STB Exclusive Interview With Afa the Wild Samoan Part I

Today, the WWE is a huge industry with a worldwide media presence. Some of their performers are able to parlay their global platforms and branch out into more lucrative, less physically demanding pursuits such as starring in their own movies or writing bestsellers based on their careers.   However, wrestlers weren’t always treated with such respect and admiration. Media celebrities like The Rock, John Cena, and Mick Foley (to name a few)  would be the first to tell you that they owe their financial opportunities to those who came before them, those who blazed the trail and made it possible for Vince McMahon to revolutionize the business.

Afa Anoai is one of those trailblazers.

He began his career in 1971 and, together with his brother, Sika, formed one of the most dominant tag teams to ever grace the sport, The Wild Samoans.  Their gimmick was comical and not terribly politically correct (though wrestling has almost always been able to cross lines for which other industries would be lambasted):  Two savage men from the wilds of a tropical island who had a love for causing pain and destruction.  In truth, Afa Anoai is a very intelligent man who sagely navigated a long career in the wrestling world.  The two brothers exhibited an athleticism that was remarkable for men weighing over 300 lbs.

Today, Afa runs The Wild Samoan Training Center (www.wildsamoan.com) and has helped to train some of the industry’s biggest stars ( Batista, Umaga and many others.)  He also runs a promotion called World Xtreme Wrestling ( www.wxwwrestling.com) and is very active in charity work.  He was inducted, along with Sika, into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.

I spoke with Afa and got his thoughts about his career and his life after retiring from the squared circle:

Frank Mazzola:  What made you decide to pursue wrestling as your career? Who were some of your biggest inspirations?

Afa Anoai:  Back in the 1970’s, my hero was my uncle, the late High Chief Peter Maivia. He was a hero to all Samoan people and I wanted to be just like him. I was lucky enough to have traveled with him and his partner at the time (”Soulman” Rocky Johnson) who later became a member of my family. The two of them would train me on the road when they had a few minutes now and then. When Peter handed me the torch, so to speak, and told me to carry on for our people, it was that which inspired me to be the best that I could be in this great sport and I gave all I had inside of me each night to the great fans. 

FM:  Who are some of your all time favorite opponents?

AA:  I would have to say, Superfly Jimmy Snuka, Andre The Giant, The Freebirds, Junk yard Dog, and The Road Warriors. 

FM:  Describe your feelings when you learned that you would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

AA: For the past few years, some of my loyal fans and friends have complained to me that my brother Sika and I were passed up yet another year for being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. To me, it was no big deal.  I didn’t need a plaque. When I received the news from the WWE back in 2007 that it was our time, I was happy but it just did not seem that important. It was fun to go to Wrestlemania 23 and to see my long time friends and many of the wrestlers who shared so many years of our lives traveling the road together. When the Wrestlemania weekend started and I walked into Fox Theater to watch the premiere of  movieThe Condemned , I thought it was a private showing among the WWE wrestlers and our families. When I walked in and saw over 10,000 fans who were screaming, it hit me: I was being honored for the 35 plus years of blood, sweat and tears I had shed all over the world.  It was one of the proudest days of my life. 

(Part II appears next week in this space).

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