Article by Kevin Grogan
The State of Florida is truly a hotbed for Professional Wrestling, and Minneola is lucky enough to have one of the very best of all-time amongst us. WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i has not only made the area his home for some 13 years, but he has also brought family-friendly independent wrestling shows and wrestling school to the area. South Lake Tablet caught up with “Pops” (as he is called by his wrestling family) after a WXW Minneola show.
Tablet: You were born in West Samoa before moving to San Francisco. Talk about growing up and getting into Professional Wrestling.
Anoa’i: I am proud to have been born and raised until the age of 16 in Samoa. I moved to San Francisco, California when my dad and mom were elected to open the first church for our people and chose San Francisco. It was a hard life from growing up in beautiful Samoa in the jungles and moving to civilization.
My uncle was high Chief Peter Maivia. My Uncle and Rocky Johnson we’re professional wrestlers and I idolized both of them. They trained me for wrestling because I was getting in trouble and with their help, I started my career. I soon trained my brother, Sika, and together we became “The Wild Samoans”.
Tablet: Very extensive professional wrestling family. The Samoan Dynasty it’s been named. In fact, your nephew is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who has even been known to show up at a Minneola WXW show. Talk about how the family is so important to you in your business.
Anoa’i: My brother and I were blessed to have an amazing career in this sport. When our kids got old enough, we started training them. I have three sons and all of them are professional wrestlers. Samu, LA Smooth and Afa Jr.
My brothers two sons also followed in the family business. His older son passed away a few years ago, he was Rosie the superhero, his youngest son is WWE’s Roman Reigns. Our nephews and nieces and grandkids are also in the business. Yokozuna, Rikishi, Umaga, Tonga Kid, The Usos, The Rock, Lance the Future, Sean Maluta, Tamina, and so many more.
Tablet: Your immediate family (wife Lynn, daughter Vale, and yourself) have been putting on professional wrestling in Minneola for close to fourteen years now. What is your favorite part about doing what you do?
Anoa’i: We moved to Minneola in the summer of 2008. The plan was that I was going to retire. I left my Wild Samoan Pro Wrestling Training Center and WXW wrestling with my son, Sam up in Pennsylvania & moved here in August. September, I had my first Training Center at the Leesburg Armory and we started running shows ever since. Retirement wasn’t for me I missed the business too much. We moved the location to Minneola and have been at 17649 US Highway 27 here in Minneola since 2010. This is where I train men and women and young adults, for a career in professional wrestling. We also occasionally do kids after school programs and summer camps. And we host wrestling-themed birthday parties for kids.
We run WXW events every two to three weeks at the Minneola City Hall and have been doing that since 2008. I love this because it is a small town and we have met some amazing people. It is something to bring to the community to keep kids off the street on a Saturday night, it’s good clean fun for fans of all ages. We have lots of grandparents that bring their great-grandkids to our WXW events.
We have built a nice friendship with many of the people of our community and I am so happy that we are able to bring something fun and entertaining while helping my students to realize their dreams.
Tablet: March 31, 2007, you were inducted into the prestigious WWE Hall of Fame with brother Sika; the Wild Samoans. What made this event so special to you?
Anoa’i: Being on it into the WWE Hall of Fame is the seal of approval for the many years of your career. In the sport of professional wrestling, you sacrifice a lot. You travel the road for many years, miss out on family functions and most of the time, watching your kids grow up. You do it for the love of the sport and for the crafts that you are in. When you are recognized as a Hall of Famer, you experience the pride that everything you did was not in vain and that you’ve touched the lives of your fans.
Tablet: You have lived in some pretty unique places and traveled the world. Why do you like living in Minneola?
Anoa’i: I called Pensacola my home because the beautiful beaches reminded me of Samoan. When I was moving back to Florida from Pennsylvania, I planned on Pensacola. My daughter, Vale was acting and wanted to move to Orlando, so we settled on Minneola with the plan of giving it 6 months
We fell in love with the small town and here we are 13 years later.
Tablet: Can you share one of your favorite early memories when you first made it into the WWF (now WWE)?
Anoa’i: I was working out at a gym. A nurse came to me and said she saw me on TV and I was really scary. She asked if I would visit the house of a little boy who was very sick. She said he was a big wrestling fan. I told her that I would be happy to visit him. I took pictures and gave him a t-shirt and other wrestling merchandise. The boy’s parents said it was the first time in months that their son smiled. He passed away the next day holding my picture. That is my favorite story because it was through WRESTLING that I touched the life of this family. I knew then that this was going to be an amazing life journey.
Tablet: You and your wife Lynn, business partner and CEO, make a great team. What is special about the relationship you share? What makes the two of you such an amazing pair?
Anoa’i: Lynn is an excellent businesswoman. She handles the legal side of the business and I deal with the professional wrestler talent. We’ve been a team for so many years that both of us understand the sport as well as the business.
We both stay very busy. Along with the wrestling business, I do Legend signings all over the United States. Lynn is very active with her inspirational motivational business called, I Lost to Gain. We are busy but we make it work.
Tablet: March 28th at Minneola City Hall is the next WXW show. A lot of your neighbors in Clermont/Minneola don’t know about WXW. What would you say to them to encourage them to come check it out?
Anoa’i: I would tell our neighbors to visit and experience the best-kept secret here in Minneola. We offer exciting, fun professional wrestling for kids of all ages. You never know who’s going to show up at the event. My nephew The Rock has been there, as well as his dad, the late Rocky Soulman Johnson. Many of the Hall of Fame Legends along with myself, will always be there. You also get to meet the young and upcoming stars of tomorrow. Many of these kids are going on to WWE and NXT. It is a fun environment where you can actually meet, take pictures, get autographs, and enjoy yourself.
The ticket prices are very reasonable and our talented kids are amazing.
Tablet: Anything else you want to tell your south Lake County neighbors?
Anoa’i: Thank you to all the readers and to the South Lake Tablet for giving us the opportunity to share our story with you.
Visit us to learn more about what we do. One of those services is a community outreach program. We offer opportunities to raise money without any out-of-pocket costs. We also host children’s birthday-themed wrestling parties.
We have the #1 professional wrestling training facility in the world for anyone who is interested in entering into that world and living the dream.
We truly enjoy living in this community and thankful for getting to know our neighbors.
God bless,
Afa, “The Wild Samoan” Anoai
Wxwwrestling.com
Wildsamoan.com
Kevin Grogan is a contributing sportswriter for the. South Lake Tablet. Kevin and Kimberly are owners of Dash-Sports
