Leati Joseph(Joe) Anoa’i, a normal guy from Pensacola, Florida grew up watching his entire family serving the professional wrestling industry. Growing up, all he dreamed about was to enter the professional wrestling world and give his best inside the ring like his father and other family seniors.

However, his dream was not just confined to earning a good name in professional wrestling and continuing the legacy of the Samoan family. His dream was more than that. The guy wanted to conquer the entire wrestling world, and he entered it with the same intentions in 2010 with the ring-name Leakee. Today, we know him as the ‘Tribal Chief’, ‘The Head of the Table’, Roman Reigns.

Reigns is currently at the top of WWE and it won’t be a lie if we say he is at the top of the entire wrestling industry too. Recently, he crossed the mark of 1028 days of being the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion. With this, his current reign is the 5th longest in WWE’s illustrious history.

However, now the question is, will he be able to surpass every other champion and become number one in the list of longest-reigning WWE champions of all time? Well, that’s what we will discuss in this article. But before that, let’s take a look at the incredible journey of Roman Reigns.

The Evolution of Roman Reigns, a Journey from ‘The Powerhouse’ to ‘The Tribal Chief’

It all started when Roman Reigns entered the main roster in 2012 as a member of the WWE stable ‘The Shield’. everyone called him ‘The Powerhouse’ of the group. The stable ran roughshod over anyone who dared to step in the ring with them.

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Two years later, The Shield broke up and Roman Reigns initiated his solo journey in the WWE. Soon enough, he received an immense push from the company and main evented WrestleMania 31. It was the first time when Reigns competed in the main event of ‘Mania.

The entire 2015 was about Roman Reigns chasing the WWE world championship. And, at the end of the year, in Survivor Series 2015, he finally bagged the title by defeating his former teammate Dean Ambrose.

But once again, his reign didn’t last long as the ‘Celtic Warrior’ Sheamus cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and snatched the title from Reigns’ hands after just 5 minutes and 15 seconds after he first won it. However a month after, Roman Reigns reclaimed the title just to lose it again in the Royal Rumble 2015 contest in a one vs all match.

After Royal Rumble 2015, Roman Reigns entered his ‘The Guy’ era, a gimmick with a subtle heel persona. Reigns once again main evented WrestleMania to beat Triple H and become the WWE Champion again and lost it again after 77 days.

After that, ‘The Guy’ was out of the World Championship scenario till 2018. At SummerSlam 2018, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar and became the Universal champion for the first time. However, merely after two months, Reigns had to relinquish his title as he was diagnosed with Leukaemia. Despite his push at the top as a babyface Reigns never got over like WWE wanted him to be. He persona was largely seen in poor light by the WWE Universe and he was booed heavily for a long time despite being presented as the face of the company.

Post Leukaemia, Roman Reigns finally got evolved from his ‘The Guy’ gimmick and WWE Universe met his best in-ring character ‘The Tribal Chief’.

The Tribal Chief and the Bloodline Saga

In August 2020, Roman Reigns returned and enter the Universal championship storyline. Soon enough, he became the Universal Champion by beating ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt and Strowman in a triple-threat match and initiated his journey to become the longest-reigning WWE champion of the modern era.

At WrestleMania 38, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar (who was the WWE champion at that time) in a winner takes all match and became the Undisputed WWE Universal champion.

In the meantime, he also joined forces with The Usos, Paul Heyman, and Solo Sikoa to initiate one of the most intriguing factions and storylines of WWE, ‘The Bloodline’.

On June 24, 2023, ‘The Tribal Chief’ surpassed the 1027 days championship reigns of late professional wrestler Pedro Morales and his reign became the 5th longest World Championship reign in the history of WWE.

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Now he has to surpass four more title reigns to earn the number-one spot. However, it won’t be easy as those ahead of him pulled in impressive numbers during their heydays.

Top longest-reigning WWE champions ahead of Roman Reigns

WWE has been entertaining the world for more than fifty years. And since then, fans have witnessed many champions. But very few of them set the record of holding the titles for an exceptionally long period. Even someone like Reigns, who has been on a dominant run, will feel that getting to the top of this list won’t be easy or even possible.

The late WWE legend Bruno Sammartino once held the WWE Championship for 1237 days. That reign got him fourth place on the list. In 1984, the WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan won the championship from late superstar The Iron Shiek and remained champion for 1474 days.

The second place is held by Bob Backlund, the iconic rival of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair who wore the title around his waist for 2135 days. And at the top, we once again have Bruno Sammartino who held the WWE Championship for eight years (2803 days) making him the longest reigning WWE champion of all time.

As we can see Roman Reigns has some distance to go to even come closer to the top. Only time could tell whether he will be able to surpass these championship reigns or not. But for now, crossing the 1000 days milestone in an era of WWE where the fans demand rapid title change, is also a huge achievement. Next, we will have his eyes on Hogan’s spot and look to displace ‘The Hulkster’ from his place in the all-time list.

With this, Roman Reigns has already built his own legacy in the WWE. And the normal guy named Joe Anoa’i must be very proud of him.

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