The Samoan Swat Team were Samu and Fatu (aka Sultan/Rikishi). Later on, Tama joined them under the name The Samoan Savage. For the record, the SST was renamed The Headshrinkers when they arrived in the WWF, managed by Albano and Afa. Samu and Fatu, managed by Sika would show up again later on the Heroes of Wrestling PPV.
Yokozuna, Jimmy Snuka and Peter Maivia are all related in there somehow, but you know what? EVERY DAMN THING I READ GIVES A DIFFERENT VERSION OF THAT FAMILY TREE!!!!!
So, let's leave at: Those are the guys, not sure how they're related.
posted
The Samoans who toured here in 1971 were Tio& Tapu. They wrestled in Tenn. (on & off) in '71 & '72. Afa & Sika wrestled as the Islanders from 1973 until 1978, when they started calling themselves the Samoans, as Tio &Tapu were then the Mongolians in Mississippi, with their manager Percy Pringle. I may be repeating some of the stuff on the above threads (??), as I didn't go back and check the older threads before writing this post.
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Peter Maivia was the first Samoan ever to get into the wrestling Business he started his career in NZ having traveled there from Idependent Samoa.
after becoming successful there he joined with promotions in America where he met up with Afa Anoai and his brother Sika.
Peter Maivia Hails from Samoa aka Western Samoa and The Anoai Brothers (Afa & Sika) from American Samoa but to find another Samoan outside of Samoa was a rare occurance and the two families immidiately embraced each other as blood thus Maivia became blood brothers with the Father of Afa and Sika who later Joined him as wrestlers...
Maivia eventually retired to Hawaii with his branch of the NWA and held his own wrestling shows there.
this was the start of Many Samoans joining the ranks of professional wrestling...
Peter Maivia (blood brothers with the Father of Afa & Sika)
Nephews Afa & Sika...
Afa has three sons who wrestle...
Sameula Anoai (Samu/Samula the Wild Samoan) Lloyd Anoai (LA Smooth) Afa Anoai Jr (Afa Jr.)
Sika is the father of Matthew Anoai (Rosey)
The sister of Afa & Sika is married to a man by the name of Solofa Fatu and their sons are
Yet another brother of Afa & Sika is the father of
Rodney Anoai (Yokozuna)
and yes another Anoai brother is father too
Reno Anoai (The black Pearl)
That is the Anoai Tree...
now Peter Maivia who's real name is Peter Fanene hails from the village of Falealili in Upolu Samoa and one of his cousins by actual blood is
Max Amata Taogaga "Papali'itele" (Siva Afi)
Siva Afi has one son in wrestling camp
Aleki Afi
Peter Maivia also with wife Lia Maivia have a daughter
Ata Maivia: Ata and Rocky Johnson are the parents of
Duwayne Johnson also known as (Flex Kavana/Rocky Maivia/The Rock)
and as I mentioned in a former post, the same family that Maivia, The Rock and Siva Afi hail from was the one that gave Siva Afi his title which links them to the Samoan king Malietoa who was the one who gave the Rock his princely Samoan Title.
Also Peter Maivia has another son who wrestles for Afa's WXW his name is...
Toa Maivia
Beyond these relations,
Many Samoans who also were trained by Maivia also claim family connection to him although through maybe a long search into family history.
Farmer Boy Ipo Jumpin Joe Solo Super Samoan Sakalia Sam Apelu (Sam Samson Samoan referee) Mighty Milo Kinnipopo #1 #2 & #3 Tama Samoa Superfly "Tui" Neff Maiava (Not Maivia Maiava) Al Lolotai (yes the same former NFL player) Lu Leota II (now a member of Samoan parliment) Fa'asamoa Leroy Brown Manu the Samoan Ta'u (A trainee of Farmer boy Ipo) Tiki Tapu Samoan Joe
All have their own connections to Maivia
including myself
Knucklez Tuitele
being the nephew of Farmer Boy Ipo... and on my fathers side I also am linked to the same family and Village of Afa the Wild Samoan we both being from Leone American Samoa...
Three other Samoans
Tio Taylor Reno Tuufuli Cocoa Samoa Tapu Taylor
Also Connect to Maivia in that way but they were mainly mainland based wrestlers.
Superfly Jimmy Snuka links to Maivia in the fact that the Island familiarity between the two created a bond between them...
while its uncertain if Snuka has any Samoan blood (he consistently claims he is fijian) Snuka has always enjoyed a family tie with the Samoans of wrestling.
