cracks would eventually begin to show in the Bloodline, causing his record-setting reign as champion to end dramatically.

By the beginning of 2024, Reigns still had Paul Heyman, Solo Sikoa, and Jimmy Uso to help him out. Even Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had his eye on becoming the "Head of the Table," but after a proposed match between Reigns and The Rock was shelved thanks to Cody Rhodes winning his second consecutive Royal Rumble in 2024, The Rock quickly morphed into "The Final Boss" and was more than happy to do "The Tribal Chief's" bidding.

However, Rhodes had made enough friends on the road to WrestleMania 40 to help him out, and in the main event of night two of WrestleMania 40, Rhodes, with the help of John Cena, The Undertaker, Seth Rollins, and Jey Uso, finally got the better of Reigns and became the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Reigns' run with the WWE Championship came to an end at 735 days, while his WWE Universal Championship run ended at a staggering 1,316 days.

After the match, Reigns would take a step back from WWE after almost four years as champion, but returned at the 2024 SummerSlam pay-per-view, this time to help Rhodes in his match with Sikoa, who had transformed the Bloodline into something wildly different to what Reigns had put together. Sikoa had been calling himself "The Tribal Chief" while Reigns was gone, even wearing the ula fala, something Reigns took offence to, leading to the original version of the Bloodline (Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, and Paul Heyman) going to war with Sikoa's version that included the newly signed Jacob Fatu and former NJPW tag team the Guerrillas of Destiny. This would all culminate in a Tribal Combat match on the January 6, 2025 episode of "Raw," where Reigns defeated Sikoa to become the one true "Tribal Chief."

At the time of writing, Reigns is now flying solo following the end of the Bloodline civil war. Heyman betrayed him in the main event of night one of WrestleMania 41 in April 2025, and has now aligned himself with Reigns' old friend and foe Seth Rollins, with Reigns now having to stand alongside CM Punk, whom Heyman also betrayed on the same night as Reigns. Punk and Reigns will look to gain a measure of revenge on Heyman and Rollins, who now have former NXT Champion Bron Breakker in their ranks, but whether they will remains to be seen.

In terms of the future of "The Tribal Chief," Reigns himself has already gone on the record to say that once he reaches the end of his current WWE contract, which is set to expire after WrestleMania 42 in 2026, he most likely has one or two more years left in the ring, at most, before he decides to hang up his boots. Retirements in wrestling are something of a running gag these days as they never seem to stick, but given that he is still fighting leukemia, and the fact that he has essentially accomplished everything there is to accomplish in WWE, he seems fairly serious about his retirement being in the not too distant future.

When Roman Reigns does decide to hang up the ula fala, he will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest WWE stars of all time. Even through his personal health problems, and the fact the fans outright rejected him at one point, no one can take away what "The Tribal Chief" has done with his career. Love him or hate him, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you do one thing; acknowledge him.