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We’re used to seeing Roman Reigns with long, dark hair and wearing riot-gear attire that makes him look like one of the biggest badasses in WWE today.
We’re not, however, used to seeing him as a 300lbs+ football player whose hair wouldn’t even flinch if he stood outside during a tornado.
Reigns, real name Joe Anoa?i, has had various different looks throughout his life – from his days as a hard-hitting football player to his time as a sarong-wearing Samoan in FCW.
In this article, we look at 10 pictures of WWE’s most polarising Superstar that you might not have seen before.
#1 Mini Reigns & Mini Usos!
Roman Reigns is part of the legendary Anoa?i wrestling family. His father Sika and uncle Afa were the Wild Samoans, his late brother Rosey was in WWE between 2002 and 2006, and his first cousins once-removed are... The Usos!
The Anoa’i dynasty, including The Rock and Yokozuna, have won 39 titles in WWE between them – more than any other family.
Reigns and The Usos have teamed together on multiple occasions in WWE, most notably when “The Big Dog” was feuding with AJ Styles and The Club after WrestleMania 32.
He mentioned during his WWE 24: Never Alone documentary that the trio grew up together and they are more like best friends to him than cousins.
#2 College football letter
In February 2003, three young Escambia High School athletes named Joe Anoa?i, Jonathan Fatu and Joshua Fatu were pictured signing their college football letters of intent.
Joe (Roman Reigns) went on to play three years with Georgia Tech, while Jonathan (Jimmy Uso) played one year and Joshua (Jey Uso) played two years with the University of West Alabama.
“It’s such a deep bond that we have; we’ve done pretty much everything under the sun together,” Reigns said in 2015. “We went from playing in a front yard and backyard and a ballpark in Pensacola, Florida to WWE superstars.”
#3 Short-haired Roman!
Ever since he debuted in WWE, Roman Reigns’ appearance hasn't changed that much, which makes it all the more surprising when we see what looks he was rocking before his pro wrestling days.
During a Sports Illustrated interview in 2015, in which he was answering questions from MMA star Ronda Rousey, Reigns said he would be willing to put his locks on the line in a Hair vs. Hair match one day in WWE.
If you’re a fan of the buzz cut Roman is sporting here, then you’d better hope Vince McMahon was watching that Rousey interview.
#4 Defensive end
Nowadays, Roman Reigns is seen as a locker-room leader within WWE, but his leadership days stretch as far back as his time with Georgia Tech between 2003 and 2006.
He was a top defensive lineman as a senior and one of Tech’s captains, starting every game but one during his three years with the team.
When you consider that Tech also had future NFL wide receiver Calvin Johnson in their ranks, Reigns must have been something special in college to be considered one of his team’s star players.
#5 ‘You’ve got to work on your body’
Pictured here during his time with Georgia Tech, Roman Reigns weighed over 300lbs and is clearly carrying a lot more fat than he does nowadays in WWE.
Jim Ross mentioned on his podcast last year how Reigns was warned when he signed for WWE in 2010 that he had to lose weight if he was to succeed in the business.
He said: “The thing we told him was, ‘You’ve got to work on your body,’ and I’m sure The Rock probably had some influence on that, too, but Reigns worked extremely hard and is very dedicated.”
#6 Introducing… Leakee!
Would Roman Reigns have had half the success he’s had so far in WWE if he was dressed in his Leakee attire rather than the badass Shield riot gear we’re used to seeing him in now?
Maybe, maybe not, but this is how Reigns – or Leakee, as he was then known – looked during his early days in Florida Championship Wrestling, the original development system before NXT.
If Reigns were to wear a sarong to the ring these days, he’d probably get laughed – not even booed – out of the building, so switching attire was a great call!
#7 FCW Tag Team champion
We’re used to seeing Roman Reigns as one-third of The Shield and Tyler Breeze as one-half of Breezango, but do you remember when the duo were Tag Team champions?
Going by the names of Leakee and Mike Dalton, they won the FCW tag titles from Corey Graves and Jake Carter in June 2012. The reign lasted just 28 days before they were defeated by CJ Parker and Jason Jordan.
It makes you wonder how strange it must be for these Superstars to appear in storylines together now when they had so much history even before they arrived in WWE.
How must Jordan feel in 2017 when he’s referred to as a "rookie" on commentary in a match against Reigns? They were sharing a ring together five years ago!
#8 Reigns joins the Wyatts!
Do not adjust your reading device – that isn’t actually the Wyatt Family… but it really is Roman Reigns!
In 2014, the Shield member was promoting a WWE show in Washington when he popped by a local radio station for a morning interview.
The guys at 106.7 The Fan decided to dress up as Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan for the visit of “The Big Dog”, and they can be seen in the picture above having coffee together.
Bray, aka DJ Chad Dukes, mentioned how the coffee sucked when, all of a sudden, the camera panned left to show Roman, who simply replied: “Yeah, it does.”
#9 Reigns is a Harper fan
In October 2015, Chris Jericho posted the picture above on his Instagram account with the caption: "Ladies & Gents may I introduce the charter members of the #LukeHarper fan club... #yeahyeahyeah."
It’s probably the most-seen photo among the 10 in this list because, according to reports, the guys involved were subject to ‘backstage heat’ for appearing in a snap together during a time when Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt were feuding.
However, nobody in the since-deleted pic – Reigns, Bray, Y2J, Harper, Sheamus, Cesaro, Primo or Epico – seemed to suffer any repercussions in the weeks that followed, so maybe it was all blown out of proportion.
#10 Taking pictures with Braun Strowman
Much like Chris Jericho, Titus O’Neil reportedly found himself in a spot of bother when he posted a picture on social media of WWE Superstars enjoying themselves on a European tour earlier in 2017.
At the height of the Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman feud, Titus posted a photo with the two Raw stars posing inside the Colosseum in Rome with Matt Hardy, Heath Slater and Curtis Axel.
Another since-deleted picture, shown above, snapped Reigns and Strowman taking in the sights together as they walked around Rome.
In this day and age of social media, and kayfabe not being what it was, does it really matter? Probably not, although it was only a week after Braun had beaten his long-term rival black and blue at Payback, so maybe it wasn’t the best timing!
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