| Sika Anoa'i | |
| Birth Name: | Pola’ivao Leati Sika Amituana'i Anoa'i[1] |
| Birth Date: | 5 April 1945 |
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in |
| Weight: | 319 lb |
| Children: | 5, including Rosey and Roman Reigns[2] |
| Family: | Anoaʻi |
| Spouse: | Patricia Hooker |
| Billed: | "The Isle of Samoa" |
| Trainer: | Afa Anoa'i Kurt Von Steiger |
| Debut: | 1973 |
| Retired: | 1991 |
Pola’ivao Leati Sika Amituana'i Anoa'i (April 5, 1945 – June 25, 2024), better known by the ring name Sika, was a Samoan-American professional wrestler. He is best known as one-half of the tag team the Wild Samoans with his older brother Afa, holding the WWF World Tag Team Championship three times. Sika and Afa were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.
He was a member of the Anoaʻi family, and the father of professional wrestlers Matthew, who wrestled predominantly as Rosey, and Leati "Joe", who is known as Roman Reigns.[3] [4] [5]
Sika Anoa'i was born in the village of Leone on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa on April 5, 1945, to Reverend Anoa'i Amituana'i and Tovaleomanaia Ripley, one of thirteen children.[3] [6] In 1959, at the age of 14, he moved with his family to San Francisco, California in the United States, where his father became pastor of the First Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa. Shortly after, he enlisted in the United States Merchant Marine, working on ships sailing to the Philippines and Japan. He left in 1969 and worked, as a dockworker before leaving to join his brother Afa in pro wrestling.[3] [7] [8] [9]
Anoaʻi was trained to wrestle by his brother Afa and Kurt Von Steiger, debuting in 1973 in Stampede Wrestling as "Sika". Calling themselves "the Wild Samoans", the brothers gained notoriety due to their large, wild afros, sarongs, and habit of wrestling barefoot and eating raw fish in the ring.[2] [8] [10] Throughout the 1970s, the Wild Samoans appeared with promotions including Big Time Wrestling, the Continental Wrestling Association, Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling, NWA All-Star Wrestling, NWA Mid-America, Stampede Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Council, winning multiple tag team championships.[11] From 1977 to 1979, the Samoans made repeated tours of Japan with International Wrestling Enterprise; in January 1978, they briefly held the IWA World Tag Team Championship.[12]
In January 1980, the Wild Samoans debuted in the World Wrestling Federation with Lou Albano as their manager, quickly establishing themselves as a force in the tag team division through a series of decisive victories. In addition to competing in the tag division, the brothers wrestled as singles, Sika unsuccessfully challenging Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship in March 1980.[13] [8] [10]
On April 12, 1980, the Wild Samoans defeated Ivan Putski and Tito Santana to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship. Their reign lasted until August 9, 1980, when they lost to Backlund and Pedro Morales at Showdown at Shea. As Backlund was the then-WWF Champion, he and Morales were forced to vacate the championship, and the Wild Samoans regained the championship on the September 9, 1980, episode of WWF Championship Wrestling, defeating Tony Garea and Rene Goulet in the finals of a tournament. Their second reign lasted until November 8, 1980, when they lost to Garea and Rick Martel.[13] [14] [15] They left the WWF in December 1980.
On November 22, 1981, the Wild Samoans were disqualified in a match against Animal Hamaguchi and Rusher Kimura.[16]
In April 1981, the Wild Samoans debuted in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based promotion Mid-South Wrestling. They were initially managed by Ernie Ladd before betraying him to align themselves with Skandor Akbar. They held the Mid-South Tag Team Championship on three occasions between June 1981 and May 1982, feuding with Junkyard Dog and his partners. They left the promotion in May 1982.[11]
In March 1982, the Wild Samoans began competing for the Atlanta, Georgia-based promotion Georgia Championship Wrestling, where they were managed by Sonny King. In August 1982, they defeated The Fabulous Freebirds to win the NWA National Tag Team Championship. They held the championship for several months, vacating it in December 1982 upon leaving the promotion to return to the WWF.[11] [5]
The Wild Samoans returned to the WWF in January 1983, once again adopting Lou Albano as their manager. They won the WWF World Tag Team Championship for a third and final time on March 8, 1983, defeating Chief Jay Strongbow and Jules Strongbow. During their reign, Sika was injured and his nephew Samu substituted for him in several title defences. On November 15, 1983, they lost the belts to Soul Patrol (Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas) after Albano accidentally hit Afa with a chair.[14] [5]
After splitting from Albano, the Wild Samoans challenged Soul Patrol on several occasions, but were unable to regain the championship. In April 1984, Sika unsuccessfully challenged Hogan for the WWF Championship in one of Hogan's earliest title defenses. In mid-1984, the Wild Samoans turned face and began a lengthy feud with the North-South Connection (Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch) who were the WWF World Tag Team Champions.[17] They left the WWF once more in January 1985.[18]
The Wild Samoans appeared with several promotions in 1985 and 1986, including Pro Wrestling USA, Lutte Internationale and International Championship Wrestling.[19] [20] [21]
With Afa now semi-retired, Sika returned to the WWF in August 1986 as a singles wrestler. Managed by The Wizard, he went undefeated before dropping a countout to Ricky Steamboat, a pinfall to Pedro Morales and a disqualification to Hillbilly Jim in November 1986.[22]
In March 1987, Sika formed a tag team with Kamala, aligning himself with Kamala's manager, Mr. Fuji, and "handler", Kim Chee. The duo wrestled a series of matches against The Can-Am Connection and took part in several tournaments. The team was dissolved in August 1987 when Kamala left the WWF. In September 1987, he competed in the King of the Ring tournament, losing in the first round to S. D. Jones. On the October 3, 1987 Saturday Night's Main Event XII (recorded September 23, 1987), he unsuccessfully challenged WWF Champion Hulk Hogan in the main event. He wrestled a series of matches against Bam Bam Bigelow and then against Jake Roberts. At the Slammy Awards ceremony on December 16, 1987, the "Song of the Year" category ended with no winner after he ate the envelope containing the winner's name.[23]
In early 1988, Sika's regular opponents included Lanny Poffo, George Steele, and Hillbilly Jim. On March 27, 1988, he appeared on his first pay-per-view, competing in a battle royal at WrestleMania IV. He left the WWF once more following the bout.[24]
After leaving the WWF, Sika wrestled several matches on the independent circuit. He formed a short-lived tag team with his nephew Kokina in the Continental Wrestling Federation, where they were managed by Alan Martin. He retired in 1988.[25]
On August 15, 1997, the Wild Samoans reunited for one night teaming with Disco Inferno, Gene Ligon and the Big Cheese as they defeated Ken Timbs, George Love, Jay Love, Gary Royal and Kane Adams at IWA Night of the Legends in Kannapolis, North Carolina.[26]
On March 31, 2007, the Wild Samoans were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Sika's son Rosey and Afa's son Samu.[2]
The Wild Samoans appeared at Hell in a Cell on October 25, 2020, to celebrate Roman Reigns' victory.[27]
Anoaʻi was married to and separated from Patricia Hooker.[3] They had four children. Their oldest son, Matt (1970–2017), worked in WWE as Rosey and was a tag team champion.[28] Younger son Joseph played college football for Georgia Tech from 2003 to 2006 before beginning a professional wrestling career in 2010, winning the WWE Championship on multiple occasions as Roman Reigns.[2] [29] [30]
Anoaʻi died due to a prolonged illness on June 25, 2024, at the age of 79.[31] [32]