| Roman Reigns | |
|---|---|
Reigns in March 2018
| |
| Birth name | Leati Joseph Anoaʻi |
| Born | May 25, 1985ensacola, Florida, U.S. |
| Residence | Tampa, Florida, U.S.[citation needed] |
| Alma mater | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Spouse(s) |
Galina Becker
(m. 2014) |
| Children | 3 |
| Family | Anoaʻi |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Joe Anoaʻi Leakee Roman Leakee Roman Reigns |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Billed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
| Billed from | Pensacola, Florida |
| Trained by | Afa Anoaʻi Sika Anoaʻi FCW |
| Debut | August 19, 2010 |
ROMAN REINGS
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi (born May 25, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and a former professional gridiron football player. He is part of the Anoaʻi familY and is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Roman Reigns. He is currently on hiatus due to an ongoing battle with leukemia.
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. He 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 four-time world champion in WWE, having held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship three times and the Universal Championship once. He is also 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 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 been met with audience disapproval.
Reigns has headlinednumerous WWE pay-per-view events, including the last four WrestleManias (31, 32, 33 and 34).
Football career
| No. 99 | |
| Career information | |
|---|---|
| CFL status | International |
| Position(s) | Defensive tackle |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) |
| Weight | 280 lb (130 kg) |
| College | Georgia Tech |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 2007 | Minnesota Vikings* |
| 2007 | Jacksonville Jaguars* |
| 2008 | Edmonton Eskimos |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Career stats | |
| Tackles | 9 |
| Knockdowns | 0 |
| Sacks | 0 * CFL statistics only |
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.
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).
Anoaʻi was a three-year starter beginning in his sophomore year and was also one of the team captains as a senior.[6] Anoaʻi was named to the first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) after recording nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in 2006. For his career, Anoaʻi had 29 tackles for loss and 12 sacks.
After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL draft, Anoaʻi was signed by the Minnesota Vikings in May 2007, but was released later that month.
The Jacksonville Jaguarssigned him in August 2007, only to release Anoaʻi less than a week later before the start of the 2007 NFL season.
In 2008, Anoaʻi was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[11] Wearing the number 99, Anoaʻi played for one season with the Eskimos, featuring in five games, of which he started three.
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. Anoaʻi was released by the Eskimos on November 10, and proceeded to retire from professional football.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
Developmental territories (2010–2012)
Anoaʻi 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).
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.[16] 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 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.
In 2012, Leakee pinned FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Leo Kruger during a tag team match on the January 8 episode of FCW television.[19] 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 then champion Kruger the following week.
Leakee later won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Dalton[22][23] and would drop the titles to CJ Parker and Jason Jordan shortly after.
After WWE rebranded FCW to NXT in August 2012, 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.
After defeating Chase Donovan two weeks later, Reigns wrestled his last match on the December 5 episode of NXT by defeating Gavin Reids.
The Shield (2012–2014)
Reigns made his main roster television debut as on November 18 at Survivor Series alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, assaulting Ryback during the triple threat main event for the WWE Championship, allowing CM Punk to retain the title.
The trio declared themselves The Shield and vowed to rally against "injustice", while also denying working for Punk, even though they would routinely emerge from the crowd to attack Punk's adversaries, including Ryback and WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane).
This led to a six-man tag team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 16, in which Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins defeated Team Hell No and Ryback in their debut match.
The Shield continued to aid Punk in January 2013, attacking both Ryback and Reign's real-life cousin The Rock. On the January 28 episode of Raw, it was revealed that Punk and his manager Paul Heyman had been paying The Shield and Brad Maddox to work for them.
The Shield then indistinctly ended their association with Punk while beginning a feud with John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus that directed to a six-man tag match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber, which The Shield won.
The Shield had their first Raw match the following night, where they gained success against Ryback, Sheamus and Chris Jericho. Sheamus then formed an alliance with Randy Orton and Big Show to face the trio on April 7 at WrestleMania 29, where The Shield emerged victorious in their first WrestleManiamatch.
The following night on Raw, The Shield attempted to attack The Undertaker, but they were stopped by Team Hell No. This set up a six-man tag team match on the April 22 episode of Raw, which The Shield won. On the May 13 episode of Raw, The Shield's undefeated streak in televised six-man tag team matches ended in a disqualification loss in an elimination tag team match against Cena, Kane and Bryan.
On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Reigns and Rollins defeated Team Hell No in a tornado tag team match to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. They made their first televised title defense on the May 27 episode of Raw, defeating Team Hell No in a rematch.
