| Rosey | |
|---|---|
 Rosey in 2005 | |
| Birth name | Matthew Tapunu'u Anoaʻi[1] |
| Born | (1970-04-07)April 7, 1970[1] San Francisco,California, U.S.[1] |
| Died | April 17, 2017(2017-04-17) (aged 47)[1] Pensacola,Florida, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Congestiveheart failure[2] |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 3 |
| Family | Anoaʻi |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Armageddon II[3] Big Daddy Row Row[3] Captain Chronic[3] Kimo[1] Kuhio[3] Mack Daddy Kane[1] Matt Anoaʻi Matty Samu[1] Matty Smalls[4] Rosey[1] RO-Z[4] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 7 in (201 cm)[5] |
| Billed weight | 420 lb (191 kg)[5] |
| Trained by | Afa Anoaʻi[1][4] |
| Debut | 1995[4] |
| Retired | 2017 |
Matthew Tapunu'u Anoaʻi (April 7, 1970 – April 17, 2017)[1] was an Americanprofessional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure inWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), under the ring nameRosey.
Anoa'i was a member of theAnoaʻi family, a renownedSamoan wrestling family. Anoa'i, along with his late cousinsEddie Fatu and Matt Fatu, was trained at the Wild Samoan Training Facility headed by his uncle,Afa Anoaʻi. Following his training, he competed in Afa'sWorld Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. He began competing in tag team competition withSamu as theSamoan Gangsta Party. The team had a brief stint inExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Throughout the mid-1990s, Anoaʻi competed in various independent promotions and international promotions includingWorld Wrestling Council andFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, winning various tag team championships. In 2001, Anoaʻi signed with the WWE and was assigned toHeartland Wrestling Association (HWA) inCincinnati,Ohio. While situated at HWA, he was placed in tag team competition, alongside Fatu, and the duo won theHWA Tag Team Championship.
After signing with WWE in 2002, Anoaʻi and Fatu were called up to theRaw roster. Known as3-Minute Warning, they were utilized asenforcers for then-General ManagerEric Bischoff. Following the release of Fatu in 2003, Anoaʻi was "discovered" byThe Hurricane and from there on they competed together as a team, known asThe Hurricane and Rosey. After two years of teaming, they won theWorld Tag Team Championship, but disbanded shortly after losing the championship. Anoaʻi then did not re-sign his WWE contract in March 2006.
Following his stint with WWE, Anoaʻi took time off to spend with his young children coaching his oldest sons teams. Anoa'i then continued his wrestling career, appearing at several independent promotions, includingAll Japan Pro Wrestling, Great Championship Wrestling, BAW Championship Wrestling, Appalachian Wrestling Federation, andOhio Valley Wrestling. Aside from professional wrestling, Anoaʻi was a featured contestant on the reality television seriesFat March.
Anoaʻi is part of theAnoaʻi family. He is the son of formerSamoan professional wrestlerSika Anoa‘i, who competed as one half of the Wild Samoans, and Patricia Hooker.[6][7] His younger brother,Joe Anoaʻi, was the starting defensive tackle for theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team and is also a professional wrestler who works for the WWE under the name Roman Reigns.[8] Anoaʻi inducted the Wild Samoans (his father Sika and his uncle Afa) into theWWE Hall of Fame in 2007.[8] Other cousins includeThe Usos,Solo Sikoa,Rikishi,Tama,Yokozuna, Akane, andUmaga.[6]
Growing up, Anoaʻi played football alongsideEmmitt Smith atEscambia High School in Pensacola, Florida. He hoped to play in theNational Football League and played college football for Hawaii. He worked at various nightclubs in New Orleans before deciding to train as a professional wrestler.[9]
Anoaʻi trained with his cousinEddie Fatu at the Wild Samoanprofessional wrestling school operated by members of their family.[10] When their training was completed, they debuted in their uncleAfa'sWorld Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion.[1] One of his first matches was for theWorld Wrestling Council (WWC) promotion inPuerto Rico. Competing under the name "Kuhio", he had two matches for the promotion in November 1995. He first challenged Pulgarcito for theWWC Television Championship on November 24 and then took on future WWC Television ChampionJim Steele on November 25 but lost both.[11] He later began teaming withSamu as theSamoan Gangsta Party, using the name Mack Daddy Kane.[1] It was in the Samoan Gangsta Party where Anoa'i won his first title when he and Samu competed inInternational World Class Championship Wrestling where they won the vacantIWCCW Tag Team Championship in a tournament on December 26, 1995, and ultimately would be the last champions before the promotion shut down.
