(StraightNews.org) – WWE Hall of Famer Sika Anoa’i has died at age 79. The wrestler rose to fame as part of the Wild Samoans tag team with his brother, Arthur “Afa” Anoa’i, which won the WWE’s tag team championships three times. His nephew announced his death on Instagram, saying Anoa’i had left “an indelible mark” and his legacy would “live on through his achievements and the many lives he touched.”
His son, fellow wrestler Roman Reigns, tweeted his thanks for the “outpouring of support” he and his family had received, adding that he and his siblings would do all they could to honor his father’s memory.
Born in American Samoa in 1945, Sika Anoaʻi moved to California with his family at age 14. He joined the United States Marchant Marine in his teens, traveling to the Philippines and Japan. That career ended in 1969, and he worked as a dockworker until entering professional wrestling in 1973. Anoa’i joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1980 with his brother and enjoyed a successful career until his retirement in 1997. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 and returned to the WWE for a guest appearance in 2020 alongside his son.
Anoa’i married Patricia Hooker in 1970, and they had five children. His son, Roman Reigns, is a former NFL star who played with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars before moving on to professional wrestling. In 2007, aged just 22, Roman was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML. Initially overcoming his diagnosis, the cancer returned in 2018, causing a year-long absence from the WWE. He returned in 2019 and announced his disease was in remission in front of a roaring wrestling crowd.
Roman Reigns has also starred in several movies and TV shows. He is married to former Georgia Institute of Technology classmate Galina Becker, with whom he shares four children. He continues to take oral chemotherapy to prevent a resurgence of his leukemia.
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