On the June 14 episode of SmackDown, The Shield's unpinned/unsubmitted streak in televised six-man tag team matches came to an end at the hands of Team Hell No and Randy Orton, when Bryan submitted Rollins.
Reigns and Rollins defeated Bryan and Orton at Payback to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. Further successful title defenses followed against The Usoson July 14 during the Money in the Bank pre-show and The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) on September 15 at Night of Champions. On the September 23 episode of Raw, Reigns was pinned for the first time while on the main roster courtesy of The Usos when The Shield participated in and lost an eleven-on-three handicap elimination match.
In August, The Shield began working for chief operating officer Triple H and The Authority. On the October 14 episode of Raw, Reigns and Rollins lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a no disqualification match, following interference from Big Show. At Hell in a Cell on October 27, Reigns and Rollins failed to regain the tag team title in a triple threat tag team match.
The first seeds of dissension were sown in The Shield (especially between Ambrose and Reigns) with Ambrose's boasting of being the only member left with a championship. At Survivor Series on November 24, Reigns was the sole survivor for his team in the traditional five-on-five elimination tag team match after eliminating four opponents. After losing to Punk in a handicap match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, Reigns defeated Punk in a singles match following a distraction from Ambrose on the January 6, 2014 special episode of Raw Old School, making him the only member of The Shield to have beaten Punk.
On January 26, 2014, Reigns entered the Royal Rumble match at number 15 and set the then-record for most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble with 12, as he eliminated both his Shield teammates, and was the runner-up in the match after being eliminated by Batista.
The next night on Raw, The Shield competed in a six-man tag team match against Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and John Cena, with all three members of the winning team qualifying for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which The Shield lost via disqualification after The Wyatt Family interfered and attacked Cena, Bryan and Sheamus.
The Shield wanted revenge and a six-man tag team match for The Shield against The Wyatt Family on February 24 at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view was arranged, in which The Shield lost. Despite more dispute, The Shield recounciled in March.
In March, The Shield came out to seemingly attack Jerry Lawler, only to attack Kane instead, turning all three men into fan favorites in the process. Over the next few weeks, The Shield continued exchanging assaults with Kane, who was joined by The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg), leading to a match between the two teams on April 6 at WrestleMania XXX, which The Shield won. The feud with Kane also prompted The Shield to sever ties with Triple H, who reformed Evolution to counter them. In May, The Shield defeated Evolution at both Extreme Rules and Payback. After Batista "quit" WWE the following night on Raw, Triple H initiated his "plan B" which involved Rollins turning on The Shield and aligning himself with Triple H and The Authority. Controversial rise to main event status (2014–2015)
After the dissolution of The Shield in June 2014, Reigns (now a singles wrestler) was quickly inserted into world title contention that month and he headlined the next two pay-per-view events.
The first when, two weeks after Rollins's betrayal, Reigns won a battle royal on the June 16 episode of Raw to gain a spot in the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship ladder match on June 17 at Money in the Bank, but failed to win the title during the main event match.
The second was July 20's Battleground, where Reigns again unsuccessfully challenged for the world title, this time in a fatal four-way main event match (also involving Kane, Randy Orton and defending champion John Cena).
The following night on Raw, Reigns started a feud with Randy Orton, which led to a match between the two on August 17 at SummerSlam, where Reigns defeated Orton. Meanwhile, Reigns's former teammates Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins had been feuding over Rollins's betrayal, with Rollins beating Ambrose in five matches and ultimately injuring Ambrose in the storyline.
This led to a feud between Rollins and Reigns, where a singles match was set up for Night of Champions on September 21, even though six days before the pay-per-view event he cleanly defeated Rollins in a singles match on Raw. Then Reigns developed a legitimate incarcerated hernia which required surgery a day or two prior to Night of Champions and, as a result, Rollins was declared the winner via forfeit, while Reigns was ruled out of action indefinitely.
"Reigns was a greener-than-grass wrestler who WWE identified as the Face of the Performance Center Machine – taking raw talent without the "bad habits" from the independents and trying to manufacture a WrestleMania Main-Eventer".
James Caldwell of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter in February 2015 on Reigns's background compared to that of his Shield teammates[86]
Reigns returned to WWE television on the December 8 episode of Raw, accepting the 2014 "Superstar of the Year" Slammy Award. On December 14 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, when Big Show interfered in John Cena's match against Seth Rollins, Reigns attacked both Big Show and Rollins, helping Cena win.
