Remembering Afa Anoa'i of the Infamous Wild Samoans | The World of Sports

With the passing of Afa Anoa'i of the infamous Wild Samoans coming last week, I wanted to take a few moments today and pay tribute to two of the most influential and iconic legends in the history of professional wrestling and, of course, the WWF. Afa and Sika were brothers from the great Anoa’i family. Afa was the older of the two by three years. Afa and Sika both trained under the High Chief Peter Maivia (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's grandfather), Rocky Johnson (The Rock's dad), and Kurt Von Steiger. They made their debut as a team in 1973 for Stu Hart in Stampede Wrestling in Canada.

They would go on to win the Stampede tag team titles on two different occasions, move to Vancouver, and win the tag titles there as well. The Wild Samoans worked through the 'down-south' NWA territories throughout the 1970s and toured Japan several times before moving to the WWF, where they took on Captain Lou Albano as their manager. Their “Islander” gimmick was punctuated by guttural grunts, wild hair, and chewing on raw fish during interviews. The Samoans would challenge for the WWF World Tag Team title (winning them in early 1980 from Tito Santana and Ivan Putski), while both men also challenged but lost to Bob Backlund for the world championship belt.

Image via screenshot - Dwayne Johnson/Instagram

The Samoans held onto the belts for nearly five months before dropping them against Backlund and Pedro Morales. They would once again win the titles in a 16-team tournament after the newly crowned champs were forced to give up the gold because Backlund was already the reigning world champion. Their second run only lasted a bit longer than a month, and they left yet again, this time for Mid-South in 1981. They hired “Big Cat” Ernie Ladd as their manager and changed their name to the Samoan Warriors, winning the Mid-South tag team titles. They had a brief feud with the Freebirds in Georgia Championship Wrestling, won the NWA National tag titles, and vacated them before, again, going back to the WWF.

The Wild Samoans once again joined Albano sometime in 1982 and had their third WWF tag team championship run after beating the Strongbows. They strengthened their family bonds by adding Afa’s son Samula to the team to fill in for Sika when he was injured. The trio would hold the belts for nearly eight months and, after losing them, turned face (good guys) and, after failing to regain the belts, left for Pro Wrestling America (a joint NWA/AWA venture), where they battled Hawk and Animal of the Road Warriors to a double elimination DQ in what was considered a dream tag-team matchup in that era. Sika would return to the WWF from 1986-1988 as a singles wrestler, along with teaming with Kamala for a brief time, although they never won any gold. Afa would also return, managing his son Samu and his nephew Fatu (Rikishi) as the Headshrinkers from 1992-1995.

Afa would go on to start World Xtreme Wrestling, helping shape the future of the business. He had built the Wild Samoans Training Center in the mid-1970s, assisting with the training of many of the WWF’s biggest stars, including Paul Orndorff, Sherri Martel, Junk Yard Dog, Michael Hayes, Yokozuna (another of his family members), Rikishi, Luna Vachon, and Batista to name a few while also promoting shows for many years in and around the Pennsylvania area.

Afa and Sika were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by their sons, Matt and Samula Anoa’i. Afa competed for the last time in the ring at the age of 71 for his WXW promotion and won the match not long after the induction. Over the years, the Samoans held 20 different tag team belts across multiple territories. Their family legacy will live on for many years to come with the current infusion of the Bloodline and former WWE Champion Roman Reigns as a mainstay in the world of professional wrestling at the moment.

I'll always remember this legendary pair of brothers as my dad's favorite; he literally talked about them ALL THE TIME. Without a shadow of a doubt one of the great classic tag teams and two men who gave everything for the business. Sika passed on June 25 at 79, and Afa passed last Friday (August 16, 2024) at 81.

Rest in Peace
Gataivasā Afa Amituanaʻi Anoaʻi
November 21, 1943 - August 16, 2024