Leati Joseph Anoaʻi, famously known as Roman Reigns, is a professional wrestler born in Pensacola, Florida, the United States on May 25, 1985. This 35-year-old athlete is a family member of the renowned Anoa’ I, known to produce big wrestling names.
Roman Reigns is entitled the “Big Dog” because of his strength and juggernaut body. He has earned many titles due to his muscular physique and is ranked as 3rd best wrestler in 2020.
He has a net worth of $12-15 million a year. His most income is generated through his wrestling career. He earns up to $5 million a year with an expected rise of 22% per annum.
If you are a die-hard fan of Roman Reigns and want complete information about your favorite wrestler, early life, ups and downs in his life, and struggle path, you must look at the following content.
Early Life
Roman Reigns was born in a well-known wealthy family as the second son of three children to his father, Sika Anoa’i, and mother Patricia Anoa’i.
His father is Sika Anoaʻi, a prominent wrestler of his time, and with his brother, Afa, they had earned a good reputation as the tag team The Wild Samoans.
He grew up with his family in Pensacola, Florida, and is related to many wrestlers who formed their extended family, including the famous Yokozuna Rikishi, Rocky Johnson, Umaga, and The Rock: wrestling was like life to him.
He went to Pensacola Catholic High and later on switched to Escambia High School.
He used to play in the football team in both schools and was given the name “Defensive Player of the year” by the Pensacola Journal. After his high school education, he studied management at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Personal Life
Roman Reigns married the fitness model Galina Becker on December 6, 2014, and their union is blessed with twin boys and a daughter named Joelle Anoa’i.
Reigns is a loyal Catholic and can be seen performing the cross’s sign whenever he is stepping into the ring.
Unsuccessful Football Career
After his college, he started to play for The National Football League (NFL), the Minnesota Vikings. After a month of joining the team, he was dropped due to his leukemia diagnosis. He went on to join the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he was expelled out soon because of his disease.
He then started playing in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Edmonton Eskimos but was dropped after one season. After facing this much failure, he decided to adopt wrestling as a profession.
Successful Wrestling Career
When he failed to become a successful footballer, he joined WWE in 2010 by signing an agreement. When assigned to the Florida Championship Wrestling, he used the ring name Roman Leakee instead of using his original name.
In 2010 and 2011, he fought in small the bout but achieved a significant win in 2012 when he defeated Leo Kruger, the Florida FCW Heavyweight champion. FCW soon rebranded to NXT, moving with the tide of rebranding, Leati changed his professional name and was now known as Roman Reigns.
In November 2012, he placed himself in the big league after smacking Ryback for the WWE Championship with his SHIELD companions.
In May 2013, the SHIELD quickly turned profitable as they emerged to win the WWE Tag Team Championship, Reign’s first championship, and by April 2020, the only Tag Team Championship winner.
From 2013 to June 2014, where Rollins betrayed the Shield after teaming up with rivals The Authority and Triple H, Reigns’ fights revolved around rival teams.
Later on, he fought in the Survivor Series, winning the WWE Heavyweight Championship, his first individual championship.
In September 2016, he defeated Rusev and emerged as the United States Championship winner. After 106 days as United States Champion, he lost this title to Chris Jericho at the start of 2017. In November 2017, he defeated The Miz and won his next title, the Intercontinental Champion and the 17th Grandslam and 8th Triple Crown champion in WWE history.
His reign ended in January 2018 after 68 days. Yet, in 2018, he won his first Universal Championship, defeating Brock Lesnar. He gave up his championship in October 2018 after returning to his leukemia and announced he’d be taking a break from wrestling.
He returned to continue his profession in February 2019 with his leukemia in remission. Roman wrestled throughout 2019 but had to give up for WrestleMania 36 in March 2020 because it was not assured if he could be safe when the Coronavirus pandemic arose in the US. This was due to fears that his immune system may be at significant risk because of his leukemia.
Achievements
Roman Reigns has achieved the following titles or rewards in his wrestling career till now.
- FCW Florida Tag Team Championship
- Three-time WWE Heavyweight Champion
- One-time WWE Universal Champion
- One-time WWE Intercontinental Champion
- One-time WWE United States Champion
- One-time WWE Tag Team Champion
- Ninth WWE Grandslam Championship
- Twenty-Eighth WWE Triple-Crown Champion.
Sources of Income
After a long struggle and dedication, Roman became a millionaire. He is not a single-profession person; he has been doing intense hard work in wrestling and has also shown his skills in acting. Some say that apart from acting and wrestling, he invests a considerable amount of money in disguise.
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Wrestling
In 2013, Reigns reportedly made $227,750 from the WWE, rising to $314,138 a year later.
Reigns first cracked the Forbes list in 2015 when he was listed as the 6th highest-paid wrestler in the WWE with his $2.1M salary.
In March 2018, Total Sportek came up with an article that reportedly revealed the top wrestlers’ contracts and salaries in WWE. In that article, Roman Reigns was listed as the 3rd highest-paid performer at $5M.
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Personal investments
Sporteology.net also claims that Reigns has personally invested money worth $2M, although it didn’t specify where they are.
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Television
He has also made several TV appearances throughout his professional wrestling career. He has been invited on shows such as Good Morning America, Conan, and ESPN’s First Take, which helped him boost his popularity and earned him appearance fees.
In 2016, Reigns also appeared in a commercial for the chocolate Snickers.
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Acting
Just like John Cena and The Rock, Roman Reigns also contributed to Hollywood. He has appeared in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, where he played the role of Mateo Hobbs.
He was also cast in the movie Countdown and has played different roles in TV shows.
He is also featured in the Netflix comedy, The Wrong Missy.
According to some reports, Roman Reigns has various endorsement deals that regularly boost his net worth.
Roman Reigns Net Worth and Salary
Roman Reigns is one of the highest-earning performers in WWE. He is the third-highest earner in the WWE behind Brock Lesnar and John Cena.
According to Forbes, Roman Reigns earned $4.3M last year after featuring more headliners than any other wrestler in the WWE.
He has a net worth of $13 million a year. Most of his income comes from WWE wrestling. The Big Dog earns $5 million a year with an expected rise of 22% per annum.
Possessions
Roman Reigns, the father of three children, lives with his family in Tampa, Florida. He owns a Lamborghini Huracan, Toyota Fortuner, Range Rover, and Mercedes Benz SUV.
According to The Richest, Roman Reigns’ Florida home is around $700K, and his three vehicles cost $520K as of 2017.
Summary
Roman Reigns has suffered a lot in his career due to leukemia. He could not prove himself as a good footballer due to his health issues.
But with determination, patience, and hard work, he has achieved the title of top 3rd wrestler in 2020 by earning an annual salary of $5 million.
In only five years, he has achieved the top titles and rewards in wrestling and has proved himself one of the most famous Superstar wrestlers.