MLW’s Lance Anoa’i was recently interviewed on AdFreeShows.com. Lance is the son of Samu from The Headshrinkers, grandson of Afa from The Wild Samoans, nephew of Rikishi, Umaga, Yokozuna, Manu, and L.A. Smooth. His cousins are Roman Reigns, The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Jacob Fatu. He is currently wrestling in MLW with Juicy Finau as the Samoan SWAT Team. They won the MLW Tag Team Championship on January 7, 2023 at Blood and Thunder from E.J. Nduka and Calvin Tankman.
Lance Anoa’i talking about his injury he suffered last December:
“Everything has been good, man. You know, this last December, I had a setback on my career. I had a rotator cuff surgery so I was out for six months with that and man, once I got going, MLW offered me a great deal. I just been rocking and rolling with them and Jacob. So I’ve been doing nothing but enjoying and having fun again.”
On wanting to pursue a baseball career:
“I never wanted to do it (wrestling). I was always a baseball player. I had an interest, like I would do like, at six, seven years old, I was hitting 450 splashes just doing little run-ins with my father, just doing little spots. But then yeah, I just never want to pursue it. Then I had a knee injury my senior year in high school which set me back. I told my father, I said, ‘Man, this is what I want to do. This is what I want to pursue.’ From there, man, I trained for six months and had my first match right after that and then from there, 13 years later, here I am.”
On being one of the top high school baseball prospects in the country:
“It was huge, man. I’ve been playing since I was four or five years old and I just followed my dreams. Everyone expects me to wrestle, but I always pushed myself the hardest to do something different just like Roman Reigns and The Usos. Their first love was football and wrestling was never on their mind until you know, as my grandfather would say, ‘Take care of what you want to take care of first because wrestling ain’t going anywhere’. That’s what I always heard. Pennsylvania, man, I was killing it out there. It was so long ago, but I I went to Washington College. I went out to Washington State to go to college and right before I started, man, I was like, this ain’t what I want to do anymore. I need to go back east to continue my wrestling career.”
Lance said the WWE will be releasing the original Samoan Swat Team action figures this spring:
“WWE bought the name, Samoan SWAT team. They bought The Headshrinkers name. My dad recently signed a WWE Legends contract, and this spring, the Samoan SWAT team action figures are coming out. It’s the WWE Legacy Series 18. It’s the Samoan SWAT team, Paul Heyman, and Hulk Hogan. The four of them are all coming out this spring.”
On his wrestling future:
“Man, hopefully one day. I love watching WWE and watching my family. The Bloodline are just tearing it up in WWE, but as of right now, I’m just focusing on MLW. They gave me the opportunity. They gave me the shot. I’m ready to rock out my deal. From there, man, all depends where it goes from there. I could stay with MLW longer if they like, WWE, AEW, man, who knows? But I’m just ready to roll with the punches.”
You can listen to the entire interview at AdFreeShows.com.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit AdFreeShows.com with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
