The fall of 2012 saw a young talent making his WWE main roster debut and as they say, the rest is history. It was Roman Reigns, who alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, marked their arrival in the company. Since then, the name has gone through a lot to cement himself as the face of WWE. Right Now, Reigns is the longest reigning world champion in the last 35 years of the company. In fact, no current conversation about WWE can end without mentioning his name. However, how did he come up with the ring name Roman Reigns?
Wrestlers, after signing with a promotion, often drop their real name and use a different ring name. In WWE, the management does so to keep them as their intellectual property. In fact, if you take a look at all the superstars ever signed with WWE, most of them will have a different real name. But anyway, what is the story behind Joe Anoaʻi becoming WWE superstar Roman Reigns?
Roman Reigns once shared the story behind his ever-popular WWE ring name
In 2017, Roman Reigns made an appearance on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast. It was the time when WWE, and even he, was trying to find a way to get over the fans. While speaking on the show, The Tribal Chief shared the story behind his ring name, Roman Reigns.
Initially, Roman Reigns wanted to have a one-word ring name and wrestle as “Roman” only. However, that didn’t go well with WWE as he was told to find a last name for him. Though he didn’t find any difficulty brainstorming that as well.
On the show, Roman Reigns revealed that his last name was inspired by an FCW wrestler called Calvin Raines. The said superstar was released by the company after some time. Anyway, Roman sent “Raines” name to WWE along with some more name ideas.
At first, he settled with Roman Raines but later changed it to Roman Reigns, all thanks to his close friend. It was Reigns’ fellow WWE wrestler Corey Graves who suggested that as the last name. Ultimately, Joe Anoaʻi became Roman Reigns and since then, has created his legacy in WWE.
The Head of the Table is going to main event WrestleMania for the third time in a row
From the beginning, WWE has been trying to project Roman Reigns as the face of the company. But when he was a face superstar, fans couldn’t connect with him and therefore openly expressed their disapproval.
However, since Roman turned heel in 2020, he has been on a different level. In fact, he is going to headline WrestleMania for the third time in a row. In 2021, he overpowered icons like Edge and Daniel Bryan to defend his Universal Title. And last year, he defeated “The Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
Continuing his dream run, Roman Reigns will be main-eventing this year’s Showcase of Immortals as well. This time, he will be defending his undisputed title against “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes. After this year’s appearance, Reigns will stand second on the list of most WrestleMania main event appearances in WWE history.
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