Roman Reigns thought legendary 13-time World Champion was his uncle when he was a child
Roman Reigns has been around wrestling greatness since he was born - especially considering the family he was born into. He revealed that he probably thought a WWE icon was his uncle.
On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, host Jimmy Fallon showed Roman Reigns a photo of him, his father Sika, and 13-time World Champion Hulk Hogan. Hogan, who is considered an icon of the wrestling business, was one of many legends whom Reigns had met at a young age.
Fallon asked Reigns if it was just normal for him to see legends and wrestlers all the time, and he revealed that he probably thought WWE legend Hulk Hogan was his uncle.
"I'm pretty sure I thought Hulk [Hogan] was my uncle at this point. Like why has he got blonde hair? Everybody in our family is huge and larger than life, so you get used to it. So it's a bit of conditioning. Those are always great moments to look back on." (5:49-6:03)
Hogan won 13 World Championships across three promotions - WWE, WCW, and NJPW.
Which other legend did Roman Reigns look up to from the 1990s in WWE?
Hulk Hogan wasn't the only legend whom Reigns presumably looked up to. One WWE Hall of Famer whom The Tribal Chief had praised time and time again was none other than Bret 'The Hitman' Hart.
In past interviews, Reigns always admitted to being a Bret Hart guy and not a Shawn Michaels guy, and revealed that it partially had to do with Michaels' flamboyant gear while Hart took a more serious approach to his presentation.
In an interview with ODE, Roman Reigns revealed that he was always a Bret Hart guy.
"Bret Hart was always my guy," said Reigns. "I enjoyed that sports-centric, athletic type of performance that he put on. He was a pro wrestler's pro wrestler. His work ethic and the amount of dedication he put in is second to none." (H/T - Inside The Ropes)
Bret Hart would praise Roman Reigns after his first WrestleMania main event in 2015 against Brock Lesnar (and Seth Rollins). He described it as an "instant classic" to Reigns - a status it still holds to this day.
In fact, it was considered the best match of the Reigns-Lesnar feud up until SummerSlam 2022 - when they arguably surpassed it in a Last Man Standing Match.