Haku and The Barbarian also share a similar bond both having tagged with one of the Fatu Brothers at different times in the WWE but again They are not blood relatives because neither Haku nor the barbarian are Samoan but Tongans from an entirely different Island country.
the new generation of wrestlers are also connected to the Samoan line
The Hamo Bull Solo Snuka Mana Ativalu Superfly "Ete" Johnny Kealoha Knucklez Tuitele Aleki Afi
are all Anoai family through different historical family lineages
and
Reno Tuufuli Jr. King Dabada Skulu the Samoan Savage
are all protoges of Reno Tuufuli & Yokozuna
the only two Samoans without a clear connection to the Majority of the Samoan Family are
Samoa Joe Sonny Siaki
And to clear up the non wrestling family members...
Joe Onosai is a worlds strongest man competitor and a very active preacher, he is a massive man standing at about 6'6" and nearly 500 lbs he is related to Afa by way of his father. from the village of Fagatogo
David Tua. The Samoan Boxer who is billed from New Zealand and fought Lennox Lewis for the Heavyweight title is also related to Afa on his fathers side...
and the Late Gary Albright was married to Afa's daughter...
posted
First of all the question was to sort out who was the first of the Samoan family to begin the Samoan Legacy... and the answer to that question is Peter Maivia because Neff Maiava isnt linked to Afa and Sika or Siva afi or the rest as Maivia is...
and second of all no Prince Neff Maiava did not begin his career before Maivia and his name not "Maivia" it is "Maiava" a family from my village of Leone in American Samoa also he is alot younger than Maivia he still lives in Laie Hawaii and he started his career under Maivia not before Maivia...
I have met and spoken with him about his career before...
also Maiava is from American Samoa and Maivia from Western...
just to clear this up... American Samoans were not allowed to migrate to NZ nor were Western Samoans allowed to migrate to Hawaii (America) at that time because the countries had split the Samoan islands between NZ control and US Control.
So Maiava wouldnt have been able to Travel to NZ until much later While Maivia began his career there... and futher more Maivia may have wrestled under the name prince also but of this I am not certain...
-------------------- Ua logo tino matagi lelei!
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Crimson Mask I
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posted
Yes, Neff began well before Peter. Unless there'a a THIRD guy here. There are results on him going back to about 1950. And yes, he (or SOMEBODY) worked as Prince Maivia in the '50s and '60s. For example:
Miami, 1/23/60, Miami Baseball Stadium (Promotor, Al Ritchie)
Tito Carreon & Luis Hernandez W Mike DiBiase & Johnny Valentine
posted
Now the info I have is that Peter first came to the mainland in '63 or so, when Roy Shire brought him in to S. F. And I don't think he was even wrestling in '55 or even '58.
posted
Now I also have 'Prince MAIAVA' in Galveston, Texas the first four months of 1954. Peter was, what, 16, then? If this is not Neff, then, again, who is it?
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posted
btw I'm pretty sure by this point that all these early results SHOULD be 'Maiava', and suspect that many were 'retrofitted' after Peter became a star and/or the publicists and newspaper guys had trouble with Polynesian names to begin with.
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Crimson Mask I
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Also, I think this will be of interest to historians and people in general, so I'm going to transfer it to the Thesz board and link it from the main board and here, so let's continue it on the Thesz board.
posted
Interesting stuff. I was always under the impression that Alo Leilani was the first guy from Samoa to make a dent in the business.
CM is right, there was a "Prince Maivia" wrestling in the states and Toronto (where he was a top fan favorite) in 1954-55. IIRC, the Social Security Death Index has Maivia's birth as 1937 which would have made him 17 at the time. He was touring with Coconut Willie.
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Crimson Mask I
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btw not to nitpick but what you said was:
quote:Originally posted by Rebellious: Peter Maivia was the first Samoan ever to get into the wrestling Business
posted
Wait...looking at my notes: Yeah, it was MAIAVA in Texas. Let me confirm the spelling in Toronto in 1955.
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Crimson Mask I
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quote:Originally posted by Payton23340: Interesting stuff. I was always under the impression that Alo Leilani was the first guy from Samoa to make a dent in the business.
