The WXW promotion will be reborn under the leadership of Afa Anoa’i Jr after his WWE Hall of Fame father closed the promotion down over health issues.
Afa Jr. made the announcement during an appearance for Battlefield Pro Wrestling. In addition to being the owner of the promotion, Afa added that he will be bringing WXW to cable television in the state of Pennsylvania.
Afa Anoa’i Jr (WWE’s Manu) announces at his promotion Battlefield Pro Wrestling that he’s now the owner of his father’s legendary company WXW Wrestling & he’ll be bringing WXW to cable television in Pennsylvania
This news comes two months after it was announced that WXW would be closing. This difficult decision was made as Afa Sr. had been dealing with some serious health issues, including a serious heart condition and mild-moderate vascular dementia with Alzheimer’s among other issues.
WXW’s ‘final’ event before Afa Jr’s announcement took place on April 13. It is unclear when the first WXW of the promotion’s revival will take place.
WXW, not to be confused with the German promotion of the same name, was launched in 1996 and has seen a litany of notable names step into the ring, including Batista. The film was also featured in 2008’s The Wrestler in which Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson (Mickey Rourke) fights Tommy Rotten (WXW wrestler Tommy Suede.)
With decades of legacy, it’s a good thing that WXW will continue on, even without the involvement of the legendary Wild Samoan. More promotions mean more opportunities for wrestlers in Florida where WXW typically operates. As for Afa Sr., he’s earned himself a retirement from running WXW and will hopefully see his son take the promotion to new heights
Good morning, WXW Universe. Our wrestlers, staff, family, and fans are all heartbroken and reeling from the announcement last night from our beloved founder and Pops, Afa the Wild Samoan, that Saturday April 13th will be the last #WXWWrestling show.
“Instead of X-Treme War, that event will be called The Grand Finale. After 27 years, WXW will be opening our doors one last time. This news was not easy to hear last night.
“Due to Afa’s serious heart condition, his mild-moderate vascular dementia with Alzheimer’s, and other health complications, he felt that April would be the perfect time to take our final bows and close an amazing 27- year chapter. Being that he is the heart and soul of WXW, his family tearfully agreed, and his wrestlers, though very sad, support his decision.
“We’ll see you one more time in person, Saturday, April 13th for the Grand Finale super-show. There will be more matches, an earlier start time, and some big names from WXW’s incredible 27-year legacy. We love you all, thank you for all your support throughout these many years.”
In a separate statement, WXW’s COO and ‘Central Nervous System Vale Anoa’i added:
“I handled it the best I could last night, but I’m an absolute sobbing mess this morning. WXW has been the center of my universe for 27 years, I was 11 years old when we started WXW after closing down its predecessor, Trans-World Wrestling Federation.
“Now, on the verge of 39, I look back in wonder and astonishment at how much of an impact this company, this wrestling life, has made. How many people from all over the world were brought together for this one purpose? How many thousands of wrestlers, referees, managers, camera operators, ring announcers, music people, ring crew, students, editors, photographers, ticket takers, poster/flyer designers, commercial makers, food concession workers, bell ringers, etc. have been part of us through the decades. How many fans from near and far followed and supported WXW since the beginning. Most significantly, how many people learned something from my father?
“How some of the very biggest stars in wrestling history have been part of us. It’s an incredibly emotional time for me, my family, and all of WXW. So all I can say is thank you, I love you, and hopefully as many of us as possible will be together on April 13th to honor this astonishing legacy.”
At this time, no matches have been announced for The Grand Finale.
WWE Hall of Famer Afa is recovering in hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia and suffering two heart attacks on the scene.
In a message shared on his Facebook page, it was stated that after being taken to hospital with pneumonia, Afa suffered two heart attacks.
“Update on Afa the Wild Samoan, affectionately known as Pops: Afa was admitted to the hospital last night with pneumonia, but had a mild heart attack upon arrival. Today, he had a second small heart attack and was sent for a heart catheterization. He is doing ok, his spirits are high. He isn’t out of the woods yet, but will be kept in the hospital for a day or two for observation and monitoring. He thanks everyone for their concern, continued love, and prayers.”
Afa would wrestle for decades in various promotions and alongside Sika would hold tag team gold around the world. In WWE, the pair are three-time WWF Tag Team Champions. In 2007, the duo were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. At WWE Hell in a Cell 2020, the Wild Samoans appeared following Roman Reigns’ victory over Jey Uso and acknowledged Reigns as the Head of the Table.
WWE Hall of Famer Afa undergoes medical evaluation for a concern related to his heart.
Afa Anoa’i, one-half of the original Wild Samoans tag team, recently completed two procedures aimed at checking out his heart valves. The 81-year-old is currently scheduled for a follow-up appointment later this week, where doctors will then determine the next course of action. Despite the uncertainty, Afa has since returned to the comfort of his home and seems to be in good spirits.
