Afa Anoaʻi

Afa Anoaʻi
Afa (front) with his brother Sika in December 1983
Born(1942-11-21)November 21, 1942
Samoa
DiedAugust 16, 2024(2024-08-16) (aged 81)
Pennsylvania, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Afa
Afa the Wild Samoan
Billed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight326 lb (148 kg)
Trained byRocky Johnson
Peter Maivia
Kurt Von Steiger
Debut1962
Retired1994

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

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

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

Acting

Movies

Television

References

  1. ↑ "The Usos Foundation". The Usos Foundation, Inc. Archived from the original on 2015-03-07. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  2. ↑ "Afa the Wild Samoan recovering from pneumonia, two heart attacks". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Afa The Wild Samoan (Afa Anoa'i) Passes Away At The Age Of 81". Fightful. August 16, 2024.
  4. ↑ "WWC North American Heavyweight Title (Puerto Rico) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  5. ↑ "NWA (Mid-America) / AWA Southern Tag Team Title (Tennessee) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  6. ↑ "NWA National Tag Team Title (Georgia) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  7. ↑ "NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  8. ↑ "IWA World Tag Team Title (IWE) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  9. ↑ "Mid-South Tag Team Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  10. ↑ "NWA Canadian Tag Team Title (British Columbia) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  11. ↑ "NWA World Tag Team Title (Detroit) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  12. ↑ "Wild Samoans". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  13. ↑ "NWA Southeastern Tag Team Title (Southern Division) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  14. ↑ "Stampede International Tag Team Title (Alberta & Saskatchewan) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  15. ↑ "The Samoans' first reign". WWE. Archived from the original on 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  16. ↑ "The Samoans' second reign". WWE. Archived from the original on 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  17. ↑ "The Samoans' third reign". WWE. Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2015-02-25.

Other websites