| Samoan SWAT Team | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members | Juicy Finau Lance Anoa'i |
| Name(s) | Gangstas in Paradise Hawaiian Beasts Headshrinkers Samoan Gangster Party Samoan SWAT Team |
| Billed from | Hawaii "Samoa" Tahiti |
| Former member(s) | Big Matty Smalls Fatu[1] Great Kokina Samoan Savage Samu[1] Sione Jacob Fatu Paul E. Dangerously (manager) |
| Debut | 1988 |
| Disbanded | 29 October 2023 |
| Years active | 1988–1996 2022–2023 |
Inprofessional wrestling, theSamoan SWAT Team was atag team comprising Juicy Finau andLance Anoa'i, who work inMajor League Wrestling (MLW), where they are formerMLW World Tag Team Champions.
The original Samoan SWAT Team primarily comprisedFatu andSamu, but various iterations alternatively includedGreat Kokina,Big Matty Smalls,Samoan Savage, andSione. They competed in promotions includingNew Japan Pro-Wrestling,World Wrestling Council,World Class Championship Wrestling, andWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The team also appeared in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) as theHeadshrinkers, inExtreme Championship Wrestling as theSamoan Gangster Party (also known asGangstas in Paradise), and in theUniversal Wrestling Association as theHawaiian Beasts.
The Samoan SWAT Teamportrayed a pair of Samoan "savages", often displaying uncivilized behavior such as biting into aturkey carcass during a match and dragging each other by their hair. They were also billed as having hard heads that were impervious to pain; any attack that targeted a Headshrinker's head would have no effect, and an opponent who tried toheadbutt one of them would end up hurting himself. Having hard heads went with typical professional wrestling portrayals of Samoan wrestlers. Most members of the team were members of theAnoaʻi family.
Samula "Samu" Anoa'i is the son ofWild SamoanAfa Anoa'i and Solofa Fatu is the nephew of Afa as well as both of them being the nephews ofSika Anoa'i and part of theAnoaʻi family. In 1985, Samu joinedGino Brito andDino Bravo'sMontreal-basedLutte Internationale promotion, which was the first time he worked in the same territory as his cousin Fatu. When the promotion closed up two years later, the two cousins signed with theWorld Wrestling Council inPuerto Rico and were packaged as the "SamoanSWAT Team": Samu and Fatu.
The team adopted the "Samoan savage" gimmick that had made their fathers so well known and feared throughout the wrestling world, working barefoot and never speaking English on camera. The team became the first everWWC Caribbean Tag-Team Champions on November 7, 1987 when they beatInvader I and Invader III.[2] The duo held the titles for just over a month before dropping them toMark Youngblood andChris Youngblood[2] before leaving the promotion.
Samu and Fatu next appeared in Texas, working forFritz Von Erich'sWorld Class Championship Wrestling promotion. The storyline was thatBuddy Roberts brought the team in to fight his fights against theVon Erich Family and formerFabulous Freebirds partnersMichael Hayes andTerry Gordy. Rogers claimed that "SWAT" was anacronym for "Samoans Will Annihilate Traitors" referring to Hayes and Gordy. The team was presented as an unstoppable force, and even allowed to beat hometown heroesKerry andKevin Von Erich for theWCCW Tag-Team Titles on August 12, 1988.[2]
The Samoans remained undefeated in WCCW until they came up against Roberts’ former partner Michael Hayes and Hayes new partner, "Do It To It"Steve Cox on September 12.[2] The duo recaptured the titles four days later.[2] Hayes and Cox would beat the Samoan SWAT Team for the titles once again on October 15,[2][3] 1988, but lost it back two days later. On September 12, 1988 The Samoan SWAT Team become double champions as they beat"Hollywood" John Tatum andJimmy Jack Funk for theWCWA Texas Tag Team Championship.[2] The Samoan SWAT Team made theirpay-per-view debut atAWA Superclash III, the first (and only) PPV that theAmerican Wrestling Association ever presented. The Samoans successfully defended their WCCW Tag-Team titles against Michael Hayes and Steve Cox.[4]
In the beginning of 1989, the Samoans left WCCW, forcing both tag-team titles to be vacated due to the sudden departure.[2]
The Samoan SWAT Team signed withWorld Championship Wrestling and was brought in as managerPaul E. Dangerously's replacements for the"Original" Midnight Express who had left the promotion. The Samoans also took over the "Original" Midnight Express’ feud with the Midnight Express beating the team atClash of the Champions VI on April 2, 1989.[5] AtThe 1989 Great American Bash the Samoans teamed with former rival Michael Hayes,Terry Gordy andJimmy Garvin losing aWar Games Match toThe Road Warriors, the Midnight Express andSteve Williams.[6]
In the fall of 1989,Paul E. Dangerously was phased out and the Samoans were given a new manager: "The Big Kahuna"Oliver Humperdink. Their ranks were also bolstered by the addition ofThe Samoan Savage who is Fatu's brother. The Samoans started to lose more and more matches as 1989 drew to a close, but their fortunes appeared to be changing due to the injury toSid Vicious. Because Vicious was injuredThe Skyscrapers had to pull out of the "Iron Team Tournament" atStarrcade 1989.
