Leati Sika Amituana’i Anoa’i, a member of the Samoan wrestling dynasty and Wild Samoans tag team, died on Tuesday at 79.
Sika’s nephew Jahrus Anoa’i issued the following statement to announce his passing:
It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Former Hall of Famer, Polaivao Leati Sika Anoa’i. He passed away peacefully on June 25th. Sika was a celebrated figure whose contributions and legacy have left an indelible mark. His memory will live on through his achievements and the many lives he touched. He was many things: a hard working father, a caring brother, a supportive uncle, and a proud grandfather. He was a cherished friend to many, a loving family member whose warmth and kindness knew no bounds, and an inspiration to countless individuals. His legacy will continue to inspire and uplift future generations, reminding us of the impact one person’s life can have on so many. Rest in love Uncle Sika.
As the shortened ‘Sika’, the wrestler traveled throughout the United States and Canada and ventured to Japan, mainly as a tag wrestler but having several high-profile singles matches in the World Wrestling Federation.
Anoa’i was born on April 5, 1945, on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa and was one of thirteen children. His older brother Afa would lead the way for the brothers into professional wrestling after Sika finished with the Merchant Marines.
Afa gained his training under the watch of Peter Maivia, Rocky Johnson, and Robert Thompson with further seasoning under Kurt Von Steiger. Later, Sika would be enlisted with the family business and began his journey in 1973 with his brother in Stampede Wrestling.
The pair had success with multiple tag title reigns in the territory and headed west to Vancouver to win another set of titles by beating Gene Kiniski & Bugsy McGraw.
The Wild Samoans became guns for hire across the United States by winning tag titles in Detroit in 1975 as The Islanders, Tennessee in 1976, for WWC in Puerto Rico in 1977, and Alabama in 1979.
In 1978, the brothers made their first tour of Japan for the IWE group and defeated Animal Hamiguchi & Great Kusatsu in Osaka for a short reign in January.
Of all their territorial stops, it was New York where they gained their greatest acclaim and made their arrival to the WWWF in 1980. The Northeast promotion was built around the construction of heels, paired with mouthpieces for the babyfaces to overcome. It fit like a hand to glove-for the Wild Samoans to be assigned a manager in Captain Lou Albano. The pair first wrestled at Madison Square Garden on January 21 against Ivan Putski & Tito Santana on a card headlined by WWWF champion Bob Backlund defending against Ken Patera.
Sika would receive one of his most high-profile matches two months later when he challenged Backlund on March 24 at The Garden with a sold-out crowd with the adjacent Felt Forum.
His legacy in the WWWF was as a tag wrestler where Afa & Sika would become tag champions for the first of three reigns on April 12, 1980, going over Putski & Santana. They dropped the titles that summer at WWWF’s giant card at Shea Stadium featuring the steel cage grudge match between Bruno Sammartino and Larry Zbyszko. The undercard featured Backlund teaming with former WWWF champ Pedro Morales beating The Wild Samoans but were forced to vacate due to Backlund holding the WWWF title. So, The Samoans won them back one month later to begin their second run as champions after going through a tournament and beating Rene Goulet & Tony Garea in the finals.
After dropping the titles to Garea & Rick Martel, Afa and Sika left the WWWF and allowed them to embark on their first tour with New Japan Pro Wrestling as Samoan #1 and Samoan #2. The pair wrestled Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi on the first night in Ibaraki while also working several six-man tags with partners Bad News Allen Coage, Tom Prichard, Ken Patera, Bobby Duncum, and Tiger Jeet Singh.
State-side, the Wild Samoans ventured to Mid-South and were paired with Ernie Ladd as their manager but would turn on Ladd to align with Skandor Akbar. In June, they defeated Junkyard Dog & Mike George to win the territory’s tag belts and would bounce them back and forth before dropping them one final time to JYD & Mr. Olympia (Jerry Stubbs) on their way out of the territory in May 1982.
They returned to New Japan in November for the Madison Square Garden Tag League (a precursor to the World Tag League) among pairings that included Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami, Stan Hansen & Dick Murdoch, Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Bad News Allen & Pat Patterson, Canek & Super Maquina, and the winners Andre the Giant & Rene Goulet.
In 1982, they went to Georgia Championship Wrestling, which was a powerhouse of a territory due to its distribution on WTBS throughout the country as cable was growing. The brothers had an indirect impact on the future of tag team wrestling throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s after leaving booker Ole Anderson to improvise. In Georgia, they had Sonny King as their manager and would become the area’s tag champions by beating Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy, who were on their way out and about to set World Class Championship Wrestling on fire by the end of the year through their program with the Von Erichs.
