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Headshrinkers
In professional wrestling, the Samoan SWAT Team was a tag team who competed in promotions including World Wrestling Council, World Class Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The team later appeared in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) as the Headshrinkers and in Extreme Championship Wrestling as the Samoan Gangster Party (also known as Gangstas in Paradise). The team originally comprised Fatu and Samu, but various iterations included Big Matty Smalls, Samoan Savage, and Sione. Most members of the team were members of the Anoa'i family and were managed by Paul Heyman (better known as Paul E. Dangerously) at one point who currently manages Fatu's sons and Matty's brother, The Usos, Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns respectively, collectively known as The Bloodline. The current members are Juicy Finau, Lance Anoa'i and Jacob Fatu, who work in Major League Wrestling (MLW), with Finau and Lance the current ...
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Samu (wrestler)
Samula Fred Anoa'i (born May 29, 1963) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samu. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s. Professional wrestling career Early career (1981–1983) Anoaʻi had his first professional match at age 14 under the supervision of his father Afa and his uncle Sika. He later ended up going pro in 1981 at age 17. World Wrestling Federation (1983–1984) In 1983, Anoa'i began appearing in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) when Sika (part of the reigning WWF Tag Team Champions) was injured on March 12, 1983. Known simply as "Samula", he helped The Wild Samoans defend the tag team championship a handful of times while Sika recovered. After Sika returned, Samula remained in the WWF, backing up his father and uncle. In January 1984, he received a shot at former WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund, bu ...
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Wild Samoan
Samula Fred Anoa'i (born May 29, 1963) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samu. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s. Professional wrestling career Early career (1981–1983) Anoaʻi had his first professional match at age 14 under the supervision of his father Afa and his uncle Sika. He later ended up going pro in 1981 at age 17. World Wrestling Federation (1983–1984) In 1983, Anoa'i began appearing in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) when Sika (part of the reigning WWF Tag Team Champions) was injured on March 12, 1983. Known simply as "Samula", he helped The Wild Samoans defend the tag team championship a handful of times while Sika recovered. After Sika returned, Samula remained in the WWF, backing up his father and uncle. In January 1984, he received a shot at former WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund, bu ...
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Rikishi (wrestler)
Solofa Fatu Jr. (born October 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring names Rikishi and Fatu with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is a one-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time World Tag Team Champion, and one-time WWE Tag Team Champion. He is a member of the Anoa'i family of Samoan wrestlers. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his sons, wrestlers Jey and Jimmy Uso, in 2015. Early life Solofa Fatu was born on October 11, 1965, in San Francisco to Solofa Fatu Sr. and Elevera Anoa'i Fatu, and grew up in the Sunnydale Projects in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood, where his maternal grandparents were preachers. He attended Balboa High School, and competed on the wrestling team. In 1982, when he was seventeen years old, Fatu was wounded in a drive-by shooting that left him with a scar on his abdomen; he claimed in a 2021 interview that he had died for three minutes in the emergency room before being revived. He sp ...
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Fatu (wrestler)
Solofa Fatu Jr. (born October 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring names Rikishi and Fatu with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is a one-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time World Tag Team Champion, and one-time WWE Tag Team Champion. He is a member of the Anoa'i family of Samoan wrestlers. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his sons, wrestlers Jey and Jimmy Uso, in 2015. Early life Solofa Fatu was born on October 11, 1965, in San Francisco to Solofa Fatu Sr. and Elevera Anoa'i Fatu, and grew up in the Sunnydale Projects in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood, where his maternal grandparents were preachers. He attended Balboa High School, and competed on the wrestling team. In 1982, when he was seventeen years old, Fatu was wounded in a drive-by shooting that left him with a scar on his abdomen; he claimed in a 2021 interview that he had died for three minutes in the emergency room before being revived. He sp ...
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Sione (wrestler)
Sione Havea Vailahi (born 6 September 1958) is a Tongan professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Barbarian. He is best known for his various stints with National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and for being a part of tag teams The Powers of Pain with The Warlord and Faces of Fear with Meng. His first national exposure was in the NWA territory Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), where Powers of Pain held the World Six-Man Tag Team Championship until they departed the company in 1988 and joined WWF, where they competed in the tag team division until the team was quietly split in 1990. Barbarian then competed as a singles wrestler until departing in 1992 and returning to WCW, where he became one half of the final United States Tag Team Champions with Dick Slater. During this time, Barbarian challenged Ron Simmons for the World Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc. He left WCW in 1993 and return ...
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The Barbarian (wrestler)
Sione Havea Vailahi (born 6 September 1958) is a Tongan professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Barbarian. He is best known for his various stints with National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and for being a part of tag teams The Powers of Pain with The Warlord and Faces of Fear with Meng. His first national exposure was in the NWA territory Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), where Powers of Pain held the World Six-Man Tag Team Championship until they departed the company in 1988 and joined WWF, where they competed in the tag team division until the team was quietly split in 1990. Barbarian then competed as a singles wrestler until departing in 1992 and returning to WCW, where he became one half of the final United States Tag Team Champions with Dick Slater. During this time, Barbarian challenged Ron Simmons for the World Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc. He left WCW in 1993 and retur ...