This started a feud between Reigns and Big Show, in which Reigns defeated him multiple times by countout and disqualification. On January 25, 2015, Reigns, entering at number 19, won the 2015 Royal Rumble match by eliminating the other entrants in the final four: Big Show, Kane and lastly Rusev. The following night on Raw, Reigns acknowledged being part of the Anoaʻi family for the first time on WWE television. Former WWE writer Kevin Eck said that WWE executives Vince McMahon and Triple H initially (when Reigns was still part of The Shield) refused to acknowledge Reigns's Samoan heritage as they thought it would damage his mystique.
On the February 2 episode of Raw, Reigns suffered his first pinfall loss in a singles match on the main roster when Big Show defeated him after interference from Rollins. Reigns was then forced to defend his WrestleMania title shot against Daniel Bryan in the main event of Fastlane on February 22 and succeeded in doing so after beating Bryan via pinfall. Post-Fastlane, Bryan and Paul Heyman endorsed Reigns with "two shockingly transparent promos... attempting to illustrate Reigns' greatness". On March 29 at WrestleMania 31, Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract while Reigns's main event match with Brock Lesnar was in progress, turning it into a triple threat, which Reigns lost when he was pinned by Rollins.
In April, Reigns re-ignited his feud with Big Show, which culminated on April 26 in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules, where Reigns defeated Show. On May 17 at Payback, Reigns once again failed to win the world title from Rollins in a fatal four-way main event that also involved Orton and Ambrose. On June 14 at Money in the Bank, Reigns competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which he failed to win after Bray Wyatt interfered and attacked him. On July 17 at Battleground, Wyatt defeated Reigns after former Wyatt Family member Luke Harper attacked Reigns.
On the August 6 episode of SmackDown, Wyatt accepted Reigns's challenge to a tag team match at SummerSlam, with Reigns and Ambrose facing Wyatt and Harper.
Reigns pinned Wyatt at the event on August 23 and the following night on Raw in a rematch, which ended via disqualification after Reigns and Ambrose were attacked by Wyatt's new ally, the debuting Braun Strowman. On September 20 at Night of Champions, Reigns and Ambrose teamed with Chris Jericho, but were defeated by Wyatt, Harper and Strowman.
The feud between Reigns and Wyatt ended after their Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event on October 25, in which Reigns was victorious.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion (2015–2016)
On the October 26 episode of Raw, Reigns won a fatal four-way match (also involving Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens) to become the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. However, then champion Seth Rollins legitimately injured his knee on November 4 and vacated the title the following day, which led to a tournament to crown a new champion. Following this, Triple H attempted to persuade Reigns into joining The Authority by offering him a bye into the tournament finals which he declined.
Reigns then defeated Big Show in the first round, Cesaro in the quarterfinals, Alberto Del Rio in the semifinals and Dean Ambrose in the finals at Survivor Serieson November 22 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
Triple H attempted to offer congratulations, but Reigns attacked him with a spear and Sheamusthen cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Reigns, thus ending Reigns's reign at only 5 minutes.
On December 13, Reigns failed to regain the title from Sheamus in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs following interference on Sheamus's behalf by fellow League of Nations members Alberto Del Rio and Rusev, but subsequently Reigns would attack the trio and also Triple H, who came out to stop him.
The next night on Raw, Mr. McMahon granted Reigns a title rematch against Sheamus (with Reigns's career on the line), which Reigns won after overcoming McMahon, Del Rio and Rusev's interferences to regain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. On the January 4, 2016 episode of Raw, Reigns successfully defended his title against Sheamus, despite McMahon acting as the special guest referee.
Reigns was then slated to defend his title in the Royal Rumble match on January 24, where Reigns scored a total of five eliminations after entering first, heading backstage for much of the match after an attack by The League of Nations and was eliminated upon his return by eventual winner Triple H, thus losing the world title and lasting nearly an hour (the longest out of everyone in the match).
At Fastlane on February 22, Reigns pinned Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match also involving Brock Lesnar to receive a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H at WrestleMania 32 on April 3, where he defeated Triple H in the main event to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for a third time.
Earlier in March 2016, Reigns changed his ring entrance to the entrance ramp (a default like other wrestlers) instead of coming out through the crowd. For this third world title reign, Reigns had two successful televised title defenses in May against AJ Styles, first at Payback and then Extreme Rules. Right after the Extreme Rules matchagainst Styles on May 22, Reigns was attacked by a returning Seth Rollins.
