When did Roman Reigns have the wrestling name Leakee?
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns is at the top of his game right now. Under the guidance of Paul Heyman and the assistance of The Usos, Reigns has dominated SmackDown.
Before his time as the Blue Brand's top star, he was a member of The Shield along with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. So when did Roman Reigns have the wrestling name Leakee?
Roman was known as Leakee during in Florida Championship Wrestling. Before NXT and the Performance Center, FCW was WWE's development brand.
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Roman debuted on Florida Championship Wrestling in August 2010 as 'Roman Leakee' in a Battle Royal, later won by former WWE Superstar Alex Riley. Reigns just became 'Leakee' later that year.
Speaking on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Roman explained the origins of his 'Roman Reigns' ring name after his time as Leakee:
"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," Roman Reigns said. (h/t IW Nerd)
WWE commentator Corey Graves convinced Roman to change his last name to 'Reigns.' Graves suggested the change "as a king reigns" to give him that extra grandeur. The latter agreed, and Roman Reigns was born.
Who trained Roman Reigns to become a wrestler?
Roman Reigns and Tyler Breeze used to be the Florida Tag Team Champions in FCW.
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Roman signed for WWE in 2010 debuted that same year on FCW. He was trained by Afa Anoa'i and Sika Anoaʻi, former WWF World Tag Team Champions known as The Wild Samoans. Afa is the uncle of Roman, with Sika being Roman's father.
The Wild Samoans appeared at Hell in a Cell 2020, celebrating with Roman Reigns. Roman had just defeated Jey Uso in an 'I Quit' Match inside Hell in a Cell to retain his Universal Championship.