In the 1980s, the center moved to Connecticut, where it helped train famous wrestlers like "Sensational" Sherri Martel and two-time WWF Champion Yokuzuna (who, despite being billed as Japanese, was also one of Afa and Sika's nephews in the Anoa'i family) and then to Pennsylvania, where the brothers worked with the next wave of wrestlers, most notably Dave Batista, who would go on to become both a multiple-time world champion and an actor best known for his role as Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel/Disney franchise Guardians of the Galaxy. Arguably the greatest Tag Team Captain Lou has ever managed, and also one of the very best Tag Teams in Professional Wrestling History, The British Bulldogs Davey Boy Smith & the Dynamite Kid, won the WWF World Tag Team Championship at WWF WrestleMania 2 in 1986, when they defeated The Dream Team, Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake. Famous contemporaries of the Wild Samoans like Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, and the Junkyard Dog all trained with them at the center in its early years running out of Pensacola, Florida. In the late 1970s, only a few years into their careers, Afa and Sika started the Wild Samoan Training Center, and the brothers have been training new generations of wrestlers ever since. In 2020, Afa and Sika briefly returned to WWE programming when they appeared to anoint Reigns after his Universal Championship victory, officially passing the torch to the next generation.Įven after going over all their family ties, it must also be said that the Wild Samoans' influence on professional wrestling goes well beyond their sons, grandsons, and nephews. Sika's other son, Joseph, wrestles in WWE under the name Roman Reigns, has held five world championships, and is one of the biggest stars in wrestling today. His eldest, Matthew, had a memorable WWE career that saw him become a WWE tag team champion before tragically passing away in 2017. Sika, meanwhile, had two sons in wrestling, both of whom gained somewhat more prominence. Afa's second son, Lloyd, has worked for several promotions under names like Fred Williams and LA Smooth, and his third son, Afa Jr., had a brief stint in WWE as part of the Legacy faction under the name Manu. Samuel Anoa'i, better known as Samu, was trained by the Samoans at an early age and saw his career overlap with his father's, most notably as a member of the Headshrinkers tag team that Afa managed. The Samoans would win the Mid-South Tag Team Championship three times from June 1981 to March 1982, though none of their reigns lasted very long, and all three of them ended at the hands of the Junkyard Dog (with a different partner each time).Īfa saw three sons become pro wrestlers. Run out of Shreveport, Louisiana by notorious promoter "Cowboy" Bill Watts, Mid-South is credited with revolutionizing several aspects of wrestling storytelling, particularly on television. Before arriving in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), they had the most success in a promotion called Mid-South Wrestling, one of the WWF's earliest competitors. Much of their dominance came in the South, in territories like Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, and the Continental Wrestling Association. In their case, it would mean winning tag team championships throughout the wrestling territories. Considering their American origins in San Francisco, it's only appropriate that Afa and Sika would go on their own quest for gold.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |