WWE Hall of Famer Afa Anoa’i, brother of Sika Anoa’i and uncle to WWE superstar Roman Reigns, has died. A member of the Anoa’i wrestling family, his death follows his brother who passed in June. He was 81.
Anoa’i’s daughter Vale shared the news on social media with a loving message honoring the late superstar. “Today, all of our lives are irreparably changed. I love you so much, Dad. More than any words could ever express. Your strength was absolutely superhuman. You fought all the way to the end, and the end was peaceful. That’s all I could have hoped for,” she wrote. She also confirmed the wrestling icon’s health had been deteriorating for months, suffering two heart attacks in January and a bevy of other issues in the months that followed, entering hospice care soon after.
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“I’ve been preparing to say goodbye to my Dad since January, when he had those two heart attacks. I was prepared to say goodbye to him in March when he fell and broke his back in two places and had to have major surgery. I was prepared to say goodbye to my Dad when he had his heart valve replacement surgery,” she added.
Afa and Sika performed as the Wild Samoans tag team in the pre-Wrestlemania days, leaving and returning to the WWE/WWF several times in the ’70s and ’80s. Sika did appear in a battle royal at Wrestlemania IV in 1988, while Afa would return to manage his son, Samu, and his nephew, Fatu, in 1992 as the Headshrinkers.
“The 3-count comes for us all, eventually, but you fought it all the way to the end. You kicked out more times than anyone else ever has. You are forever our undisputed champion,” Anoa’i’s daughter continued, adding that she “will always love” the late wrestler. “You will be remembered, honored, missed and respected forever.”