“Yesterday Afa had two exploratory heart procedures to check his valves. In his own words: “I kicked out before the 1!” He is home and doing very well. Nothing keeps a Wild Samoan down! His follow up appointment is on the 20th to go over next steps. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he may need a valve replacement. But he’s up and at it, working hard on the WXW Seminar on January 13th and the first show of the year, February 17th, with proceeds to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. Afa was joking with and signing autographs for the hospital staff.”
As mentioned in the aforementioned Facebook statement, Afa is also in the midst of preparing for an upcoming seminar he will be hosting at WXW Wrestling in Minneola, Florida on Saturday, January 13. The following month, WXW Wrestling will be holding a live wrestling event, in which proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.
SEScoops would like to extend our sincerest well wishes to Afa Anoa’i as he soon undergoes further evaluation.
Posted December 18th, 2023 in News, WWE. Tagged: Afa.
The guys at the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast have a new interview out, and this time it’s with Matt Anoa’i, best known for his run in WWE as Rosey. In the interview, he discusses a wide range of topics, including his brother, Roman Reigns, and we’ve got some quotes for you to check out:
On the large quantity of big name star pro wrestlers that the Anoa’t family has produced:
The fact my family has grown as big as it has is actually extraordinary in itself. To be honest with you, I really don’t think there is going to be another family that’s going to top the amount of professional wrestlers in WWE that’s associated or tied into the same last name. We’ve produced a lot of family members going into WWE. Moving forward with that, it’s not going to slow down. We’ve got young bucks on the rise as we speak and lookout because they will make it one day. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with the Anoa’i family name, the Fatu family name it’s got everything to do with for some reason we’ve got a killer drive for this business and whoever is on the way up that’s their goal.
Did he expect his brother, Roman Reigns, to have so much success so soon and develop as a performer as quickly as he did?
I knew he was going to do something like that with whatever he did. I’m not trying to say anything that is stereotypical, that’s just his life. That’s just the way he’s been watching him grow up. It was going to happen regardless of whether it was in football or being the superstar at WalMart he’s just got “that” and it’s just the way it’s always been with him. It didn’t surprise me but the quickness of everything did because time does fly by and now that I look at it three or four years ago he was just getting into this business and now he’s sitting on top of the wrestling world.
Career advice from his father, Sika of the Wild Samoans:
He basically said exactly this: “Son, if you want it, go out and get it. Nobody is going to come knocking on your door to give it to you so get your ass out there and get it.” So I listened and I started down in New Orleans. I worked my way around the country. I went down to Puerto Rico and worked my way around there and all the way to actually signing a WWE contract in 96.
Getting trained by his Uncle Afa:
My Dad has a certain way of teaching things and my Uncle has a certain way of teaching things and everyone has a different way of teaching. They might be brothers but they have different styles and I was just lucky enough to grab a bunch of different little things from everybody. Having Samu as a mentor and one of my cousins, he worked pretty close with me and just getting all this information from several of my family members it made a very big impact at a very young age.
His brief runs in WWE and ECW with Samu as The Samoan Gangsta Party in the mid-’90s:
I remember a little bit. I ain’t going to lie to you I was f*cked up pretty good through those days so there was a lot of times where I forgot what happened the night before and was just happy I was waking up in a hotel. I don’t exactly know who’s hotel, but it was somebody’s. At that point in time I did like what ECW was dishing out and it was fun to walk into a locker room and smell blood and see a little bit more of an old school type of thing. It brought me back to when I was between like 8 and 15 years old running the roads with my cousin The Tonga Kid down in the Gulf Coast area.
It kept it un-corporate for a little while. Everyone knew it was all moving to be corporate and business attitudes but ECW was a nice shot of having a lot of fun. With WWE, there were some things that happened that I really didn’t understand since I was still relatively new to the business and specifically with WWE. I let my cousin handle his business with Vince and my cousin just called me up and said we are going to move on from here so I just packed my bag and said alright lets go. I told them that I will be back and they said they know I will and it just pushed it of a little bit longer but it was none of my business at the time on why we didn’t stay very long.
Teaming with Umaga/Jamal/Eddie “Eki” Fatu as 3 Minute Warning:
I was very comfortable with it and I know he was too. It seemed to fit pretty well that we were both around the same size and both had the same understanding of how we wanted to work our matches and how we wanted the wrestling world to view us. We seemed to mesh pretty good but we are family too so that didn’t mean that we didn’t have our fair share of the down part of being around each other for more than we were our own families, but for the most part it was just something that clicked and it turned out that it worked out pretty good and of course when we split we were still pretty much okay on the back end of that. My cousin is very missed and I miss him every day and I’ve got a picture of him on my end table right next to my bed and I talk to him every day. He was a hell of a guy and I love him very much.
Looking back at 3 Minute Warning’s debut:
We didn’t have time to soak it in. We didn’t know we were doing that until the day of the show. Arnie came up to us and gave us some money and said we’ve got to go to the mall and get some clothes and that we were starting that night. We didn’t know what we were going to get and he said “Hip-Hop” clothes. So hell-yeah, we kind of bypassed the mall and found a spot in the worst part of town where we knew we could pick some sh*t up and I think we bought it in an Indian convenience store and I don’t know why but for some reason in the ghetto you can always find 6XL shirts in “Hip-Hop” fashion.
