8 Things you didn't know about Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns was the enforcer and the powerhouse of the Shield. The one member who was consistently made to look really, really good. It has been quite a year for the 29-year-old superstar. He main evented Wrestlemania and was touted to win the WWE World Heavyweight title. His popularity took a major dip after he was sidelined with injuries and lame promo material. All of that worked its way to make Reigns a polarizing superstar. His momentum seems to be still alive and well. He was unanimously popular for a while when all that stood out was the fact that he was a silent badass and that certain mystique about him always worked.So going by that aura, here are 8 things you did not know about Roman Reigns.

#8 He's a Triple H Guy

We all know by now that Vince McMahon makes all the big decisions. His has the final say on matters. Roman Reigns is one of the four people who McMahon thought to be a frontrunner for the proverbial brass rings. But long before that, Triple H saw that potential.

CM Punk on the Art of Wrestling podcast revealed that The Shield was his idea. He wanted three guys from NXT to be a stable alongside him. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were already on his list. He wanted his former rival in the independent circuit and good friend Chris Hero, who was Kassius Ohno in the WWE realm, to be the third guy.

Triple H vetoed that decision and introduced Reigns.

#7 He idolizes Bret Hart

Roman Reigns was a die-hart Bret Hart fan, much like his Shield brother Dean Ambrose. Reigns spoke about Hart in one of his interviews saying, " Every time he'd come out with that leather jacket and give his sunglasses away to a kid in the crowd, I used to dream about being that kid. That hair, all that gear. To this day, I still think he has kickass gear. He seemed like a standup guy. A really nice dude. He is a very cool dude."

It would have been quite an honor then when Hart gave his approval and blessing to Reigns for his main event at Wrestlemania 31.

#6 WWE wanted him way before Reigns wanted to wrestle

Reigns started his professional career as a football player before being a wrestler. He comes from a family that has a rich history in wrestling and he was brought up in such an environment where all the kids were taught to wrestle.

Yet he chose to be a football player and immensely accomplished during his college days. He even competed in the NFL.

During all of this, Roman Reigns said in an interview that the higher ups in the WWE already had an eye out for him and expected him to make the switch from sports to sports entertainment.

Well, that happened!

#5 He\'s half Italian

It is no secret that Reigns comes from one of the largest wrestling families in the world. The Anoa’i wrestling dynasty is well- renowned.

Reigns is also a guy who, even his Shield brothers admit, amasses quite some attention for his body and looks. Add to that the fact that he is half- Italian. Yes, that's right!

Also, another little nugget of a fact is that he majored in Management while he was in college. But let's rest upon the fact that he's Italian and how that totally adds up his appeal.

#4 He once lost to Damien Mizdow

Precisely speaking, Roman Reigns lost to the man we all now know as Damien Mizdow once upon a time. That was a long time ago. Reigns had just made his debut in FCW and there, Mizdow existed as Idol Stevens. Reigns suffered a few singles’ losses before entering the tag team scene. One of those singles’ losses happened against Mizdow.

Imagine something like that happening in the main roster right now. That’ll be quite surprising, much like when his former teammate Seth Rollins was pinned by Heath Slater. Though, Mizdow has become a good character in his own right.

#3 He became a father when he was in his early twenties

One of the first things that would have been done by anyone who’s attracted to Roman Reigns is to search him online. One of the first piece of information that did the round was an interview he had quite recently then. In that interview, he mentioned that he had a daughter in 2008 and that he doesn’t want to talk more about his personal life.

If that was too good to be true, it did not take WWE much time to make that clearer than ever. Reigns appeared in a PSA with his daughter and quite recently we saw her in some stunning pictures for the Wrestlemania diary.

#2 FCW was a different deal

Long before he became Roman Reigns, the 29-year-old once had quite a hard- hitting ring name. It was simple yet significant. It somehow felt like the right fit because of his Samoan heritage. He was named Leakee.

He started off as a singles player but soon made a transition to the tag team scene and but never really won the tag titles.

One of his best singles match could arguably be the very poetic-in-retrospect match against Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.All three members of The Shield faced each other in a triple threat before even becoming The Shield. Hope this happens at a main event of Wrestlemania soon.

#1 He once had an altercation with Randy Orton

During one of WWE’s live shows, which are not televised, Reigns and Orton were on opposite teams. Reigns was part of the heel group and Orton was one of the babyfaces. There was a certain miscommunication between the two and a move wasn’t executed properly. Somebody could have gotten seriously hurt and both of them had a war of words backstage.

This definitely could have had dire consequences for Reigns as he was just a new guy on the roster and he was arguing with a veteran like Orton. Superstars like Ziggler and Cesaro have been punished for just merely making statements against them in interviews.

There were talks that Vince McMahon wanted to punish the rookie Reigns (which might have led to Reigns’ suspension), but Triple H convinced the Chairman against doing. So, let it be and move on.