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Afa Anoa'i
Afa Amituana'i "Arthur" Anoa'i (born November 21, 1942) is a Samoan-American retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. Since retiring, he has operated the World Xtreme Wrestling promotion and trained wrestlers at the Wild Samoan Training Center. Early life Anoa'i was born on an island in Western Samoa, a trust territory that was then administered by New Zealand, and his family relocated to San Francisco, California in the United States when he was young. At the age of 17, Anoa'i enlisted in the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps. Professional wrestling career Upon leaving the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Anoa'i began training as a wrestler under family friends Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia. He later received supplementary training from Kurt Von Steiger. He wrestled his first match in 1971 in Phoenix, Arizona. He then trained his brother Sika, and the siblings formed a tag team known best as The Wild Samoans. Throughout the 1970s, The Wild Samoans wrestl ...
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Samoan Savage
Samuel Larry Anoa'i Fatu (born October 11, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names The Tonga Kid and Tama and with World Championship Wrestling as The Samoan Savage. Professional wrestling career World Wrestling Federation (1983–1988) Fatu debuted as a professional wrestler in 1983, after being trained by the Wild Samoans. Shortly after debuting he joined the World Wrestling Federation as "Samoan No. 4," wrestling at untelevised house shows before making his television debut in the fall of 1983 as the Tonga Kid. Billed as the cousin of Superfly Jimmy Snuka, he entered into his first major feud with Snuka's rival Roddy Piper. In late 1986, he teamed with Tonga Fifita, who was wrestling under the name King Tonga. Fatu was renamed to Tama, while Fifita was renamed to Haku. Together, they were christened The Islanders. The Islanders gained several key victories, i ...
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Anoa'i Family
The Anoaʻi family ( ) is a family of professional wrestlers originating from American Samoa. Family members have comprised several tag teams and stables within a variety of promotions. Famous members of the family include Rosey, WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, Umaga, WWE Hall of Famer Yokozuna, Roman Reigns, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), Solo Sikoa, and WWE Hall of Fame brothers the Wild Samoans ( Afa and Sika Anoaʻi). Peter Maivia and his grandson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson are considered Legend members. Reverend Amituana'i Anoaʻi and Peter Maivia were blood brothers, a connection that continued with Afa and Sika, who regard Peter as their uncle. Peter married Ofelia "Lia" Fuataga, who already had a daughter named Ata, whom he adopted and raised as his own. Ata married wrestler Rocky Johnson, and the couple became the parents of Dwayne Johnson, who wrestled as "Rocky Maivia" and "The Rock" before establishing himself as an actor. Peter's first cousin Joseph Fanene was the fat ...
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Rosey (wrestler)
Matthew Tapunu'u Anoaʻi (April 7, 1970 – April 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time on the independent circuit under numerous ring names, and his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he competed as Rosey. Anoa‘i was a member of the Anoaʻi family, a renowned Samoan wrestling family. Anoa‘i, along with his late cousins Eddie Fatu and Matt Fatu, was trained at the Wild Samoan Training Facility headed by his uncle, Afa Anoaʻi. Following his training, he competed in Afa's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. He began competing in tag team competition with Samu as the Samoan Gangsta Party. The team had a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Throughout the mid-1990s, Anoaʻi competed in various independent promotions and international promotions including World Wrestling Council and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, winning various tag team championships. In 2001, Anoaʻi signed with the WWE and was assigned ...
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Lance Anoa'i
Lance Anoa'i is a professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Major League Wrestling (MLW) under his real name, and is the current MLW World Tag Team Champion, in his first reign. He is a member of the Anoaʻi family. Early life His father is Samu, who competed in the World Wrestling Federation as a member of The Wild Samoans and The Headshrinkers. His uncles are Afa Jr. and L.A. Smooth. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2010–present) Lance debuted on April 3, 2010 in a winning effort for an event promoted by the National Wrestling League against Chrono Chris. He spent his early years in World Xtreme Wrestling, which is owned by his grandfather, Afa Anoaʻi. He often was involved in matches with his relatives Samu, Afa Jr. and Sean Maluta. Lance wrestled for Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW), debuting in August 2012. Lance made his debut for Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) in 2012. At Supercard 2013, Lance was involved in a battle royal for ...
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Big Matty Smalls
Matthew Tapunu'u Anoaʻi (April 7, 1970 – April 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time on the independent circuit under numerous ring names, and his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he competed as Rosey. Anoa‘i was a member of the Anoaʻi family, a renowned Samoan wrestling family. Anoa‘i, along with his late cousins Eddie Fatu and Matt Fatu, was trained at the Wild Samoan Training Facility headed by his uncle, Afa Anoaʻi. Following his training, he competed in Afa's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. He began competing in tag team competition with Samu as the Samoan Gangsta Party. The team had a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Throughout the mid-1990s, Anoaʻi competed in various independent promotions and international promotions including World Wrestling Council and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, winning various tag team championships. In 2001, Anoaʻi signed with the WWE and was assigned t ...
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