Who is Lance Anoa’i? 4 facts about the superstar who made his Raw debut on May 27, 2019
On the May 27, 2019, episode of Raw, a new superstar made his debut for the brand in a one-on-one match with ‘The Best in the World’ Shane McMahon. Hailing from the Samoan Dynasty, the newcomer put on a decent show which saw him getting beaten up by Drew McIntyre so that Shane could score an easy victory.
Lance Anoa’i, the man who wrestled Shane, was chosen to compete against him so that Shane could send a message to Roman Reigns.
While many wrestlers would believe that this was a one-time effort for a jobber, Lance isn’t really a jobber and has a lot of wrestling history behind him.
Lance later took to Twitter to thank the WWE Universe and mentioned that this wasn’t the last time they would see him wrestle in WWE. Does that mean he will be teaming up with Roman Reigns for a few matches down the road?
In this article, we will take a look at 4 facts about the newcomer, and how that impacts his value as a wrestler.
#4 He is a member of the Anoaʻi family
While Lance himself might not be a household name, he belongs to one of the biggest and most prestigious wrestling families in the world.
Lance’s father is Samu, who competed in the World Wrestling Federation as a member of The Wild Samoans and The Headshrinkers.
Famous members of the family include Rikishi, Umaga, Yokozuna, Roman Reigns, The Usos and brothers Afa and Sika Anoaʻi, the Wild Samoans. Peter Maivia and his grandson Dwayne Johnson are considered honorary members.
The fact that he is related to Roman Reigns played a key role in Shane McMahon bringing him out to wrestle, as Shane is scheduled to take on The Big Dog at Super Showdown.
Apart from that, Trinity Fatu (known as Naomi) is part of the Anoa'i family through marriage to Jonathan Fatu (aka Jimmy Uso). Nia Jax is a part of the family as she is Dwayne Johnson's cousin.
This shows what a strong wrestling family and background Lance Anoa’i comes from.