Afa Anoaʻi
| Afa Anoaʻi | |
|---|---|
 Afa (front) with his brother Sika in December 1983 | |
| Born | November 21, 1942 Samoa |
| Died | August 16, 2024 (aged 81) Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Afa Afa the Wild Samoan |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Billed weight | 326 lb (148 kg) |
| Trained by | Rocky Johnson Peter Maivia Kurt Von Steiger |
| Debut | 1962 |
| Retired | 1994 |
Arthur "Afa" Anoa'i, Sr. (November 21, 1942 – August 16, 2024) was a Samoan American professional wrestler and manager. He was best known as one-half of the tag team The Wild Samoans with his brother Sika. He competed in many different National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliates and the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).
Personal life
[change | change source]He was born in Samoa and he moved with his family to San Francisco, California. Before becoming a professional wrestler, Anoa'i joined the United States Marine Corps at the age of 17.
After retiring, he started the Wild Samoan Training Facility with Sika. In 1999, along with Lynn Anoa'i, Afa started the Usos Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that aims towards turning young people away from drugs, gangs and poverty by giving scholarships to the Wild Samoans Training Center.[1]
Health and death
[change | change source]On January 11, 2024, Afa was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia and had also suffered two small heart attacks.[2]
On August 16, 2024, it was announced that Afa had died from a heart attack in Pennsylvania at the age of 81.[3]
Championships
[change | change source]- World Wrestling Council
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) (with Sika)
- Continental Wrestling Association
- AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) (with Sika)[5]
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
- NWA National Tag Team Championship (1 time) (with Sika)[6]
- Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling
- NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship (2 times) (with Sika)[7]
- International Wrestling Alliance
- IWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) (with Sika)[8]
- Mid-South Wrestling Association
- Mid-South Tag Team Championship (3 times) (with Sika)[9]
- NWA: All-Star Wrestling
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) (with Sika)[10]
- NWA Detroit
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (2 times) (with Sika)[11]
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Inducted as a member of the Wild Samoans (Class of 2012)[12]
- Southeastern Championship Wrestling
- NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Southern Division) (2 times) (with Sika)[13]
- Stampede Wrestling
- Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship (2 times) (with Sika)[14]
- World Wrestling Entertainment/World Wrestling Federation
- WWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) (with Sika)[15][16][17]
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)
Acting
[change | change source]Movies
[change | change source]Television
[change | change source]- Miami Vice - Henchman #2 (1987)
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "The Usos Foundation". The Usos Foundation, Inc. Archived from the original on 2015-03-07. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "Afa the Wild Samoan recovering from pneumonia, two heart attacks". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
- ↑ "Afa The Wild Samoan (Afa Anoa'i) Passes Away At The Age Of 81". Fightful. August 16, 2024.
- ↑ "WWC North American Heavyweight Title (Puerto Rico) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "NWA (Mid-America) / AWA Southern Tag Team Title (Tennessee) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "NWA National Tag Team Title (Georgia) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "IWA World Tag Team Title (IWE) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "Mid-South Tag Team Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "NWA Canadian Tag Team Title (British Columbia) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "NWA World Tag Team Title (Detroit) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "Wild Samoans". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "NWA Southeastern Tag Team Title (Southern Division) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "Stampede International Tag Team Title (Alberta & Saskatchewan) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "The Samoans' first reign". WWE. Archived from the original on 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "The Samoans' second reign". WWE. Archived from the original on 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "The Samoans' third reign". WWE. Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
Other websites
[change | change source]- Afa Anoaʻi on WWE.com
- Afa Anoa'i on IMDb