Sam Fatu

Not to be confused with Tama Tonga.
Sam Fatu[1]
Birth name Samuel Larry Anoa'i Fatu
Born (1965-10-11) October 11, 1965 [2]
California, United States[1]
Residence Sacramento, California, United States
Spouse(s) Theresa Fuavai-Fatu
Family Anoa'i
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) The Samoan Savage[1]
Tama
Tama Samoa
The Tonga Kid
Billed height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3]
Billed weight 350 lb (160 kg)[3]
Billed from "The Isle of Samoa"
Tonga
Trained by Afa Anoa'i
Sika Anoa'i[1][4][5]
Debut 1983[1]
Retired 2011

Samuel "Sam" Larry Anoa'i Fatu (born October 11, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names The Tonga Kid and Tama and with World Championship Wrestling as The Samoan Savage.[1][5]

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Federation (1983–1988)

Main article: The Islanders

Fatu debuted as a professional wrestler in 1983,[1] after being trained by the Wild Samoans.[4] Shortly after debuting he joined the World Wrestling Federation as "The Tonga Kid". Billed as the cousin of Superfly Jimmy Snuka, he entered into a feud with Snuka's rival Roddy Piper.[6]

In late 1986, he teamed with Tonga Fifita, who was wrestling under the name King Tonga.[1] Fatu was renamed to Tama, while Fifita was renamed to Haku. Together, they were christened The Islanders.[1] After a long time of failing to gain the interest of fans, they became villains in April 1987 after attacking The Can-Am Connection during a match. They were now managed by Bobby Heenan.[1]

In October, they began a feud with Strike Force, the WWF Tag Team Champions, but were unable to win the titles, despite having several attempts.[1] In early December 1987, the Islanders were disqualified from a match with the British Bulldogs when they kidnapped the Bulldogs' dog, Matilda.[1] The Islanders were indefinitely suspended in the storyline until Matilda was found.[1] From late January 1988 until early February, the Islanders were consistently beaten by the British Bulldogs.[1]

At a Saturday Night's Main Event on March 7, they beat the Killer Bees, a tag team consisting of Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell. At Wrestlemania 4, the Islanders, with Bobby Heenan, defeated the Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware, with Matilda.[1] On April 21, Heenan introduced Siva Afi as the newest member of the group, but Afi never made another appearance with the Islanders. Fatu then left the WWF.

World Wrestling Council

After leaving the WWF, Fatu began performing for the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico as "Tama". On January 6, 1989, he and Dan Kroffat defeated The Batten Twins to win the WWC World Tag Team Championship. The Batten Twins regained the championship on March 4, 1989.

World Championship Wrestling (1989–1990)

Main article: The Samoan SWAT Team

In 1989, Fatu joined World Championship Wrestling, where he adopted the ring name "The Samoan Savage" and began teaming with his brother Fatu and his cousin Samu as The Samoan SWAT Team. The trio were managed by "The Big Kahuna" Oliver Humperdink. In late 1989, Samu withdrew from in-ring competition and The Samoan SWAT Team was renamed "The New Wild Samoans". At Starrcade in December 1989, The New Wild Samoans competed in the Iron Team round-robin tournament, placing third.

The New Wild Samoans left WCW in the summer of 1990.

Later career (1990–2011)

After leaving WCW, Fatu (wrestling as "The Samoan Savage") journeyed to Mexico to perform for the Universal Wrestling Association along with his brother Fatu and his cousin, The Great Kokina. Billed as "The Hawaiian Beasts", the trio won the UWA World Trios Championship from Los Villanos on April 7, 1991. Los Villanos regained the championship on May 31, 1991.

Fatu competed on the independent circuit until retiring in 2011.[3] In 2005 and 2006, he wrestled in Italy with the Nu Wrestling Evolution promotion.

Other media

Fatu appeared as "The Tonga Kid" in the opening scene of the 1986 film Highlander, where he was involved in a six-man tag team match with Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell against The Fabulous Freebirds at Madison Square Garden.[7] He also starred as "Tonga Tom" in the 1987 wrestling film Body Slam, along with Dirk Benedict and Roddy Piper.[4][8][9]

Personal life

See also: Anoaʻi family

Fatu is a member of the famous Anoaʻi family. He is the twin brother of Solofa Fatu Jr. (Headshrinker Fatu/Rikishi), and both brothers have twins. He is the father of twins Marley and Myracle, and Solofa is the father of twins Jonathan and Joshua Samuel, who currently wrestle in WWE as Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso.[10][11][12] Sam is the older brother of the late Eddie Fatu (Umaga/Jamal). He is the nephew of Sika Anoaʻi and Afa Anoaʻi, known as the Wild Samoans, and his cousins in wrestling are the late Rodney Anoaʻi (Yokozuna), Samula Anoaʻi (Headshrinker Samu), Matt Anoaʻi (Rosey), Leati Anoaʻi (Roman Reigns), Reno Anoaʻi (Black Pearl), Afa Anoaʻi, Jr. (Manu), Lloyd Anoaʻi (L.A. Smooth) and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock).

On April 27, 2008, Fatu's mother Vera died after a seven-year battle with cancer.[13]

In November 2008, Fatu's wife, Theresa Fuavai-Fatu,[14] went into cardiac arrest while giving birth. Her heart stopped completely before the twins, Marley and Myracle, could be delivered by Caesarean section, but she was spontaneously revived and eventually recovered.[14][15] This type of incident is very rare, with one of the cardiac surgeons who was working on Theresa saying that he has never seen surviving mothers or babies.[14] He also has three sons.[14]

Fatu's brother Eddie "Umaga" Fatu died of a heart attack on December 4, 2009.[16][17]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Wrestler Profiles: Tama". Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  2. ↑ "Tonga Kid". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  3. 1 2 3 "Cagematch Bio". Cagematch. Archived from the original on 2015. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Wild Samoans". WWE. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Tonga Kid". Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  6. 1 2 James Dixon; Arnold Furious; Lee Maughan (2012). The Complete WWF Video Guide Volume I. Lulu.com. pp. 44–. ISBN 978-1-291-10089-1.
  7. ↑ Defino, Lennie. "Where Are They Now?: Buddy Roberts". WWE. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
  8. ↑ Kapur, Bob (May 18, 2006). "Body Slam a blast for Benedict". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  9. ↑ "Tonga Kid Main". Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  10. ↑ California births
  11. ↑ California births
  12. ↑ California births
  13. ↑ "Elevera Anoaʻi Fatu passes away". WrestlingFigs.com via wwe.com. 2008-04-27. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Carrie Peyton Dahlberg. "Twins delivered by emergency C-section as CPR revives mom". Modesto Bee. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  15. ↑ "Pregnant Mom's Heart Stops; Gives Birth, Comes To". Retrieved 2008-12-25.
  16. ↑ "Umaga passes". WWE. 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  17. ↑ "Umaga's cause of death revealed". NoDQ.com. 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  18. ↑ Matt Mackinder (January 17, 2008). "Sir Oliver Humperdink recalls career of yesteryear". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
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