The retired wrestler passed away two months after Sika Anoa’i — his brother and partner in the legendary Wild Samoans tag team, as well as Reigns’ father — died in June .
Shortly after news broke on Friday, Reigns took to X to write, “Our family has suffered another great loss with the passing of my uncle and WWE Hall of Famer, Gataivasā Afa Amituana’i Anoa’i.”
WWE star Roman Reigns paid tribute to his uncle Afa Anoa’i after his death. AP The Anoa’i family (Afa on the left, Samu on the right) is made up of wrestlers. George Napolitano / SplashNews.com
Reigns — whose birth name is Leati Joseph “Joe” Anoa’i — thanked “everyone for their support,” saying he and his family “are comforted by the fact that [Afa] 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,” the 39-year-old concluded. “Rest in Power Wild Samoans.”
Sika died at the age of 79, and the exact cause of his death has not yet been revealed. Afa was 81 and had faced numerous health issues in recent months.
Reigns — whose father is Sika Anoa’i, Afa’s late brother — thanked “everyone for their support,” saying he and his family “are comforted by the fact that [Afa] now rests in peace.” thesomoansupremacy/Instagram
Afa passed away Friday at the age of 81 after two heart attacks and various surgeries. j.anoa1/Instagram
His daughter, Vale Anoa’i, shared the news of his passing via X, writing, “Today, all of our lives are irreparably changed. I love you so much, Dad. More than any words could ever express. Your strength was absolutely superhuman. You fought all the way to the end, and the end was peaceful. That’s all I could have hoped for.”
Though devastated, Vale admitted that Afa’s death did not come as a shock.
“I’ve been preparing to say goodbye to my Dad since January, when he had those two heart attacks. I was prepared to say goodbye to him in March when he fell and broke his back in two places and had to have major surgery. I was prepared to say goodbye to my Dad when he had his heart valve replacement surgery,” she explained.
The brothers were partners in the legendary Wild Samoans tag team. George Napolitano / SplashNews.com “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,” Reigns wrote. WWE
“I was prepared to say goodbye to him when he was having the second back surgery. I was prepared to say goodbye to my Dad when we had to tell him the news of Uncle Sika’s passing.”
According to Vale, Afa’s “health declined” over the last month, and he was “put on hospice care, as he grew weaker and more fragile.”
She called him the “strongest man” she’s ever known.
“The 3-count comes for us all, eventually, but you fought it all the way to the end. You kicked out more times than anyone else ever has. You are forever our undisputed champion,” she penned, reiterating her love for him and thanking him for all the “memories” he shared “over the last few days.”
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