The Samoan Gangsta Party had a brief stint inExtreme Championship Wrestling in the summer and fall of 1996, feuding with various tag teams, includingThe Gangstas, as well asthe Eliminators and theBruise Brothers. They debuted atHardcore Heaven on June 22, 1996, taking onAxl Rotten andHack Meyers which went to a No Contest.[1] They returned on July 12, going a no contest withBig Dick Dudley andBuh Buh Ray Dudley.[12] The following night atHeat Wave, they lost to The Gangstas.[13] On August 3 atThe Doctor Is In, Anoa'i and Samu took part in a four way for theECW World Tag Team Championship against The Eliminators, The Gangstas, and The Bruise Brothers which was won by The Gangstas.[11] From August to October, The Samoan Gangsta Party continued to get shots at the Tag Team Championship but were never able to win them. On September 20, Anoa'i would take onThe Sandman but came up short.[11]
Anoa'i returned to WXW in 1997, where he held theWXW Tag Team Championship as one half of theSamoan Gangstas with his cousinL. A. Smooth on two occasions.[1][10] They defeated the Love Connection to begin their first title reign on May 24, and the Mad Russian and the Russian Eliminator on September 17 to begin their second.[1] He also returned to the WWC inPuerto Rico during 1997, winning theWWC World Tag Team Championship withTahiti as The Islanders on June 22 defeating Le Ley andRicky Santana.[14] They held the titles for two months before losing them to The Youngbloods by forfeit on August 16. Anoa'i and Smooth then went to theNational Wrestling League where they won the vacant NWL Tag Team Championship by defeated The Grungers on December 12, 1997. They held the belts for three months until they were vacant in March 1998[15]
In March 1999, Anoa'i traveled to Japan to wrestle forFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW).[1] He originally teamed with Fatu as "Armageddon" with Fatu as Armageddon I and Anao'i as Armageddon II. He debuted on March 20, 1999, during FMW's Round Robin Tag League tour teaming with Fatu andRicky Fuji in a losing effort toHideki Hosaka,Hisakatsu Oya, andSuper Leather.[16] After scoring one-on-one wins over Hosaka and Fuji, Anoa'i took part in a round robin tournament for theFMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship but only finished with 2 points.[16] In the summer of 1999, Anoa'i teamed with Fatu and Super Leather in a round robin tournament for theWEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship but missed the semifinals after losing a decision match toHayabusa,Masato Tanaka, andTetsuhiro Kuroda.[17] In May 2000, Anoa'i and Fatu would drop the Armageddon gimmick and began competing as "The Samoans" with Anoa'i changing his name to Matty Samu while Fatu became Eddie Fatu. On June 21, Anoa'i and Fatu defeated Hosaka andYoshinori Sasaki to win theFMW Hardcore Tag Team Championship.[18] The two would hold the titles for a month and made two successful title defenses before dropping the titles back to Hosaka and Sasaki on July 28.
