Roman Reigns has a long list of notable cousins, one of them being former WWE Superstar Samu. For now, let's take a deeper dive into the connection between the two family members.
Samu is the son of legendary wrestler Afa Anoa'i, who is a member of The Wild Samoans in WWF alongside Sika Anoa'i. Sika, on the other hand, is the father of Roman Reigns. With this information, we can see how both stars are cousins.
Born Samula Fred Anoa'i, he wrestled at WWF, WCW, NJPW, and more. While in the Stamford-based promotion in 1983, he teamed up with his father Afa to defend the Tag Team Championship of The Wild Samoans while Sika was injured. He left the promotion in 1985 but did receive a World Heavyweight Championship match against Bob Backlund. Samu even teamed up with Hulk Hogan before his exit.
Samu returned to WWE alongside his cousin Fatu, best known as Rikishi, to form The Headshrinkers. He took a break from the company in 1994 due to an injury, but returned the following year. This time around, he joined another cousin, Rosey, Reigns' brother. Fatu and Rosey were then known as The Samoan Gangster Party before they left in 1996.
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Samu is also the father of MLW wrestler Lance Anoa'i. The latter also had a brief stint in WWE during Roman Reigns' feud with Shane McMahon.
Samu was supposed to return to WWE alongside other Anoa'i members for a Roman Reigns segment
Last month, the Stamford-based promotion celebrated RAW's 30th Anniversary. Multiple legends like The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and more were on the show, and a couple of Samoans were also expected to be present.
Ahead of RAW XXX, a Roman Reigns acknowledgment ceremony was supposed to be held along with other Anoa'i members. However, the segment was altered to The Trial of Sami Zayn instead.
While on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Samu revealed that multiple members of the Anoa'i family were supposed to be there.
"From what I know, yeah [we were all going to be part of The Bloodline Acknowledgment Ceremony at WWE Raw 30]. It was supposed to be Rikishi, myself, my dad, my uncle to name a few and my dad couldn’t fly at the time and Rikishi had pneumonia at the time so everything just got put on the backburner,"
The Anoa'i family is surely one of the most recognized wrestling dynasties there is, and for the right reasons. It remains to be seen if Roman Reigns and Samu will ever meet in WWE in the future.