The Wild Samoans decided they were leaving Georgia to return to the WWWF and opted not to drop the tag titles before leaving. The tag belts remained dormant for the first half of 1983 until Ole Anderson came up with the idea for prelim wrestler Joe Laurinaitis to be paired with Eddie Sharkey trainee Michael Hegstrand and created The Road Warriors. In June 1983, they were introduced on television as the new tag champions after winning a fictitious tournament and became a hallmark of the territory and the industry throughout the decade with multiple copies of the act and an influence on many based on their look, promos, and squash match presentation.
Afa & Sika’s return to New York featured another run as tag champions beating Chief Jay & Jules Strongbow on March 8, 1981, and held them throughout most of the year before losing to Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas, who became the territory’s first Black champions.
It led to a rare babyface turn for the Samoans in 1983 working against Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis. In late 1983, the WWF was undergoing a massive transformation as Vince McMahon’s ownership transfer from his father was completed earlier that year and his national expansion plans were taking form. A series of moves included getting the WWWF title off Bob Backlund and onto McMahon’s chosen successor, Hulk Hogan, who had just left the AWA. The go-between was Iron Sheik, who won the title on December 26 with the Samoans working on the undercard in a six-man tag while teaming with family member Samu.
One month later, the coronation of Hogan occurred on January 23 at Madison Square Garden toppling the Iron Sheik and launching his four-year run as the WWF ascended to unprecedented heights. The Samoans wrestled on that same “changing of the guard” event at The Garden teaming with Samu against Andre the Giant, Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas.
Less than three months into Hogan’s reign as champion, one of his first challengers for the belt was Sika. The two headlined a show in Buffalo on April 2 at the War Memorial Auditorium but would have an even larger audience tuning in for a future match-up.
Afa & Sika left the WWF again in late 1984 with Sika wrestling for the final time at Madison Square Garden on September 22 with Afa & Sgt. Slaughter and beating Dick Murdoch, Adrian Adonis & Lou Albano (their former manager) underneath a Hogan title defense against John Studd, who subbed for Jesse Ventura.
The Samoans had a quiet 1985 wrestling a handful of matches in the AWA, Pro Wrestling USA, and International Wrestling in Quebec.
Sika returned to the World Wrestling Federation the following year for a rare singles run in his career for an undercard heel role. During this period, his manager was The Wizard (Curtis Iaukea) and led to a brief team with Kamala, who was coming off strong house show business with Hogan.
When Kamala left the company, Sika reverted to singles work with the high point occurring on September 23 when he wrestled Hogan for an edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event airing on October 3 and generated a 9.7 rating on NBC.
Sika would have a follow-up appearance on the January 2, 1988, episode on NBC against Jake “The Snake” Roberts in Landover, Maryland.
His WWF run concluded with an appearance in the battle royal at WrestleMania IV in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
His career continued in a limited capacity on the independents and was effectively retired by 1991 with a transition to training. The Wild Samoan Training Center first opened in the late ‘70s in Pensacola and moved locations to Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and back to Florida over the years. It served as a pipeline for future family members Yokozuna, Rikishi, Jamal, Rosey, as well as Dave Bautista.
Sika came out of retirement for one final match in July 2006 in Century, Florida.
His accolades after his in-ring career include being honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club, an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.
Two of his children entered the industry beginning with the late Matt Anoa’i, who wrestled in the WWE as Rosey of 3 Minute Warning and later teamed with The Hurricane. Matt died in April 2017 at the age of 47 due to heart issues.
His younger son, Joe, played football at Georgia Tech and later with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League for one season before diving into professional wrestling. Joe was signed by WWE in 2010 and assigned to Florida Champion Wrestling and given the name ‘Leakee’ before adopting his more famous persona, Roman Reigns.
His son shared the following words on Tuesday:
My family and I thank everyone for the outpouring of support in the name of my father, Pola’ivao Leati Sika Anoa’i, who will forever be remembered as one half of The Wild Samoans tag team. My father had a profound impact on my entire family and we are forever grateful for the foundation he built for us. There’s no way to fill the void left by his passing but my sisters and I will do our best to represent him and his legacy.
Rest in Power, Dad. We love you.
Several notes courtesy:
– Wrestling in the Garden by Scott Teal & J Michael Kenyon
– Cagematch.net