Anoaʻi, along with Fatu, signeddevelopmental contracts withWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and were assigned toHeartland Wrestling Association (HWA), adopting the tag team nameThe Island Boyz, and with Anoaʻi using the ring name Kimo. They won theHWA Tag Team Championship in November 2001, by defeatingEvan Karagias andShannon Moore.[1] They also competed forMemphis Championship Wrestling (MCW), holding theMCW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions.[19]
Kimo (renamed Rosey) and Fatu (renamed Jamal) made their WWE debut on the July 22, 2002, episode ofRaw as3-Minute Warning, a pair ofvillainous savages.[1][20] The name Rosey was inspired byRosey Grier, anAmerican football player.[21] They were "hired" asEric Bischoff'senforcers, attacking random wrestlers each week, after Bischoff either gave people three minutes to entertain him before they were attacked or decided that three minutes of a segment was enough before the team appeared to end it.[20] They attacked numerous wrestlers at the orders of Bischoff, includingD'Lo Brown andShawn Stasiak. They also attacked non-wrestlers, includingring announcerLilian Garcia and retired wrestlersJimmy Snuka,Mae Young andThe Fabulous Moolah.[1] They also attacked twolesbians, which Anoaʻi later cited as his favorite 3-Minute Warningrun-in.[21][22]
In September, 3-Minute Warning began afeud withBilly and Chuck, interfering in theirstorylinecommitment ceremony, and defeating them at theUnforgivenpay-per-view event.[20]Rico, Billy and Chuck's formermanager, also began to manage 3-Minute Warning during this time.[1] They competed regularly in Raw's tag team division until June 2003, when Jamal was released from his WWE contract.[23]
Later in 2003, The Hurricane "discovered" Rosey's potential as asuperhero and christened him as "Rosey, the Super Hero in Training" (the S.H.I.T.).[1] Rosey was involved in numerous sketches involving him training to be a superhero, including helping an old lady to cross the street and attempting to get changed into his superhero costume in aphonebox.[24][25]Rosey and The Hurricane teamed regularly together during this time, wrestling against teams includingChris Jericho andChristian andEvolution.[26][27] On the July 19, 2004, episode ofRaw, Rosey appeared with a new costume, seemingly graduated to a full superhero, officially turning him into afan favorite.[28]
On May 1, 2005, at theBacklash pay-per-view, Rosey and Hurricane defeatedLa Résistance in the finals of a Tag Team Turmoil match to win theWorld Tag Team Championship.[29][30] They were joined for a short while byWWE DivaStacy Keibler, who they referred to as Super Stacy.[1][31] Stacy, however, was then drafted to theSmackDown! brand. On September 5, 2005, Rosey and The Hurricane were defeated byLance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, during their debut match onRaw.[32] This match earned the pair a tag team title shot atUnforgiven.[33] During the title match, Murdoch delivered anelevated DDT on The Hurricane to the outside.[33] The DDT caused Hurricane to suffer astoryline "stinger" and allowed Cade and Murdoch to beat the injured Hurricane later in the match to win the World Tag Team Title from him and Rosey.[33]
The loss of the title eventually brought the team to an end, as they began a losing streak caused by Hurricane's injuries. During the October 17, 2005, episode ofRaw, Hurricane was assaulted byKurt Angle at the request of WWE ChairmanVince McMahon.[34] After the beating footage was shown, Hurricane ripped off his mask and struck Rosey (who had come to the ring to his aid).[34] The following week, Hurricane did not show up for a World Tag Team Title match, leaving Rosey to face the champions Cade and Murdoch alone.[35] During the match, The Hurricane (out of costume) appeared at the top of the entrance ramp, now going by the nameGregory Helms as he watched Rosey get double teamed and defeated.[35] After the match, Helms announced that he was fed up of being funny for the crowd, and that he had been carrying Rosey as a tag team partner.[35] On the November 7, 2005, episode, Helms defeated Rosey in their first encounter since teaming together.[36]
Shortly after this turmoil, Jamal was rehired by WWE, and he and Rosey were scheduled to reunite 3-Minute Warning. The duo wrestled as a tag team during adark match before the January 9, 2006, episode ofRaw.[37] However, on March 21, 2006, Rosey was released from his WWE contract, and the hinted return of 3-Minute Warning never made it to television.[4]
