Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi (born May 25, 1985)[6] is an American professional wrestler and a former professional gridiron football player, who is part of the Anoaʻi family.[4] He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Roman Reigns.

After playing collegiate 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.

Anoaʻi then pursued a career in professional wrestling and was signed by WWE in 2010, reporting to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). As 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 three-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, a one-time United States Champion, a one-time Intercontinental Champion, a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with Rollins), the 2015 Royal Rumble winner and the 2014 Superstar of the Year. He also tied the WWE record for most eliminations in a Survivor Series elimination match with four in the 2013 event and set the then-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.

Since 2014, WWE has attempted to establish Reigns as their next "face of the company", which has met with audience disapproval.[7] Reigns has headlined numerous WWE pay-per-view events, including the last four WrestleManias (31, 32, 33 and 34).[8][9] However, Reigns' ascendancy as a world title-chasing/holding heroic underdog has been marked by critics' disapproval and overwhelmingly negative crowd reactions, with fans taking issue with his perceived special treatment, real-life demeanor, in-ring limitations, speaking skills and character presentation

Anoa'i made his first venture into wrestling   in July 2010, when he signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was later assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).[2] He debuted on September 9, 2010, using the ring name Roman Leakee (often shortened to Leakee), in a loss to Richie Steamboat in a singles match.[17] Further losses to Idol Stevens and Wes Brisco ensued,[17] before he gained his first win on September 21 over Fahd Rakman.[17] He continued competing in FCW throughout the remainder of the year, wrestling mainly in tag team matches.[17] On the January 16, 2011 episode of FCW television, Leakee was a competitor in a 30-man Grand Royal, but was eliminated.[18] 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.[19]

In 2012, Leakee pinned FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Leo Kruger during a tag team match on the January 8 episode of FCW television.[20] On the February 5 episode of FCW television, he defeated Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.[21] He failed to win the championship when he lost to then champion Kruger the following week.[22] Leakee later won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Dalton[23][24] and would drop the titles to CJ Parker and Jason Jordan shortly after.[25]

After WWE rebranded FCW to NXT in August 2012,[26] Anoaʻi, with the new ring name of Roman Reigns and a villain character, made his debut on the October 31 episode of NXT by defeating CJ Parker.[27] After defeating Chase Donovan two weeks later,[28] Reigns wrestled his last match on the December 5 episode of NXT by defeating Gavin Reids.[29]

Anoaʻi played football for three years at Pensacola Catholic High School and one year at Escambia High School. In his senior year, he was named Defensive Player of the Year by the Pensacola News Journal.[6] He then attended Georgia Institute of Technology, where 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).[6] Anoa'i was a three-year starter beginning in his sophomore year and was also one of the team captains as a senior.[6] Anoa'i was named to the first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) after recording twenty-nine tackles for loss and twelve sacks in 2006.[13]

After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL draft, Anoa'i was signed by the Minnesota Vikings in May 2007, but was released later that month.[11][14] The Jacksonville Jaguars signed him in August 2007, only to release Anoa'i less than a week later before the start of the 2007 NFL season.[11]

In 2008, Anoaʻi was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[12] Wearing the number 99, Anoaʻi played for one season with the Eskimos, featuring in five games, of which he started three.[12][15] 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 a forced fumble.[16] Anoa'i was released by the Eskimos on November 10, and proceeded to retire from professional football.[12]