Joe Anoa'i
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| Joe Anoa'i | |||
| |||
| Ring Names | Joe Anoa'i Leakee Roman Leakee Roman Reigns | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Weight | 265 lb (120 kg) | ||
| Born | May 25 1985 | ||
| Pensacola, Florida | |||
| Died | |||
| Resides | |||
| Billed | Pensacola, Florida | ||
| Trained by | FCW staff | ||
| Debut | August 2010 | ||
| Retired | |||
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'i (May 25, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and former Canadian football defensive tackle. He is signed to WWE, where he works under the ring name Roman Reigns. He is a member of the Anoa'i family, a renowned Samoan-American wrestling dynasty.
| EVENT HISTORY | IMAGES |
Contents |
Football career
Anoa'i is a former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket, and was named first-team All-ACC his senior year. After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft, he was signed by the Minnesota Vikings. Upon being waived by the Vikings, he was added to the Jacksonville Jaguars roster to provide depth at defensive tackle. In 2008, Anoa'i was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos and accepted a spot on the team's practice roster.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
Florida Championship Wrestling / NXT Wrestling (2010–2012)
In July 2010, Anoa'i signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was later assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He debuted on September 9, 2010, using the ring name Roman Leakee, in a loss to Richie Steamboat in a singles match. Further losses to Idol Stevens and Wes Brisco ensued, before he gained his first win on September 21 over Fahd Rakman. He continued competing in FCW throughout the remainder of the year, wrestling mainly in tag team matches. On the January 16, 2011 episode of FCW television, Leakee was a competitor in a 30-man Grand Royal, but was eliminated. Later in 2011, Leakee formed an alliance with Donny Marlow and the pair unsuccessfully challenged Calvin Raines and Big E Langston for the Florida Tag Team Championship on July 8.
In 2012, Leakee became a main eventer in singles competition, and he pinned Florida Heavyweight Champion Leo Kruger during a tag team match on the 8 episode of FCW television. 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. He failed to win the championship when he lost to Kruger in a singles match the following week. He would later go on to win the Florida Tag Team Championship alongside Mike Dalton before dropping it to CJ Parker and Jason Jordan. Anoa'i made his NXT debut on the October 31 tapings under the name Roman Reigns by defeating CJ Parker.
The Shield (2012–present)
Reigns made his main roster television debut on November 18, 2012 at the Survivor Series pay-per-view alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, assaulting Ryback during the triple threat main event for the WWE Championship, which led to CM Punk pinning John Cena to retain the title.
The trio declared themselves The Shield and vowed to rally against "injustice" while denying that they were working for Punk, but would routinely emerge from the crowd to attack Punk's adversaries such as Ryback, The Miz, Kane and Daniel Bryan, who had attempted to save Kane and even Reigns's real life cousin The Rock. This led to a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match being set up for the TLC pay-per-view pitting the three men of the Shield against Ryback and Team Hell No (Kane and Bryan), which Ambrose, Reigns and Rollins won in their debut match.
The Shield continued to aid Punk after TLC; during Punk and Ryback's TLC match for the WWE Championship on the January 7 episode of Raw, they attacked Ryback, which resulted in Punk retaining his title. During the Royal Rumble event where the Rock challenged for Punk's WWE Championship, match, a blackout occurred and the Rock was attacked in the darkness by unknown assailants, directly leading to Punk pinning Rock; the announcers blamed the Shield for the attack. The match was later restarted with Rock winning. The next day on Raw, the Shield attacked and laid out John Cena; Sheamus and Ryback suffered the same fate when they attempted to save Cena. Later in the show, it was revealed through footage played by Vince McMahon that Punk and/or his manager Paul Heyman had been paying the Shield and Brad Maddox to work for them all along. This set up a six-man tag team match at Elimination Chamber, which the Shield won.
Personal life
Anoa'i is a member of the Anoa'i family. He is the son of Sika of the Wild Samoans and the brother of Matt "Rosey" Anoa'i, who are both professional wrestlers. He has a daughter and a fiancée named Jessica. He is the cousin of The Rock, Umaga, and Rikishi (thus also the first cousin once removed of his sons, fellow current WWE Superstars, The Usos).
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Belly-to-back uranage
- Checkmate (Spinning headlock bulldog) – used in FCW
- Spear
- Signature moves
- Entrance themes
- "Special Op" by Jim Johnston (WWE; December 16, 2012–present; Used while part of the Shield)
Championships and accomplishments
- Florida Championship Wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #371 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011
External links
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