WWE Pays Tribute to Hall of Famer Sika on SmackDown

Earlier this week, several members of the Anoa’i family shared the news of WWE Hall of Famer Sika’s passing. The 79-year-old has had a major influence in wrestling, one that is still going today with the threads of The Bloodline so heavily present. As WWE typically does to honor one of their own, they held a special memorial on Friday’s SmackDown. Alongside a brief moment of silence, they played an emotional video that featured clips of Michael Cole, Hulk Hogan, Paul Heyman, Mick Foley and Rikishi sharing stories of The Wild Samoans. There were also intimate family photos and a dedicated section to Sika’s son, Roman Reigns.

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Sika’s in-ring career began in the early 1970s where he was a part of Stampede Wrestling, owned by the Hart family in Canada. He and Ava took over the world of tag team wrestling as The Wild Samoans and by the late 1970s they had stepped foot in WWE (then WWF) for the very first time. Sika eventually left the states to wrestle in New Japan Pro Wrestling before returning to WWE where he remained until 1988, around the time his full-time wrestling career also ended. 

He wrestled various independent bookings in the years that followed, with his last “match” taking place in 2006. He is a second-generation wrestler in the Anoa’i family whose legacy is carried on by Reigns as well as the other active Bloodline members, Jimmy and Jey Uso, Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa in WWE, with several of the other family members also being wrestlers. 

On Tuesday night, Reigns took to social media to thank everyone for the outpouring of love sent to him and his family. “My family and I thank everyone for the outpouring of support in the name of my father, Pola’ivao Leati Sika Anoa’i, who will forever be remembered as one half of The Wild Samoans tag team,” Reigns wrote. “My father had a profound impact on my entire family and we are forever grateful for the foundation he built for us. There’s no way to fill the void left by his passing but my sisters and I will do our best to represent him and his legacy. Rest in Power, Dad. We love you.”

ComicBook continues to send its condolences to the Anoa’i family.