In late-1989, Fatu briefly teamed with theSamoan Savage as "The New Wild Samoans" (a reference to the "original"Wild Samoans).[7] For the remainder of the Samoan SWAT Team's time in WCW Fatu and the Samoan Savage competed under the name New Wild Samoans, while Samu made a few singles appearances.
After leaving WCW in the summer of 1990 the Samoan SWAT Team worked for a number of independent promotions in the US, Europe, Mexico and Japan, often teaming up with family memberRodney Anoaʻi who competed as "Kokina Maximus".[8] The trio wrestled for theUniversal Wrestling Association as the "Hawaiian Beasts", where they won theUWA World Trios Championship.
In 1992, Samu and Fatu signed up with theWorld Wrestling Federation, managed by Samu's father Afa.[9] The team changed their name to the "Headshrinkers" but their gimmick remained the same, Samoan wildmen. Rodney Anoaʻi also signed with the WWF but he was repackaged as "Yokozuna" and the family ties between him and the Samoans were not mentioned on air. The team debuted on an edition ofPrime Time Wrestling defeating local jobbers being called The Samoans, however the team vanished quickly. As The Headshrinkers they first made their presence known when they helpedMoney Inc. beatthe Natural Disasters to win theWWF World Tag Team titles.[10] Early in their run with the WWF the Headshrinkers feuded with the Natural Disasters and the recently formedHigh Energy.[11]
Between 1992 and the early parts of 1994, the Headshrinkers maintained a position in the middle of the tag team division, occasionally challenging for the titles and making sporadic PPV appearances feuding with teams likeThe Smokin' Gunns[12] andMen on a Mission.[13] The Headshrinkers assisted their relative Yokozuna in a casket match againstThe Undertaker at the1994 Royal Rumble.[14] In March 1994 the Headshrinkers turned face and challenged then tag-team championsThe Quebecers, with the addition of managerLou Albano the team won the gold on May 2, 1994. (Taped April 26, 1994).[15] AtKing of the Ring 1994 on June 19 the Headshrinkers successfully defended their tag team titles against Yokozuna andCrush.[16] Their run with the titles came to a surprising end on an untelevised card on August 28 where they lost the titles toShawn Michaels andDiesel.[17] The title change happened just one day before they were scheduled to defend againstIrwin R. Schyster andBam Bam Bigelow.[18] Soon after the title change, Samu left the WWF[1] to recover from injuries and was replaced bySione.
Thekayfabe reason given to Samu's departure was that he "ate some bad fish and got a disease" and was not coping well with manager Lou Albano's attempts to civilize the Headshrinkers, especially wearing boots. For the first time ever, one half of the team was neither a member of the Anoaʻi family nor a Samoan as Sione Vailahi was from the island ofTonga. The new combination made only one pay-per-view appearance as a team which was at the1994 Survivor Series where they were quickly eliminated.[19] The only other notable appearance of Fatu and Sione was as part of the tournament to crown new WWF tag team champions in late 1994, early 1995. The Headshrinkers lost to Bam Bam Bigelow andTatanka in the Semi Finals.[20] By July, the Headshrinkers dissolved, as Sione left the WWF for WCW. By the time, the team was used to put over new teams such asThe Blu Brothers.[21]
After being away from the spotlight for a while Samu returned to the WWF in 1995. Samu along with his cousinMatt Anoaʻi were known as the "Samoan Gangster Party" (or "Gangstas in Paradise") with Samu being known as "Sammy the Silk" and his cousin Matt Anoaʻi (son of Sika) became known as "Big Matty Smalls", and joined Samu as The Samoan Gangstas. The two men did not wrestle for the WWF but watched Fatu from afar as the former Headshrinker tried to turn himself into a positive role model for kids on the street.[22] The angle was dropped as the Samoan Gangster Party never got in the ring or confronted Fatu before he was repackaged.[22] In 1996 they worked forExtreme Championship Wrestling, debuting in June atFight the Power. They feuded mainly withThe Gangstas in a short but intense war.[23][24][25]
From 2003 to 2006, Samu teamed with Mana as The Samoan Island Tribe.[26]
Samu andTama teamed in Mexico as "Los Samoanos".[26]
In 2009, Samu and Nagumbo wrestled as "The New Samoans".[26]
The group returned atMajor League Wrestling'sKings of Colosseum led byJacob Fatu withLance Anoaʻi and Juicy Finau.
On January 7, 2023, Anoaʻi & Finau won theMLW World Tag Team Championship atBlood and Thunder by defeatingEJ Nduka andCalvin Tankman.[27]
On April 6, 2023, Jacob Fatu defeatedJohn Hennigan for theMLW National Openweight Championship atWar Chamber[28]
On October 29, 2023, Anoaʻi and Finau announced onX that they have been granted their release from MLW.[29][30]
Ted Dibiase & IRS (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Natural Disasters to win the titles when Dibiase locked Earthquake in the Million $ Dream after the Headshrinkers interfered
June 4, 1995: Jacob & Eli Blu defeated the new Headshrinkers
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