The Unlikely WWE Star Who Gave Roman Reigns His Ring Name

Outside of rare examples, such as John Cena and Randy Orton, a professional wrestler doesn’t go by their real life name in the ring. With wrestlers playing characters in front of an audience, they can become someone else with a simple cool ring name. Who would CM Punk be, for example, if he had simply gone by Phil Brooks for all of these years. Or just imagine Shawn Michaels trying to have a Hall of Fame run as Michael Hickenbottom?

In today’s WWE there are both great and horrible ring names. For every Rhea Ripley, there seems to be a Bron Breakker. Then there’s Roman Reigns. Joe Anoai’s ring name screams power, a monicker fitting for a Tribal Chief. But just how did the current face of wrestling’s biggest company find the name that will stay with him for the rest of his life?

Joe Anoa’i Started in FCW as Leakee

• After a college football career, Reigns performed in WWE’s Florida Championship Wrestling.
• Leakee was a generic babyface gimmick that didn’t connect.
• Leakee’s name changed as FCW became NXT.

Even the best wrestlers of all time don’t start out ready to go. It’s always an awkward beginning, not only as they learn the craft, but also find their character. It was no different for Roman Reigns. Although he came from an iconic wrestling family, Reigns was a college football player with no in-ring experience when he signed with WWE in 2010 and made his debut in the company’s then developmental system, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).

To see Reigns, even from his earliest days in FCW, was to see a man with a great look, but from his bad music and cheesy entrance, there was no “it” factor coming from him. His ring name didn’t help either. He struggled as a generic babyface with the Samoan name of Leakee. Then, as FCW became NXT and the new brand took a giant leap, Leakee was no more.

Corey Graves Helped Roman Reigns Find His Name in NXT

• He wanted to go by the solo name of Roman.
• He took the original spelling of his last name from wrestler Calvin Raines.
• Roman liked the heel name spelling of Reigns.

If Joe Anoa’i was going to stand out, he needed a name fans would remember and be able to pronounce. So what should he call himself? Reigns told the story of finding his ring name in a 2017 episode of Talk Is Jericho, telling the host:

“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. He’s a good man, a real nice brother. Sorry. Roman Raines sounded good to me, so they were like, ‘Alright, give me four or five different names.’ “

It was then that the future Roman Reigns turned to another wrestler in developmental named Matthew Polisnky. You know him better as Corey Graves. Before concussions ended his in-ring career, Graves was one of the better wrestlers in FCW and NXT. Reigns recalled what happened next with his friend.

“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!” (h/t Fightful)

Roman Reigns Is the Perfect Name for a WWE Superstar

• Roman Reigns was a better name in the Shield than Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
• The name didn’t work as well when Reigns was a hated babyface.
• It’s a great ring name for the Tribal Chief of the Bloodline.

He was right. Roman Reigns is a great heel name. When he made his now historic WWE main roster debut alongside his NXT brothers, as the Shield, it was certainly a much cooler and more memorable ring name than Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. The cocky name didn’t quite fit when Vince McMahon was forcing Reigns to be an awful babyface for years. However, it came to fit him perfectly when he turned heel and became the Tribal Chief in the Bloodline faction.

Roman is reminiscent of the Roman Empire. It is a name of power, the name of a leader, and as the head of the table with his family, you can’t do better. Raines, despite sounding the same, does not work at all as a last name. The spelling change to Reigns adds to the mystique. The name says it all. Roman is a conqueror, a dominant heel who will dominate and reign. For the past half decade plus as the Tribal Chief, he’s done just that.