How Joe Anoaʻi Came Up With Up His "Roman Reigns" Gimmick Name, Explained
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On November 18, 2012, Roman Reigns made his main roster debut alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose during the Survivor Series main event. Together, for the next few years, they dominated WWE as The Shield. After their split, WWE started pushing Reigns as a singles wrestler. In just a few years, The Big Dog became a household name in wrestling.
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Today, he’s got multiple WrestleMania main events under his name, and many other big accomplishments such as defeating The Undertaker at the event and being the longest-reigning Universal Champion in WWE history. There’s no doubt Roman Reigns is WWE’s biggest superstar. But how did the person behind this character, Leati Joseph Anoa’i, come up with the “Roman Reigns” ring name?
Roman Reigns Stole Part Of His Ring Name From Another Wrestler
During a Talk is Jericho episode, Roman Reigns revealed that he wanted to wrestle as “Roman” only, but WWE told him to find a last name as well. He didn’t have to look too far for it as there was another wrestler in FCW called Calvin Raines. He got released by the compan, and The Tribal Chief took his last name and sent it to WWE alongside a few more ideas.
"I knew I wanted Roman. I liked Roman. I wanted Roman only, and they were like, 'no, you need a last name'. And there's actually another guy in FCW by the name of Calvin Raines. He spelled it like 'rain', like a 'raindrop'. And they, I believe, released him and sorry, brother... Roman Raines sounded good to me, so they were like, 'alright, give me four or five different names.' . . ." (h/t comicbook.com)
Initially, he had settled on “Roman Raines” as his new wrestling name, but he later changed it to “Roman Reigns” after receiving a suggestion from his close friend and fellow wrestler, Corey Graves.
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Corey Graves Suggested To Use An Alternate Spelling For Roman's Last Name
One time, Graves came up to Reigns and asked him about his “Roman Raines” ring name and said, “What if you spelled it like, ‘Reigns’, like a king Reigns?’” The Big Dog liked this idea and went ahead with Graves’ suggestion and that’s how he ended up debuting as Roman Reigns on the main roster.
“Corey Graves, he was down in FCW, still working at that time, he’s actually one of my good buddies and our families are like really good friends. He told me, he was like, ‘hey, I heard you saying ‘Roman Raines’. What if you spelled it like, ‘Reigns’, like a king Reigns.’ And I was like, ‘whoa, I like that.’ And there you go. And total heel name too!”
The “Reigns” surname fits his character perfectly because he literally “reigned” over WWE and continues to do so even today with the Tribal Chief gimmick.
The Tribal Chief Previously Wrestled As Roman Leakee
Roman Reigns first signed with WWE way back in 2010. Of course, he hadn’t come up with “Roman Reigns” at that time, and was instead known as “Roman Leakee” which was later shortened to just “Leakee.”
Needless to say, these names don’t sound as cool as “Roman Reigns” does. Since Reigns is the face of WWE, he’s always got the spotlight on him. He’s super popular all over the world, and most wrestling fans have probably heard of him. Up until a few years ago, he even had a hotel named after him in India called “Hotel Roman Reigns (Bed & Breakfast)”. One would wonder if Reigns would’ve managed to reach the top of the food chain with a different ring name such as “Leakee.”
