WWE legend Afa Anoa’i, who ran Wild Samoan Training Center in Allentown, has died

WWE Hall of Famer Afa Anoa’i Sr., one half of the ‘Wild Samoans’ tag team, has died, his son announced Friday. He was 81.

Afa was part of the legendary tag team with his brother, Sika, in the 1970s and 80s. Sika, who was the father of current WWE superstar Roman Reigns, died in late June.

“It is with deepest regret that we announce the passing of my father Afa Anoa’i Sr.,” his son Samu Anoa’i said in a Facebook post. “It was a peaceful transition and he was surrounded by loved ones. Please respect our privacy as we morn our father.”

Afa Anoa’i Sr. had been facing health issues in recent months, having suffered two heart attacks in January, according to a post on X by his daughter Vale Anoa’i.

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. I love you so very much. pic.twitter.com/0mt5blynH3

— Vale Anoa'i (@ValeAnoai) August 16, 2024

The pro wrestling legend had a major tie to the Lehigh Valley. He moved to the area in 1986 and ran the former Wild Samoan Training Center, with locations in Allentown and Hazleton. The centers closed during the pandemic.

In a 1998 interview with The Morning Call, Anoa’i Sr. described the secret to teaching his craft to young students.

“I teach them how to fall without getting hurt,” Anoa’i Sr. said. “Their heart has to be in it, or they’re better off working at McDonald’s.”

In that interview, Anoa’i Sr. said he also saw the training as a way to get youths off the street. 

“If I save one kid from going into drugs and crime,” Anoa’i Sr. said, “it’s worth it.”

Afa Anoa’i Sr. was the cousin of the late Rocky Johnson, who was the father of fellow WWE legend and Freedom High School graduate Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Anoa’i Sr. followed his uncle, Peter Maivia, into the pro wrestling world. Maivia was Dwayne Johnson’s grandfather.

“When I was a kid, I’d follow my uncle around,” Anoa’i Sr. told The Morning Call in 1998. “In the ’70s, he passed the torch to me.”

Though Anoa’i Sr. achieved the peak of his stardom in the 1970s and 80s, he returned to the WWE in 1992 to manage another tag team, The Headshrinkers. That team consisted of his son, Samu Anoa’i and nephew Solofa Fatu Jr. (known as Fatu and later Rikishi).

Afa and Sika Anoa’i, who won several WWE tag team championships as the “Wild Samoans” were jointly inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.