Anoaʻi began competing forAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 2006, using the name RO-Z. He made his debut on June 25, 2006, during the Crossover tour as a member ofRO&D where he teamed withTaiyo Kea in a winning effort againstArashi andSatoshi Kojima with Anoa'i scoring the win over Arashi.[38][39] Two months later, Anoa'i betrayed RO&D and defected to theVoodoo Murders. On September 17, Anoa'i teamed withTaru,Suwama, and"brother" Yasshi againstTaka Michinoku, Taiyo Kea,D-Lo Brown, andBuchanan in a "losing team must disband" match where Anoa'i pinned Kea after Brown and Buchanan turned on Michinoku and Kea.[40] In October, Anoa'i began pursuingMinoru Suzuki and theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On October 29, Anoa'i challenged Suzuki for the Triple Crown Championship but was defeated.[41] He teamed up withSuwama to wrestle in the2006 World's Strongest Tag Determination League where they placed first with nine points and Anao'i even scored a win overKeiji Mutoh along the way.[42] Due to placing first, they made it to the finals where they were defeated bySatoshi Kojima andHiroyoshi Tenzan.[43] He continued to compete for AJPW throughout 2007, including in the 2007January 4 Dome Show at theTokyo Dome, where he teamed withTaru, Suwama, andGiant Bernard to defeatRiki Choshu,Manabu Nakanishi,Takashi Iizuka, andNaofumi Yamamoto.[44][45] On February 17 atPro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 2, Anoa'i teamed with Suwama to take on Taiyo Kea andToshiaki Kawada for the vacantWorld Tag Team Championship but came up short.[46] Anoaʻi participated in the AJPW 2007Champion Carnival tournament as a member of Block B, but he finished with two points in the series, coming last in Block B though he did score a win over Kawada.[47] His last match was on March 30 teaming with TARU and Suwama in a winning effort overAkira Raijin,Kiyonari Sanada, andT28.[48]
During 2006 and 2007, he also competed for a number ofindependentpromotions, including Great Championship Wrestling, BAW Championship Wrestling, and the Appalachian Wrestling Federation.[4] He also returned toHeartland Wrestling Association for a few matches from 2006 to 2007 with one of the appearances being him challengingJon Moxley for theHWA Heavyweight Championship on June 10, 2006, atHWA Road to Destiny.[49]
He wrestled adark match being billed under his real name for WWE on August 20, 2007, before an episode ofRaw; he was defeated byJohnny Jeter.[50] He returned the following day for the August 21SmackDown! taping, where he was again defeated by Jeter.[51] Anoaʻi began wrestling inOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in September 2007, WWE's developmental territory, although he was not under contract with WWE.[4] He wrestled several tag team matches withAfa Jr. as the Sons of Samoa, before leaving the promotion.[52]
He returned to wrestling on the independent circuit, competing for companies including EWF.[53][54] On Saturday, October 31, 2009, Anoaʻi (wrestling as Rosie – Super Hero In Training) made his debut for the Dynamic Wrestling Alliance defeating "Sexy" Sean Casey at the DWA'sMonster Ball event in Cincinnati, which became the promotion's first televised event.[55] His final match was on July 9, 2016, where he reunited with The Hurricane as the two teamed with Vinny Pacifico in a winning effort against Chris Benne, JGeorge, and Steve Scott.[49]
Before his death, Rosey was running a wrestling promotion called Epic Championship Wrestling inFlorida with his father, Sika.
Anoaʻi was a contestant in theABC reality series,Fat March in 2007.[56] The show featured 12 overweight people attempt to walk about 570 miles (920 km) in nine states, in order to lose weight and get fit, while competing for a prize pool of US$1.2 million.[57] A press release for the show stated that Anoaʻi was participating because "it wasn't safe for him to compete" as a professional wrestler, and he needed to "lose weight to return to his career".[57] He left the show during the fifth episode due to a knee injury.[56]
Outside of wrestling, Anoaʻi was involved in several business ventures including a restaurant in Cincinnati[58][59] called Island Boi BBQ[9] but returned to Florida to be closer to his family[58] and was working with his father inPensacola.[60]
Anoaʻi's father wasSamoan professional wrestlerSika Anoa‘i and his mother was Patricia Hooker.[7] He was the brother ofJoe Anoaʻi, better known in the WWE as Roman Reigns. Anoaʻi was half-Samoan and half-Italian.[61] His ex-wife, Amanda Vandeberg Schall, current wife of former MMA fighterKerry Schall, is fromMason,Ohio. They had two sons together, Jordan Iles and Koa Rodney Anoa'i, and a daughter Madison Alani Anoa'i.[6][62]
In January 2014, Anoaʻi was hospitalized due tocongestive heart failure (with which he had been diagnosed years earlier) andatrial fibrillation.[63][58] Anoai's CHF was related to weight gain as he struggled with a chronic knee injury that also caused hip issues. He died on April 17, 2017,[58] 10 days after his 47th birthday, inPensacola, Florida, due to complications related to congestive heart failure.
RO'z defeated Akira Raijin in 2 minutes, 36 seconds with the Arabian Press
Matt Anoai (Rosey) has a new baby daughter, Madison Alani, born Thursday in Cincinnati.
,Internet Wrestling DatabaseLinks to related articles | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||