Near the end of his reign, the 2.03 TV rating for the June 13 episode of Raw which he appeared in was the lowest since March 3, 1997. At Money in the Bank on June 19, Reigns was defeated cleanly by Rollins marking his first clean loss on the main roster, ending his title reign at 77 days. On June 21, Anoaʻi was suspended for 30 days for his first violation of WWE's Wellness Program and, in response, he apologized on Twitter.
WWE's Wellness Program uses drug testing to detect substance abuse. Pro Wrestling Torch and TheWrap reported that WWE knew of Anoaʻi's violation before Money in the Bank, leading to Reigns being scripted to lose his world title at the event.
On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Reigns was drafted to the Raw brand. Despite Reigns's suspension, WWE continued to advertise Reigns as part of the Battleground main event, and went on to acknowledge Reigns's suspension on television.On July 24 at Battleground, Reigns made his televised return, facing Rollins and Dean Ambrose (whom Rollins dropped the title to at Money in the Bank after Ambrose cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract) for the now-renamed WWE Championship, but Ambrose successfully retained the championship when he pinned Reigns in a clean finish. The following night on Raw, Reigns also failed to contend for the newly announced WWE Universal Championship against Rollins at SummerSlam, as he lost to the debuting Finn Bálor after earlier winning a fatal four-way match that involved Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn and Sheamus.
United States Champion (2016–2017)
On the August 1 episode Raw, Reigns confronted Rusev, then on the August 8 episode of Raw, after interrupting Rusev and Lana's wedding celebration, Reigns challenged him for the United States Championship, at which Rusev initially declined, but Raw General Manager Mick Foley scheduled Rusev to defend the United States Championship against Reigns at SummerSlam.
At the event on August 21, Reigns and Rusev brawled before the match began, leading to the match being declared a no contest.
After Rusev cost Reigns the opportunity of becoming the number one contender for the WWE Universal Championship,Reigns would defeat Rusev at Clash of Champions on September 25 to win the United States Championship, and after weeks of brawling he successfully retained the title against Rusev in a Hell in a Cell match at the titular eventon October 30 to end their feud.
Reigns was later announced as a member for Team Raw in the traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match on November 20 alongside Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, former Shield brother Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman which Team Raw lost after Reigns was the last man to be eliminated by Bray Wyatt. On the November 28 episode of Raw, Reigns challenged WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens to a non-title match which Reigns won and per the pre-match stipulation was awarded a rematch for the title at Roadblock: End of the Line on December 18, but lost via disqualification when Chris Jericho attacked Owens to prevent Reigns from winning the title.
On the January 9, 2017 episode of Raw, Reigns lost the United States Championship to Jericho in a handicap match also involving Owens ending his reign at 106 days.
This led to a no disqualification rematch with Owens at the Royal Rumble on January 29 that saw Jericho being suspended above the ring in a shark cage, where Reigns lost after Braun Strowman interfered. Later on the event, Reigns entered at number 30 in the Royal Rumble match, eliminating Bray Wyatt, Chris Jericho and The Undertaker before being last eliminated by Randy Orton.
At Fastlane on March 5, Reigns defeated Strowman, becoming the first person to pin Strowman since joining the main roster.
The following night on Raw, Reigns was called out to the ring by Strowman, but instead was answered by The Undertaker, who attacked Reigns (who came out to confront Undertaker after Strowman left the ring) with a chokeslam.
This led to a No Holds Barred match between Reigns and Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 on April 2, which Reigns won in his third consecutive WrestleMania main event. This win also made Reigns only one of two wrestlers to defeat Undertaker at WrestleMania, the other being Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX.
The next night on Raw, Reigns opened the show to ten minutes of severe boos and chants from the crowd, attempting to stop him from speaking, before simply stating "This is my yard now" and leaving the ring.
Reigns then resumed his feud with Strowman, who attacked him in front of Michael Cole and—after medical personnel put him inside an ambulance—Strowman pushed it over. An "injured" Reigns returned to face Strowman at Payback on April 30, but was defeated and afterwards further assaulted with steel steps by Strowman.
Following Strowman's legit injury, which was justified in kayfabe by having been assaulted by Reigns with a chair during a confrontation, Reigns set his sights back on newly Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, which led Raw General Manager Kurt Angle to schedule a Universal Championship number one contender's Extreme Rules fatal five-way match for Extreme Rules on June 4 between Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe and Seth Rollins that Reigns failed to win.
On the June 19 episode of Raw, Reigns challenged whoever would be the WWE Universal Champion at SummerSlam, but later that night Strowman returned in an ambulance and cost Reigns his match with Joe, before attacking and challenged him to an ambulance match at Great Balls of Fire on July 9.
