By Mark Gray
12:00pm PDT, Apr 9, 2024
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WWE Superstar Roman Reigns defended his Undisputed Universal Title belt at WrestleMania 40 on April 7 — and it didn't end the way he wanted. Having held the championship belt for three years — an eternity in professional wrestling — he cemented himself as the face of the promotion, even calling himself the Tribal Chief and the Head of the Table.
But during WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia, Cody Rhodes beat Roman, ending a historic 1,316-day championship reign.
While a star college football player at Georgia Tech, Roman aspired to be in the NFL and later became a member of the Minnesota Vikings. However, his NFL life was quickly over after it was discovered that he had chronic myeloid leukemia, a form of blood cancer. After beating cancer and going into remission, Roman, 38, went into the family business — wrestling — following in the footsteps of his father, brother and cousin, Dwayne Johnson. Still, cancer would rear its head again.
To honor Roman and his lengthy run as a champion, join us as we take a look back at some of the best pictures of the wrestling icon…
Keep reading to see Roman inside and outside of the ring…
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
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Joe Anoai — better known as Roman Reigns — of the Minnesota Vikings poses for his 2007 NFL headshot at a photo day in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Roman's NFL career was short-lived: He retired at 22 after blood tests during a routine physical showed that he had chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a treatable but incurable form of blood cancer.
He kept his cancer diagnosis hidden from WWE fans for years until he had to relinquish his title to fight cancer a second time in 2018.
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Roman Reigns attends day 1 of Wizard World Comic Con at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on May 7, 2015.
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Roman Reigns and wife Galina Becker attend the 2015 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles on July 15, 2015.
Roman and Galina met in college at Georgia Tech and married in 2014.
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Roman Reigns greets firefighters at Engine 39/Ladder 16 in New York City on Aug. 20, 2015.
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Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns — two-thirds of The Shield — celebrate their victory at SummerSlam at New York City's Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Aug. 23, 2015.
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Roman Reigns shows off his title belt at a WWE pre-show party at London's The O2 arena on April 18, 20216.
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Roman Reigns heads to the ring at WWE Live in Paris on May 19, 2018.
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Roman Reigns and his daughter, Joelle Anoa'i, attend the Fourth Annual Sports Humanitarian Awards in Los Angeles on July 17, 2018.
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JoJo Siwa hangs out with Roman Reigns and his daughter, Joelle Anoa'i, at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports event in Santa Monica, California, on July 19, 2018.
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Martellus Bennett, Michael Strahan, Roman Reigns and Travis Kelce pose in the green room at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports event in Santa Monica, California, on July 19, 2018.
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Lindsey Vonn and Roman Reigns participate in a challenge during the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports event in Santa Monica, California, on July 19, 2018.
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Roman Reigns enters the ring with his belt before the Universal Championship match at New York City's Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Aug. 19, 2018.
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Roman Reigns shows off his Universal Title belt on "Good Morning Britain" in London on Aug. 29, 2018.
Just two months later, he was diagnosed with cancer for the second time and was forced to relinquish the belt amid a leave of absence.
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Roman Reigns accepts the ESPY Award for best WWE moment at the 2019 ESPYs in Los Angeles on July 10, 2019.
He won the award following a triumphant return to the ring after defeating leukemia for the second time.
"Coming back meant more than just returning to the ring," he wrote on social media at the time. "It meant I was healthy enough to show my gratitude for those who sent their prayers, who continually thought about me, and that I was ready to raise awareness. Thank you for all those who voted, it is an honor."
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Roman Reigns and his "cousin," fellow wrestler Dwayne Johnson, attend the premiere of "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw" in Los Angeles on July 13, 2019. (Roman made his feature film acting debut in the action flick.)
He and The Rock belong to the same famous wrestling Anoa'i family and refer to each other as cousins though they are not related by blood.
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Roman Reigns chats with Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" in New York City on March 30, 2022.
During the interview, Jimmy predicted that Roman would return to the show in the future with multiple title belts.
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With two title belts on display, Roman Reigns chats with Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" in New York City on Jan. 27, 2023.
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Roman Reigns hits Kevin Owens with his signature Superman Punch during the WWE Royal Rumble at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Jan. 28, 2023.
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Roman Reigns wrestles Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title during WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on April 2, 2023.
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Roman Reigns — who's also known as the Tribal Chief — addresses the crowd and tells them to "acknowledge" him before his WrestleMania 39 match at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on April 2, 2023.
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Roman Reigns showed off his title belt at the 37th annual Royal Rumble at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Jan. 27, 2024.
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Flanked by Paul Heyman, Roman Reigns showed off his WWE Undisputed Universal Title belt while attending the Wrestlemania XL kickoff show in Las Vegas on Feb. 8, 2024. ALmost exactly two months later, he lost it to Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania 40.