From WAWLI:
CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL AMPHITHEATER (1-25-52) -- NWA World's Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz and Verne Gagne wrestling to a sixty-minute draw. Thesz won the first fall and Gagne gained the second fall. With one fall apiece the pair wrestled to the sixty-minute time limit;
The Chest (Barney Bernard) defeated Tarzan White;
Alo Leilani beat Al Williams when the latter was disqualified;
in the tag match Don Beitelman (later Don Curtis) and Walter Palmer beat Chris Zaharias and Ivan Rasputin;
Elephant Boy (Tony Olivas) and Balk Estes drew.
CHICAGO MARIGOLD ARENA (1-26-52) -- Tarzan White defeated Ivan Rasputin (latter disqualified);
in a tag match Rudy Kay and Al Williams beat Canadian Angel (Jack Rush) and Chris Zaharias;
Jim Dobie and Alo Leilani were both counted out;
Nature Boy Teddy Rogers (I smell Pfefer!---CM) beat Ned Taylor.
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Crimson Mask I
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quote:Originally posted by Payton23340: Wait...looking at my notes: Yeah, it was MAIAVA in Texas. Let me confirm the spelling in Toronto in 1955.
On the Capitol results from ca. '60, you see it both ways.
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posted
Alo Leilani, real name Albert Lolotai, was the first Samoan to play in the NFL in 1945. On November 29, 1951, he beat Jimmy Coffield in Kansas City for the Heart of America Heavyweight Title.
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quote:Originally posted by Gary Will: It was Prince Maiava who wrestled in Toronto between 1954-1957. He was on a Parkhurst card in those years:
To complicate things even more, in The Rock's book, he thanks his cousins, the Maiavas.
When Peter Maivia first wrestled in Hawaii during the '60s, he was billed as the cousin of Neff Maiava. I always wondered myself if they are really cousins.
Neff Maiava grandson plays for USC as a linebacker.
posted
Neff Maiava came long before Pita Fanene Anderson.
Since I wrote about this entire deal when Steamboat passed away (Steamboat & Neff were a long-time tag team), here goes.
Neff Maiava, real name, was a Samoan who became a big star in many parts of the U.S, but primarily Hawaii.
Pita Fanene Anderson started wrestling in the 60s and worked New Zealand, Japan (where the incident with Billy Robinson happened) and England before anyone in the mainland had ever heard or seen him. When he went to England, the promoter there felt Peter Anderson, the name he came in as, hardly sounded like a Samoan. He gave him the name Peter Maivia. At the time, Pita Anderson had no idea there was a such person as Neff Maiava.
Around 1968, although I could be off on the year, the now Peter Maivia went to Hawaii, and met Neff Maiava. To this day, Peter doesn't know if the U.K. promoter had heard of Neff and he was specifically given the name, but that was what he believed. Peter & Neff, unrelated, became blood brothers, best friends, looked alike, and according to family, were so similar it was as if they were twins, but Neff was much older than Pita. Neff's son, who plays football at UCLA I think (or USC) right now, considers himself first cousin to Dwayne.
Very similar to Afa & Sika. Afa & Sika were wrestling fans in San Francisco who began attending Peter Maivia's matches at the Cow Palace. I don't think Peter came to the mainland until 1969, but again, could be off by a year. Afa & Sika were so huge and beat up security trying to get to the heels that Roy Shire, just as a safety measure, had Jerry Monti befriend them, teach them to wrestle, and got them out of his arenas to Vancouver to start their career. That's the true story of how they got into wrestling, because Roy was afraid, as were the heels, of these big marks beating them up. Peter also befriended them. Again, no actual blood relation although it is claimed, but all of Afa & Sika's children like Rikishi consider Dwayne Johnson a first cousin and Peter an uncle.
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posted
This just in: Guess who the "barefooted Samoan" billed as MIA VIA was in northern California, circa October 1953? Dollars to donuts, it is our old friend, Prince Neff Maiava, in his earliest mainland America sighting -- even before he hastened off for a run in Texas as Prince Maiava.
-------------------- "Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate." -- Thomas Jones
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posted
And "Coconut Willie" -- who handled the interviews, as Maiava was said to speak nary a word of English -- was with him in northern California, as he was during the Texas tour and, as far as I know, beyond.
Only ... does anyone know who "Coconut Willie" was?
-------------------- "Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate." -- Thomas Jones
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I decided the only way to be sure about this issue was to ask Maiava himself again to clarify...
we met a couple of weeks ago with him and his wife and he was more than happy to dicuss his career with me according to Maiava he wasnt the first Samoan in the wrestling Business
Al Lolotai aka Alo Lelani and another Wrestler by the Name of Eli Sua were the first two Samoans ever to get into the business even before Maiava.
