Wrestling star Afa Anoa’i, who joined brother Sika Anoa’i in the tag team known as The Wild Samoans, has died at age 81.
Afa’s family announced the news on Friday, August 16. His death comes less than two months after Sika died at age 79.
“It is with deepest regret that we announce the passing of my father Afa Anoa’i Sr.,” son Samu wrote on Facebook, per ESPN. “It was a peaceful transition, and he was surrounded by loved ones. Please respect our privacy as we mourn our father.”
Though his cause of death was not disclosed, Afa had been in hospice care recently, according to Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. He suffered two heart attacks during a bout with pneumonia in January, and he underwent multiple back surgeries after breaking his back in a fall in March, the site adds.
Afa and Sika teamed up in the 1970s and won championships in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling promotion and the National Wrestling Alliance, according to WWE.com. The brothers joined WWE (then known as WWF) in 1979 and had their heyday in the 1980s, winning the World Tag Team Championship three times.
After retiring from WWE in 1995, Afa and Sika opened a training facility and were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.
WWE honored Afa with a moment of silence during Friday Night Smackdown this Friday, and WWE star Roman Reigns — Afa’s nephew and Sika’s son — paid tribute to his uncle in an X post that same day.
“Our family has suffered another great loss with the passing of my uncle and WWE Hall of Famer, Gataivasā Afa Amituana’i Anoa’i,” Reigns wrote. “We thank everyone for their support and are comforted by the fact that he now rests in peace. Afa and my father, Pola’ivao Leati Sika Anoa’I, were loving brothers, the greatest tag team of their generation, and now they’re reunited together in heaven. Rest in Power, Wild Samoans.”
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