Joseph Afamasaga (2 January 1949 - 9 July 2015), better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Samoan Joe, was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

who competed in the

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

n and South Pacific region during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was a popular fan favourite while wrestling for

Steve Rickard Sydney Mervin "Merv" Batt (3 September 1929 – 5 April 2015), best known by his ring name Steve Rickard, was a New Zealand professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. As a wrestler, he traveled throughout the world during the 1960s and 1970s, ...

's All Star-Pro Wrestling and frequently appeared on the long-running wrestling television programme '' On the Mat''. He later travelled to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where he had a brief stint in the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

before his retirement in 1989. In 2009, Afamasaga was ranked #10 by ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

sports columnist Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

Chris Rattue as one of his "Top 10" favourite wrestlers of all-time.

Professional wrestling career

Joe Afamasaga began wrestling in New Zealand during the mid-1970s and soon joined All Star-Pro Wrestling, then on the rise, under

. He quickly became very well known throughout the country while accompanying the promotion on its national tours as far north as

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and ...

as well as his regular appearances on the wrestling programme '' On the Mat''. By 1977, he had established himself as one of New Zealand's most popular "fan favourites" often appearing on the

undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

or in

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

s against native and foreign "heel" wrestlers alike. That year, he teamed with

Mark Lewin Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler. Early life Lewin was born in Buffalo, New York. He had two elder brothers, Donn and Ted, both of whom also became professional wrestlers. He attended Lafayette High ...

and

Siva Afi Papali'itele Max Amata Taogaga (born 28 April 1949) is a Samoan retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the late-1980s under the ring name Siva Afi. Early life Max Taog ...

in a losing effort against

Bruiser Brody Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, The Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the yea ...

Bruno Bekkar Bryan Ashby is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler and trainer, known by his ring name Bruno Bekkar, who competed for Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling and for other promoters in New Zealand and Australia from the early 1960s until ...

and

King Curtis Iaukea Curtis Piehau Iaukea III (September 15, 1937 – December 4, 2010) was an American professional wrestler better known as King Curtis Iaukea. Iaukea won championships in several of the major regional U.S. promotions, both as a single and in vario ...

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

on 12 September 1977. Other opponents included Merv Fortune, "Cowboy" Billy Wright, Lars Anderson and

Larry O'Day Larry Davies (1944 – 30 June 1997) was an Australian professional wrestler best known as Larry O'Dea. He was one half of the tag team known as "The Australians" with Ron Miller. Larry made his professional wrestling debut in the 1960s for ...

as well as forming a successful

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

with fellow Samoan Lu Leota. He and Fortune also had a memorable

mixed tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder ma ...

with midget wrestlers Coconut Willie and Little Kevin respectively. He was among the top New Zealand stars to appear at the Gay World Stadium, as did American wrestlers

Killer Karl Krupp George Momberg (May 13, 1934 – August 24, 1995), better known by the ring name Killer Karl Krupp, was a Dutch-born professional wrestler famous during the 1970s and early 1980s. Early life George Momberg was born in the Netherlands and was ...

, The Masked Assassin and

King Kamaka McRonald Kamaka (March 9, 1937 – July 23, 2007) was an American-Canadian professional wrestler known by the ring name Tor Kamata. He won several heavyweight and tag team championships, most notably the PWF World Heavyweight Championship in Al ...

, during ASPW's tour of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in May 1982, along with wrestlers from the United States, West Germany, Australia, Samoa and South America. When the

NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship The NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship is the primary singles title in the NWA-affiliated wrestling promotion NWA New Zealand. It is the first heavyweight championship in New Zealand and one of the oldest in the world. It was first won b ...

was vacated the following year, Afamasaga entered a championship tournament and lost to

Rip Morgan Michael Morgan (born August 20, 1957) is a former professional wrestler from New Zealand who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling best known as Rip Morgan. Best known as ...

in the finals held in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

on 8 September 1983. In his final New Zealand TV appearance, Afamasaga wrestled with Larry O'Day, Mel Fortuna, Tony Rickard and Rip Morgan in the final episode of ''On the Mat'' which aired on 23 July 1984. After the cancellation of ''On the Mat'', Afamasaga moved on to Australia where he found some success before heading to the United States. He spent the last year of his career in the

, mainly used as a

preliminary wrestler In professional wrestling slang, a job is a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect information related to kayfabe from being revealed. The term can be used a numbe ...

against opponents such as

Brian Knobs Brian Yandrisovitz (born May 6, 1964), better known as Brian Knobbs, is an operatic tenor and an American professional wrestler best known as half of the tag team The Nasty Boys with his partner Jerry Sags. Early life Knobbs was born on May 6 ...

and

The Rock 'n' Roll Express The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Mid-South Wrestling (later to be known a ...

(

Ricky Morton Richard Wendell Morton (born September 21, 1956) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit. He is the current GCW Television Champion, after pinning Matt Cardona at GCW Say You Wi ...

and Robert Gibson), before retiring around 1989. Afamasaga subsequently relocated to Australia where he joined

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

and later completed a

Mormon mission Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and commu ...

. He later settled in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

where he served on the high council of a Stake presidency. During the 2009 Samoa tsunami, he used

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to report on conditions in his homeland and, according to his

aunt An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refer ...

, claimed that "the body count is in the hundreds" but that his family had escaped danger by reaching higher ground. Afamasaga appeared in both episodes of ''On the Mat'' were chosen to be shown on

NZ On Screen NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide ...

in early-2010; the first was a tag team match between him and Lu Leota against

Sweet William Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, keto ...

and Brute Miller (29 July 1980) and the second against Johnny Garcia (17 March 1981). On 9 April 2010, Scoop.co.nz reported that ''On the Mat'' ranked #3 among the top 10 most watched videos on NZ On Screen. A number of New Zealand media personalities have referred to Afamasaga as their favourite wrestlers while watching "On the Mat" as children.

Wallace Chapman Wallace Leslie Chapman (born 1969) is a New Zealand radio and television host. Early life Chapman attended Nelson College from 1982 to 1986.''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition Career He began his broadcasting career ...

, co-host of the political interview show ''

Back Benches ''Back Benches'' was a New Zealand political interview show, presented by Wallace Chapman and Damian Christie. It was primarily filmed at the Backbencher pub, across the street from Parliament Buildings in Wellington. The show was cancelled o ...

'', claimed that his "favourite TV moment" was watching Afamasaga among other "On the Mat" stars as a child.

Jason Conlan Jason Conlan (born 1971) is a New Zealand cartoonist, best known under the pseudonym Mister J, who is the creator of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's monthly cartoon strip "On the Mat". He has also contributed to the similar Australian wrestling publi ...

, longtime cartoonist for ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'', has also claimed that Afamasaga was his favourite wrestler. In March 2009,

Chris Rattue of the ''

'' named several former "On the Mat" stars including Afamasaga as among his "Top 10" favourite wrestlers of all-time.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samoan Joe 1949 births 2015 deaths Australian male professional wrestlers New Zealand male professional wrestlers New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Sportsmen from Victoria (state)