Reigns lost the match at the event, but subsequently attacked and locked Strowman inside the ambulance before driving it backwards into a production truck. At SummerSlam on August 20, Reigns was pinned by Brock Lesnar in a WWE Universal Championship match also involving Strowman and Joe. After a brief feud with John Cena, Reigns defeated him at No Mercy on September 24 and the next night on Raw described it as the biggest win in his career.
The Shield reunion and Grand Slam winner (2017–2018)
In October, due to issues with The Miz, The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) and Cesaro and Sheamus, all three members of The Shield eventually decided to reform, with Reigns being the last member to consider doing so. Reigns was due to team with Rollins and Ambrose at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on October 22, but over an illness concern Kurt Angle would take his place.
At Survivor Series on November 19, The Shield defeated The New Day in a six-man tag team match. The following night on Raw, Reigns defeated The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship, thus becoming the twenty-eighth Triple Crown and seventeenth Grand Slam champion, the second member of The Shield after Ambrose to achieve the Grand Slam. Following his title win, Reigns planned to issue open challenges on a regular basis on Raw and would successfully defend the title against Elias, Jason Jordan, Cesaro and Samoa Joe before losing to The Miz on the 25th Anniversary of Raw on January 22, 2018, ending his reign at 63 days.
Reigns participated in the annual Royal Rumble match at the namesake pay-per-view on January 28, but failed to win the match after being last eliminated by Shinsuke Nakamura.
After defeating Bray Wyatt on the February 5 episode of Raw, Reigns qualified for the Elimination Chamber match, which he won, earning the right to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34.
At WrestleMania, Reigns failed to win the championship from Lesnar after suffering six F-5's and bleeding during the course of the match. They had a rematch for the championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this time inside a steel cage, where Reigns failed to win the title again after spearing Lesnar through the cage and thus accidentally giving the win to Lesnar as he escaped the cage first per the match rules.
After defeating Samoa Joe at Backlash and Jinder Mahal at Money in the Bank, Reigns then entered a feud with Bobby Lashley, where both men believed that they were the rightful challenger to Lesnar's championship. This set up a match at Extreme Rules, where Lashley was victorious.
The following night on Raw, two triple threat matches were set to determine Lesnar's challenger for SummerSlam. Reigns and Lashley won their respective matches, setting up a number one contender's match between the two the following week, which Reigns won. On the August 13, 2018 episode of Raw, after calling out Heyman and Lesnar, Reigns was blinded by Heyman with pepper spray, allowing Lesnar to assault Reigns. At SummerSlam, Reigns successfully defeated Lesnar and won the Universal Championship for the first time in his career, ending Lesnar's title reign at 504 days.
After defeating Finn Bálor in his first title defense, Reigns went on to reignite his feud with Braun Strowman, who was the Money in the Bank holder. During the feud, Rollins and Ambrose assisted Reigns to retain the title, so Strowman allied with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. Reigns then faced Strowman at Hell in a Cell in the namesake match, which ended in a no contest after Brock Lesnar returned and attacked both men.
The Shield would later reunite officially on the September 24 episode of Raw, defeating the team of Baron Corbin and AOP. On October 6 at Super Show-Down, The Shield defeated Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre in a six-man tag team match before losing to them in a rematch on Raw two nights later.
Leukemia diagnosis and hiatus (2018–present)
Following Super Show-Down event, a triple threat match between Reigns, Strowman and Lesnar for the Universal Championship was scheduled for Crown Jewel event. However, on October 22, Reigns relinquished the title and announced his hiatus on Raw, revealing that his leukemia had returned after 11 years of privately battling it and being in remission.
Reigns started treatment for the disease on October 19, 3 days prior to his announcement on Monday Night Raw.
Personal life
Anoaʻi is half-Samoan and half-Italian. Both his father Sika Anoaʻi, and his brother Rosey, who died on April 17, 2017, were professional wrestlers. As a member of the Anoaʻi family, he is a cousin to former professional wrestlers Yokozuna, Rikishi, Umaga, who died on December 4, 2009, The Tonga Kid and first cousin once-removed to The Usos and The Rock (non-biological).
Anoaʻi married Galina Joelle Becker in early December 2014.[citation needed] He has a daughter named Joelle, with whom he appeared in a public service announcement in June 2014. His wife gave birth to twin boys in 2016.
At the Georgia Institute of Technology, Anoaʻi majored in management. He is a Roman Catholic and uses the sign of the cross every time he enters the ring.
Anoaʻi considers Bret Hart his wrestling idol.
Milan Tomic
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