Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns initially tried to become a professional football player earlier in his life. He had short stints with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2007 before moving to Canada to join the Edmonton Eskimos in 2008. However, his run with the Canadian team ended a few months later, and he retired from professional football.
After working for his sister's business installing office furniture for a while, Reigns joined the Stamford-based company to kick off his wrestling career in 2010. During an episode of his podcast in 2016, former WWE Executive Jim Ross revealed that the company had a special request for The Tribal Chief after signing him.
"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," Ross said.
The leader of The Bloodline has lost a lot of weight since joining the Stamford-based company. The 37-year-old is now in the best shape of his life.
Get ready for the #SuperBowl by checking out these pics of WWE Superstars (and an announcer!) in NFL uniforms.
— WWE (@WWE) February 13, 2022
First up, the Tribal Chief ... the Head of the Table ... the longest-reigning and defending #UniversalChampion ... @WWERomanReigns! (How'd we do, @HeymanHustle?) pic.twitter.com/nj52uFbqSC
Roman Reigns is now the face of WWE
After spending about two years in developmental, Roman Reigns debuted on the main roster as part of The Shield alongside Dean Ambrose (aka Jon Moxley) and Seth Rollins. After the group disbanded, The Tribal Chief became the face of the Stamford-based company, winning several world titles and other accolades.
Reigns has now held the Universal Championship for over two years after defeating Braun Strowman and The Fiend Bray Wyatt at Payback in 2020. Earlier this year, the leader of The Bloodline unified the world titles when he defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 38.
Roman Reigns' former rival recently broke character to give his honest opinion of The Tribal Chief.