He also commented to me that he and Peter Fanene Maivia were wrestling around the Same time but it was Neff Maiava that popularized the Samoan Gimmick and created its attributes such as the hard head deal breaking boards and bricks and such on his head furthermore his hair was so strong he would use it not only to suspend himself from awesome heights but to entangle his oppnents fingers until the skin broke and bled, He also gave to me pictures of his specially made Nail board, Neff is quite proud of all his feats of strength and made sure to let me know they were all authentic every one of them real bricks real boards and real beds of nails he told me the nails were made so that they were one inch apart and they would allow skeptics to examine the nail boards themselves even allowed audience members to come and put out lit cigarettes on the soles of his feet he commented to me "Once a couple of guys thought they were wise and stuck one in my knee but the whole crowd ate those guys right up afterwards" he laughed...
While Maiava was popularizing these traits Peter Maivia (according to Neff Maiava) was working Europe and someone approached Maiava who was the only Samoan still working in Hawaii at the time to ask Maiava to teach the skills to Peter.
Maiava went on to explain to me that at the time Peter Fanene was wrestling with the last name of Anderson. and in order to bill Peter as Neff's new cousin the High Chief they created the similar name Maivia, and thus High Cheif Peter Maivia was created... though its uncertain the date in which Maivia under the name Peter Anderson had originally debuted...
Well thats what I got from Neff Maiava. Sorry if I mixed anything up but I didnt intend to imply Peter Maivia as the very first Samoan to wrestle rather than I meant to name him as the head of the Samoan family to which even Afa names him as the prodginator of the dynasty... even so... Maiava claims both Al Lolotai and Peter Maivia as his cousins so the family with them extends to everyone with Samoan Blood wether related in the Traditional "American Way" or not you have to remember were Samoans we have our own way and its been working fine for us since the beginning of our time... sorry if you cant understand it but not everyone can.
Maosi Tuitele
-------------------- Ua logo tino matagi lelei!
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posted
Neff wrestled on the East Coast for McMahon's Capitol Wrestling in 1960.His manager was Johnny "Rubberman" Walker.Later known as WRESTLING II.
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-------------------- "We were so close, there was no room We bled inside each others wounds We all had caught the same disease And we all sang the songs of peace"-- Melanie Safka
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quote:Originally posted by Rebellious: II believe I can elaborate...
it all started with Peter Maivia...
Peter Maivia was the first Samoan ever to get into the wrestling Business he started his career in NZ having traveled there from Idependent Samoa.
Well... actually no. The original Prince Maivia, Neff Maivia, preceded Peter by some years.
From there on, right (I think), and thank you for contributing your knowledge.
I don't know about the lineage and family tree after 1960, but Crimson Mask is correct except for the spelling of Neff's family name which was spelled MAIAVA, and pronounced my-EE-va.
I remember watching him wrestle in 1959 and the early '60s as PRINCE MAIAVA and frequently teamed up with the Hawaiian Rubberman Johnny Walker.
I recall watching one tag team match on Capitol Wrestling TV back in 1959 or 1960. I don't remember the other members of each team or who won. However, what sticks in my mind like a video loop is Nature Boy Buddy Rogers and Prince Maiava fighting outside the ring while their partners battled in the square circle. Rogers had a plank of wood and each time he smashed Maiava in the head with it the Prince would just shake it off and keep coming. I remember the panicked look on Buddy's face and Ray Morgan saying something like, "He can't stop him, he can't stop him."
I know my era and Prince Maiava was the first of the long line of Samoans. I have no idea who begat whom after Maiava, but I believe that he is still alive and in his 90s. However, as they say, one picture is worth a thousand words.
From my collection: 1960 28"x22' cardboard poster from ISLAND GARDEN ARENA featuring PRINCE MAIAVA & Hawaiian Rubberman JOHNNY WALKER vs. THE FABULOUS KANGAROOS (Costello/Heffernan) [IMG][/IMG]
quote:Originally posted by Crimson Mask from FL: Pssst... read the rest of the thread.
Oh! Hmm... I jumped the gun on that one. Sorry!
In any case, as penance I am posting below a photo of a program in my collection which features Prince Maiava against Nature Boy Buddy Rogers in the main event out in Freeport, Long Island on June 6, 1960. In the program photo Maiava looks exactly how I remember him from those days.
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG] [/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
This is another fine example of collectors providing hard evidence to historians as the two work together exploring pro-wrestlings rich history!
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