Roman Reigns has dominated the WWE landscape for well over a decade, but there are several facts most fans won’t know.
There are still several WWE dream matches for Reigns, despite The Tribal Chief entering his 14th year on the main roster.
Reigns takes on Bronson Reed at WWE Clash in Paris for his first PLE singles match since losing to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40.
Here are 10 facts you didn’t know about Roman Reigns.
- READ MORE: Who is Roman Reigns? Meet the WWE and Hollywood icon who has dominated wrestling for a decade
Roman Reigns has main evented WrestleMania more than anyone else
Reigns’ domination at the top of the WWE card is best exhibited by the sheer amount of WrestleMania main events the star has competed in.
The Tribal Chief has competed in 10 matches at the top of WWE’s biggest show of the year, two more than Hulk Hogan.
That includes his first, against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31, and his most recent against CM Punk and Seth Rollins and WrestleMania 41.
He had a professional football career
Before his WWE career, Reigns explored the possibility of becoming a professional American Football player in the mid-2000s.
Reigns played as a Defensive Tackle at Georgia Tech, before being picked up by the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL.
He joined the Canadian Football League after making an appearance for either of the NFL teams, but only played one season for the Edmonton Eskimos.
Corey Graves helped Roman Reigns find his WWE name
Reigns’ initial name while in WWE developmental was Leakee during his time in Florida Championship Wrestling.
However, the name didn’t stick when Reigns made his WWE NXT debut and it was switched to Roman Reigns.
The star revealed it was actually WWE commentator Corey Graves who helped him forge the name that would make him famous.
“He told me, he was like, ‘hey, I heard you saying ‘Roman Raines,'” said The Tribal Chief on Talk is Jericho. “What if you spelled it like, Reigns, like a king Reigns. And I was like, ‘Whoa, I like that.'”
Roman Reigns was not WWE’s original choice for The Shield
Reigns made his name on the main roster as a member of The Shield, alongside Dean Ambrose and Rollins, but he was not the first choice for the role.
Speaking on the Art of Wrestling podcast, Punk revealed his initial choice for the group was legendary independent star Chris Hero, who was working in NXT as Kassius Ohno.
“So I took the idea to Hunter, I took it to Vince, they agreed. Vince was immediately like ‘who do you have in mind?’ And I said ‘(Dean) Ambrose, Rollins, Chris Hero, or Kassius Ohno,'” explained Punk.
“Hunter shot down Hero. They wanted Roman Reigns,” he added. “They came to me and they were like ‘what about Leakee?’ I didn’t… it wasn’t my hill to die on. I said ‘sure’ because it made sense to me.”
The Shield would go on to become one of the most successful factions of all time, creating three brand-new stars from scratch.
He has the fourth longest reign in WWE history
Reigns’ incredible 1316-day title reign was the longest in the modern era, but he’s still only the fourth longest reign in history.
The Tribal Chief sits behind Hulk Hogan (1474 days), Bob Backlund (2135 days), and Bruno Sammartino (2803 days) in the rankings.
Reigns won the WWE Championship in 2021 and held the belt up until WrestleMania 40, when he lost to Rhodes.
Bret Hart was his favourite WWE star growing up
Despite coming from a legendary family including Rikishi, Umaga, and The Rock, Reigns’ favourite wrestler when he was a child was Bret Hart.
WWE star Natalya has revealed Reigns told her how much he loved her uncle Hart when he was a childhood wrestling fan.
“It’s funny hearing Roman Reigns say it was, because you know, Roman grew up in a dynasty of wrestlers as well, with the Samoan dynasty,” said Natalya on Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
The Canadian legend continued: “But I have heard Roman say so many times that Bret made him want to do this.”
Roman Reigns made his WWE debut against Juice Robinson
Reigns did not spend long in WWE NXT, but the star made his debut against an iconic independent star in the developmental programme.
The star took on CJ Parker, the WWE name for current AEW star Juice Robinson in his debut NXT match in 2012.
Reigns defeated the Bullet Club member in just over three minutes on the episode which also featured Xavier Woods, Claudio Castagnoli, and The Usos.
He was originally rejected by WWE in 2006
Reigns may have gone onto become one of the biggest stars of any generation in WWE, but he was initially turned down six years before he made his debut.
Legendary commentator Jim Ross, who also worked for WWE’s talent relations, revealed the reason for the rejection on his podcast.
“He has football to get out of his system and I encouraged that, quite frankly,” continued Ross. “You don’t want somebody to come in and not be sure that they’re at the right place for them.”
Reigns would sign for WWE soon after his football career came to an end.
He was suspended by WWE in 2016
Reigns suffered a setback from his ascent to main event domination in June 2016, when he was suspended for 30 days for violating the WWE wellness policy.
The star apologised to fans on social media and returned to the company after a month. He hasn’t failed the policy since.
He’s held every major title in WWE
Reigns has held every major title on the main roster since making his debut in 2012, making him a grand slam champion.
The Tribal Chief has held the WWE Championship on six occasions, and the United States and Intercontinental Championships once.
He also held the WWE Tag Team Championships alongside Rollins, making him the ninth Grand Slam champion of the modern era.