Afa

Arthur "Afa" Anoa'i (born November 21, 1942 ) is a Samoan American retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. Since retiring in the 1990s, he has operated the World Xtreme Wrestling promotion and trained wrestlers at the Wild Samoan Training Facility.

Career
Anoa'i was born in Samoa, but his family relocated to San Francisco, California in the United States of America when he was young. At the age of 17, Anoa'i enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.

Upon leaving the Marine Corps, Anoa'i began training as a wrestler under family friends Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia, later receiving supplementary training from Kurt Von Steiger. He debuted in 1971, wrestling his first match in Phoenix, Arizona. Anoa'i subsequently trained his brother Sika and the siblings formed a tag team known as the Wild Samoans.

Throughout the 1970s, the Wild Samoans competed for the Canadian Stampede Wrestling promotion, where they received supplementary training from Stu Hart, and for numerous National Wrestling Alliance affiliates. In 1978, the Wild Samoans travelled to Japan and competed for the International Wrestling Alliance, winning the IWA Tag Team Championship. In 1979, the Wild Samoans joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation, where they were partnered with manager Lou Albano and renamed "Albano's Wildmen". The "wild" nature of the brothers was highlighted by their unorthodox behaviour, which included communicating only in unintelligible grunts and consuming unprepared raw fish during interviews and on approach to the ring. While in the WWWF (renamed the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF, in 1979) the Wild Samoans won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship and challenged Bob Backlund for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship on several occasions. They left the promotion in 1980.

The Wild Samoans wrestled in Mid-South Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions before returning to the WWF in 1983 and regaining the WWF World Tag Team Championship. When Sika suffered an injury, the tag team was supplemented by Anoa'i's son Samu. The trio remained in the WWF until 1984.

Anoa'i returned to the WWF for a third time in 1992 as the manager of The Headshrinkers, Samu and Anoai's nephew Fatu. Anoa'i remained with the WWF until 1994. Upon leaving the WWF, he began training wrestlers at the Wild Samoan Training Facility along with his brother.

On March 31, 2007, the Wild Samoans were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Samu and Sika's son, Matt.

Wrestling facts

 * Finishing and signature moves
 * Headbutt
 * Samoan drop
 * Managers
 * Captain Lou Albano
 * Ole Anderson
 * Brother Ernest Angel
 * Oliver Humperdink
 * Sonny King
 * Dr. V
 * Nicknames
 * The Dream Maker
 * The Godfather of Professional Wrestling
 * Pops
 * The Wild Samoan
 * Wrestlers managed by Anoa'i
 * Headshrinker Fatu
 * Samoan Savage
 * Samu
 * Headshrinker Sionne
 * Yokozuna
 * Wrestlers trained by Anoa'i

Championships and accomplishments

 * Championship Wrestling from Florida
 * NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sika


 * Continental Wrestling Association
 * AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sika


 * Georgia Championship Wrestling
 * NWA National Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sika


 * Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling
 * NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Sika


 * International Wrestling Alliance
 * IWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sika


 * Mid-South Wrestling
 * Mid-South Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Sika


 * NWA All-Star Wrestling
 * NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Sika


 * NWA Detroit
 * NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (2 times) - with Sika


 * Southeastern Championship Wrestling
 * NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Southern Division) (2 times)


 * Stampede Wrestling
 * Stampede International Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Sika


 * World Wrestling Entertainment | World Wrestling Federation
 * WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)
 * WWF World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Sika

Personal life
Anoa'i is a member of the large Anoa'i family. He is married to Lynn, with whom he has three sons, Samu, Afa, Jr. and Lloyd, all of whom are wrestlers, and a daughter, Monica, who married wrestler Gary Albright. Numerous other relatives of Anoa'i have wrestled, including his brother, Sika, and his nephews Rodney "Yokozuna" Anoa'i, Sam "Tama" Fatu, Solofa "Rikishi" Fatu, Jr., Eddie "Umaga" Fatu and Matt "RO'Z" Anoa'i. Numerous other wrestlers are closely connected with the family, including Peter Maivia, Toa Maivia, Rocky Johnson, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jimmy Snuka, Jimmy Snuka, Jr. and Reno "Black Pearl" Anoa'i. Heavyweight boxer David Tua is also a relative.