The Anoa'i Curse

From Manu to Umaga, Afa to Yokozuna to even the most remote of stars lucky enough to have the last name Anoa'i (or Fatu), every member of the family who wrestles or has wrestled has suffered from a weight problem.

He might be 6'2" and only 295 as of today, but Manu, (a.k.a. Afa Jr.), the pride of the Wild samoan, has fallen into the Anoa'i curse.

I spoke to a journalist who follows the WWE around, when they were in town for smackdown last week in my home state of Indiana. Actually I sat behind him and pestered him to no end.

I made mention that Manu hasn't been seen lately, and he said he had a source that tells him that Manu is headed back to Florida Championship Wrestling in hopes of getting himself back down to 280.

He made light that Manu, like his cousin, WWE's Umaga, he was being told to lose the weight or lose your job. Two other Anoa'i's have lost their jobs due to their size. Rodney, better known has Japanese Sumo superstar and former Bret Hartantagonist Yokozuna lost his job.

Rodney lost a reported 100 pounds between 1997 and 1998, but still fail a physical that is required for professional wrestlers by the New York State Athletic Commission.

On Oct., 23, 2000, he passed away in Liverpool, England, due to fluid in his lungs. He weighed between 450-600 pounds at the time of his death.

Ro'Z, also lost his job. He recently competed on a popular weight loss TV show known as Fat March, and now looks in as good of shape as he ever has. He has gone from 455 pounds to currently around 380 pounds*(at the time of this article)

While it was speculated that Junior, better known to the world as Rikishi, had lost his job for the same reason, this is a myth I can honestly bust. He simply messed with the wrong road agent, ultimately burning more bridges than he had crossed at the time.

When asked if he thought Manu could make it, the reporter had only this to say. "Umaga came back, but Eddie Fatu-(Umaga's given name) might be the one exception to the Anoa'i curse. Eddie has the motivation and the drive that most Anoa'i's simply don't have.

They view Afa has their instant ticket into the WWE, the same way Afa Jr, and even Dave Batista, who trained at the Wild Samoan school believe, and that's simply not true, not anymore."

He brought up the idea of the Anoa'i curse. The more I think about it, the more it's the truth. After wrestling, the one thing that binds them, is the weight issue.

The sad fact is Manu will probably be released, not because of his lack of skills-(as he should be released for), but because of his weight issues.

"This has been an Assassins article."