WWE Hall of Famer Afa Anoa'i Dies at Age 81; Uncle of Roman Reigns

WWE Hall of Famer Afa Anoa'i, one half of the Wild Samoans tag team and the uncle of WWE Superstar Roman Reigns, has died at the age of 81.

Afa Anoa'i teamed up with his brother, Sika Anoa'i (Reigns' father), who passed away at the age of 79 in June.

Reigns released a statement on his uncle's passing in a post on his X account:

The Wild Samoans won the WWE World Tag Team Championship three times in the 1980s. After his wrestling career, Afa and Sika Anoa'i opened The Wild Samoan Training Facility. The two trained a host of future WWE superstars, including Batista.

The Wild Samoans were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.

The Wild Samoans were 21-time world tag team champions across a number of promotions, including Stampede Wrestling (twice). They competed against Hall of Famers such as Bob Backlund, Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson (The Rock's father).

As good as they were in the wrestling ring, though, their biggest impact may have come as trainers. WWE.com provided a snapshot of their tremendous success turning talents into stars.

"Afa & Sika have trained many of the Superstars WWE fans have come to know over the years, including former WWE Champion Yokozuna and former WWE Superstars Rikishi, Tonga Kid, Virgil, Michael P.S. Hayes and Billy Kidman. Afa & Sika are also credited with training Snitsky, as well as multiple-time World Champion Batista and most recently, Sika's son Roman Reigns. All-in-all, between in-ring action, managerial services and their training, the Wild Samoans have won or produced winners of over 50 championships."

Their last act in WWE was in 2020, when they anointed Reigns as the Tribal Chief following his win over cousin Jey Uso at Hell in the Cell.