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It's been around eight long years since Roman Reigns made his way to WWE's main roster at Survivor Series 2012, as a part of The Shield. It didn't take long for Roman Reigns to become one of the hottest acts on WWE TV. It was clear as day that WWE wanted to push The Big Dog to the moon, and it became even more apparent when The Shield split. For the next four years, Roman Reigns was featured in the main event of WrestleMania, against the likes of Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, and Triple H.
Roman Reigns recently made his return to WWE and is now the biggest heel on SmackDown. He is the current Universal Champion and is aligned with Paul Heyman of all people. In this article, we will take a look at five things you may have forgotten about Roman Reigns.
#5 Roman Reigns' stint in FCW as Leakee
Roman Reigns signed a contract with WWE in 2010 and was sent to the promotion's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling. Reigns was initially given the name of Roman Leakee and made his debut in a 15-Man over-the-top battle royal. The match was eventually won by Alex Riley. Reigns also competed in a Triple Threat match against Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose and won the same to bag an opportunity to compete for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.
Unfortunately, Roman Reigns lost the eventual Championship match to Kruger. He then teamed up with Tyler Breeze, who was dubbed Mike Dalton at the time. The duo won the FCW Tag Team titles and later lost the belts to Jason Jordan and CJ Parker. In 2012, WWE rebranded FCW to NXT, and thus the Leakee character came to an end. He was now called "Roman Reigns", and the rest is history.
#4 Roman Reigns' idol
Roman Reigns grew up in one of the most influential families in wrestling, and took an interest in watching WWE and other promotions from the very beginning. Fans might have seen the incredibly rare photograph featuring a young Roman Reigns with WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan. Back in 2015, when WWE was pushing Reigns to become The Guy, he talked about idolizing Bret Hart while growing up.
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 kicka** gear. He seemed like a standup guy. A really nice dude. He is a very cool dude.
Bret "The Hitman" Hart is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step foot in the squared circle, and has inspired several young guns to try their hand at pro-wrestling. AEW's FTR are big fans of Hart was well. Interestingly, Roman Reigns' wrestling style is completely different than that of Bret Hart. Nevertheless, one thing that we can all agree on is that both these men have had a major impact on professional wrestling, and are the top stars of their respective eras.
#3 Roman Reigns is the youngest person to win a Slammy for "Superstar of the Year"
Roman Reigns made his main roster debut in late 2012, and it didn't take long for him to become one of the most popular acts on WWE TV. At Survivor Series 2013, he eliminated four opponents in a Classic Survivor Series match, and was the sole survivor for his team. Months later, he eliminated 12 men in the Royal Rumble match, thus creating a new record at the event. Roman Reigns was immediately given a major push after The Shield split in mid-2014.
While Dean Ambrose kicked off a feud with Seth Rollins, Reigns targeted Randy Orton and went on to defeat him at SummerSlam 2014. Reigns won that year's Slammy award for Superstar of the Year. Roman Reigns' age at the time was 29 years, six months, and 13 days. He defeated the likes of John Cena, Brock Lesnar, and Dean Ambrose to bag the prize. His former associate Seth Rollins came close to breaking his record a year later, but fell short by a mere 10 days.
#2 Roman Reigns wasn't a part of WWE's original plans for The Shield
It's safe to say that Roman Reigns became the most successful Superstar of The Shield. It's interesting to learn that Reigns wasn't even a part of The Shield's original lineup. This revelation was made by a former WWE writer named Kevin Eck. The originally pitched team consisted of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Kassius Ohno. They were going to be introduced at RAW 1000 by Tommy Dreamer, and would later turn on their mentor. Daniel Bryan would then be revealed as their new leader.
The plan didn't come to fruition fully, as Ohno was replaced with Roman Reigns. WWE EVP Triple H was high on Roman Reigns, and it was instrumental in The Big Dog getting a spot in The Shield. They debuted at Survivor Series 2012 and helped CM Punk win a Triple Threat match to retain his WWE title. One wonders where Roman Reigns would be today WWE went along with the original idea of having Kassius Ohno as a member of The Shield.
#1 Roman Reigns' wasn't keen on doing the infamous "Sufferin' Succotash" promo
Jon Moxley left WWE soon after WrestleMania 35 last year, and gave several interviews where he bashed WWE for how he was handled by them. In one of his interviews, Moxley revealed that the infamous Sufferin' Succotash promo was something Roman Reigns didn't want to do. Moxley stated that Vince McMahon had Roman reigns say the line.
You think he wanted to say that? No. He went in [Vince's office], came out and was like, 'He wants me to say sufferin' succotash.' I remember laughing.
There were many times where he would cut a promo in the car, and I'm like, 'That's awesome. That's what you should say tomorrow.' Maybe he got to. Maybe they said, 'No, you have to say this.' It's the same problem for everyone. Not my problem anymore.
The promo in question was delivered by Roman Reigns at a time when he was being heavily slammed for being awful on the mic. This promo solidified many fans' belief that Reigns wasn't that good on the mic. Reigns approached Seth Rollins on an episode of WWE SmackDown and uttered the line. Almost immediately, he said that it wasn't easy to say, and winked at the camera. Many fans believed that this was Roman Reigns' way of saying that this wasn't his idea and that he was forced to deliver the line.