In the full interview, Anoa’I also talks about his team with the Hurricane, being a tag team champion, the controversial {HLA” segment, and more.
The following is an excerpt from a new Facebook blog by Afa the Wild Samoan. Afa talks about the rough week he and his family have had with Ata and Lina being involved in an automobile accident with a drunk driver.
“The last two weeks have been very difficult for me and my family. The world now knows about the terrible car accident that happened just after our 6th Annual Usos Foundation Fundraising Banquet in Minneola, FL on August 2nd. The event was beautiful and heartfelt. There was a lot of love in the room, as there is each and every year. After our event, we were heading to a local Clermont restaurant to continue our celebration, and we were in a convoy of cars, which included my family, students, WXW Wrestlers, and Foundation supporters. Due to a drunk driver’s carelessness, one of our cars was struck. My cousin Ata Maivia-Johnson and niece Lina Fanene were the driver and passenger in the car that was struck head-on. It could have been my daughter a few cars ahead, it could have been my own vehicle with my wife, son Jaye, and grandchildren, it could have been any one of my students or wrestlers.
Just when the accident happened, the car immediately in front of them, containing my student, WXW Superstar Noah Kekoa, called me to alert me that Ata had gotten in an accident. I thank God that she had such a strong, safe vehicle, because they survived what could have been a fatal tragedy. There was so much chaos at the scene of the accident, police threatening to arrest us, as we all jumped out of our cars to help them. My only thought was to get to Ata’s side and see her with my own eyes. I was so relieved when I heard her voice, as she told the First Responder “Call Dwayne! Call my son!” Everyone in our group except for myself and Noah was forced to wait at a gas station across from the scene, waiting in helpless panic, not knowing the extent of the injuries.
We all headed to the Emergency Room, and there were so many of my family, wrestlers, students, and foundation supporters, including former Minneola Mayor and dear family friend David Yeager, all waiting there with us, praying, refusing to leave our side. I can’t express enough how comforting it was to have everyone there during this terrifying time. I was the first one allowed to go in to see Ata and Lina in the emergency room, and they were also very thankful that we were all there for them. Ata asked me to send them all home, because it was well after midnight at this time. She was concerned about them driving home. Imagine, after such a terrible ordeal, being concerned about everyone else. That’s just the kind of person Ata is.”>
The Shield member Roman Reigns spoke to The Washington Post this week to promote WrestleMania XXX. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Significance Of Performing At WrestleMania: “I’s Mania first. We want to get there the right way, and we want to just tear the house down. We wanna burn it down, put cracks in the wall, just demolish that place and have an awesome match.”
“As far as the next day? There’s going to be some gaps. There are going to be a bunch of big names that are gonna compete [at Wrestlemania] and then not be there on Monday. That’s when guys like myself, the rest of the Shield, Cesaro, the Usos .?.?. there’s a bunch of guys who want this and are willing to work every single day. If I’m a fan of the WWE, I would feel safe to know that your entertainment is in the right hands.”
How Crowd Reactions Affect His Matches:
“I try to live in the moment. When you’re in a singles match, you’re in there, and the guy’s on top of you, and you’re in a hold and you’re being smothered: You’re in the fight at all times. But when we’re doing these team fights, you have a little time to take in the moment and just absorb the energy of the crowd.”
“Especially with the crowds nowadays. They’re very opinionated; you can almost sense that the crowd has taken a leadership role within their own product. This is what they take joy in and take pride in. And if they’re not into something, they’re going to let you know. If they’re into something, same thing: They’re going to let you know.”
If He Sees Himself As A Potential Main Event Singles Star:
“I’ve always pictured myself being in the main event. It’s always been my expectation to be the top guy, the face of the company, the one with all of that responsibility. But that should be everybody’s goal. I didn’t get into this to just be in the middle of the pack. If you want to do that, go work in a different line of work. This isn’t the place to camouflage yourself. I’m trying to be the most exotic animal on this safari.”
Why He Does Not Use A Samoan Ring Name:
“It was a process. Of course, immediately the thought was: ‘He’s Samoan, so let’s run with that.’ But then I think they saw my personality, being more of a cultured guy, going to college, playing ball, things like that, just the kind of guy I am, you know, just be me — don’t try and focus on a nationality or an ethnicity or anything like that. Just be myself.”
– WWE Hall Of Famer Afa of the legendary Wild Samoans tag-team announced that he will be coming out of retirement to compete in a match at the WXWC4 show in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 1st.
– Former WWE Diva Beth Phoenix, who is featured on a ton of WWE Network content, including the debut episode of “WWE Countdown,” recently noted on Twitter that she filmed tons of interviews for WWE Network-related content. Phoenix tweeted the following:
I did tons of interviews, superstar impressions and rants for the WWE Network before I left. Glad it's finally getting seen!
