| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lance Sterling Anoaʻi[2] (1992-02-15)February 15, 1992 (age 33)[3] Allentown,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Spouse | Canesha White |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent | Samu (father) |
| Family | Anoaʻi |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Lance Anoai |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Trained by | Wild Samoans |
| Debut | April 3, 2010 |
Lance Sterling Anoaʻi (born February 15, 1992) is an Americanprofessional wrestler. He previously wrestled inMajor League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a formerMLW World Tag Team Champion, and inPro Wrestling Noah. He is a member of theAnoaʻi family.
Lance Anoaʻi was born inAllentown, Pennsylvania, to a prominent wrestling family. His fatherSamula worked in theWorld Wrestling Federation under thering name Samu as a member ofThe Wild Samoans and The Samoan SWAT Team/The Headshrinkers. His uncles areAfa Anoaʻi Jr. (better known as Manu) andLloyd Anoaʻi (better known as L.A. Smooth). Anoaʻi grew up surrounded byprofessional wrestling. As a child, he attendedMLW shows with his father and uncle, and later in his career, he shared the ring with them.
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Anoaʻi debuted on April 3, 2010 winning a match for a show promoted by the National Wrestling League vs. Chrono Chris in Martinsburg, West Virginia.[4] He was inWorld Xtreme Wrestling which is owned by his grandfather,Afa Anoaʻi. He often was involved in matches with his kinsSamu,Afa Jr. andSean Maluta.
Anoaʻi wrestled forMaryland Championship Wrestling (MCW), debuting in August 2012. He made his debut for Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) in 2012. At Supercard 2013, Anoaʻi was involved in a battle royal for the number-one contender for the PWS Heavyweight Championship on Night 1 and on Night 2, he had a match withSonjay Dutt. Anoaʻi competed for the PWS Tri State Championship in a Six Way Match at PWS Return to Rahway on September 20, 2013, that included Craven Varro, Starman, Facade, Pat Buck and The Drunken Swashbuckler. At the Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup 2013, he fought Luke Hawx on August 10, 2013, and lasted until the semi-finals.
In 2013, he made his first of many appearances inHouse of Hardcore (HOH). In April 2019, he won the 23rd annualEast Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA)Super 8 Tournament.[5]
On March 3, 2018, he made his debut withMajor League Wrestling (MLW) at their event "Spring Break".[6] In the match, he lost toMaxwell Jacob Friedman.[7] In July 2018 he participated in the first-everBattle Riot at thenamesake event, which was won byTom Lawlor.[8] In October 2018, he started teaming with his father Samu in MLW as The Samoan Island Tribe.[9] In early 2019 he would feud withRich Swann resulting in losses in singles and tag team matches. In April 2019, he competed in thesecond Battle Riot, again unsuccessfully.[10]
On January 7, 2023, Anoaʻi as a member ofThe Samoan SWAT Team with Juicy Finau defeated Hustle & Power (EJ Nduka andCalvin Tankman) for theMLW World Tag Team Championships at MLWBlood and Thunder.[11] On July 8 atNever Say Never, Anoa'i and Finau lost the titles toThe Calling (Akira andRickey Shane Page), ending their reign at 182 days. On October 29, Anoa'i announced onX that he was granted his release from MLW.[12]
On June 22, 2023, Anoaʻi was announced as participant in theN-1 Victory 2023.[13]
On the January 2, 2015 edition ofWWE SmackDown, Anoaʻi made hisWWE debut as an enhancement talent, teaming withRhett Titus in a losing effort againstThe Ascension.[14] On February 1, 2017, he and Titus appeared at aWWE NXT event againstThe Authors of Pain, where he would lose.[3][15] This appearance was related to a tryout he was having with WWE. In April 2019, he fought at another WWE tryout.[5] Anoaʻi made another appearance on the May 27, 2019, show ofWWE Raw, where he facedShane McMahon, and eventually losing the match by submission afterDrew McIntyre attacked him outside the ring, and was subsequently beaten down by McMahon and McIntyre after the match, until his cousinRoman Reigns made the save.[16]It was reported that Anoaʻi had signed with WWE in the Summer of 2024 and had been assigned to itsNXT brand.[17] On October 10, 2025, it was announced he had been released from his contract, not having wrestled a single match during his time.[18]
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