The past 50 years of pro wrestling has had no shortage of Samoan performers, from the Wild Samoans all the way to WWE’s big Samoan faction, the Bloodline with Roman Reigns, the Usos, and more. But between them are the somewhat underrated Samoan SWAT Team, composed of Samu and his cousin, Fatu — who WWE fans will know best as Rikishi.
Fatu and Samu’s run together lasted from 1987 to about 1996, so many fans are likely not as familiar with the duo as they should be. Let’s take a look at the history of the Samoan SWAT Team, from their origins to their modern-day revival.
10 Part of the Anoa’i Family
It seems like a majority of Samoan wrestlers hail from the Anoa’i family, who have basically become a dynasty of sorts over the years, having produced stars like the aforementioned Roman Reigns and the Usos as well as the Rock, Yokozuna, and Umaga, among countless others.
The Samoan SWAT Team are no exception, as Samu is the son of Afa of the legendary and decorated tag team the Wild Samoans, while both he and Fatu are nephews of Afa’s tag team partner, Sika.
9 Debuted The Gimmick in Puerto Rico
While Samu and Fatu shared the ring before, the Samoan SWAT Team gimmick officially debuted in Puerto Rico in 1987, for Carlos Colon’s promotion, the World Wrestling Council. As the Samoan SWAT Team, Samu and Fatu basically adopted the Wild Samoans gimmick, affecting “wildman” or “savage” personas and speaking no English.
In-ring success was quick to follow as Samu and Fatu beat Invader 1 and Invader 3 for the vacant WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship, holding the belts for about a month.
8 Brought In As Mercenaries In WCCW
Following Puerto Rico, the Samoan SWAT Team ventured to Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling. There, they worked as heels employed by Buddy Roberts to take on the Von Erich brothers — Kevin and Kerry — who were the top babyfaces in the promotion.
Fatu and Samu proved to be formidable in Texas as well, and dethroned the Von Erichs to capture the company’s World Tag Team Title in late summer of 1988. A 35-day reign would follow, which would end at the hands of Steve Cox and former Fabulous Freebird Michael “P.S.” Hayes.
7 Became Double Champions In WCCW
It wouldn’t be long, however, before the Samoan SWAT Team won back the World Tag belts from Michael Hayes and Steve Cox, after which the two teams would trade the belts in bouts, escalating matters to stipulations like Street Fights and Steel Cage matches.
While holding the World Tag Titles, Fatu and Samu would also end up dethroning Jimmy Jack Funk and John Tatum to capture another title, World Class’ Texas Tag Team Championship, becoming double champions in the process.
6 Replaced The Midnight Express In The Dangerous Alliance
The year 1989 saw Fatu and Samu sign with WCW and subsequent vacating of their World Class tag belts. In WCW, they became part of Paul E. Dangerously’s Dangerous Alliance faction, taking the place of the original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose) in their feud with the new Midnight Express (Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton).
At The Great American Bash ‘89, the Samoan SWAT Team would enter the WarGames cage match, teaming with the Fabulous Freebirds against Steve Williams, the new Midnight Express, and the Road Warriors in a losing effort.
5 There Are A Number Of Variations On The Samoan SWAT Team
Between their WCW debut and their WWE debut (see below), the Samoan SWAT Team experienced a couple of tweaks to their lineup. Managed by Oliver Humperdinck in late 1989, the SWAT Team would become a trio with the addition of Fatu’s brother, the Samoan Savage, otherwise known as Tonga Kid.
From there, Samu would wrestle singles bouts while Fatu and Samoan Savage wrestled as “the New Wild Samoan.” After leaving WCW, Samu one would also wrestle as the SWAT Team alongside Rodney Anoa’i, who used the ring name Kokina Maximus.
4 Became The Headshrinkers In WWE
The year 1992 saw the Samoan SWAT Team sign to WWE, where they were renamed the Headshrinkers. However, the initial plans were for the duo to be Rodney and Samu, but Rodney got hurt, allowing Fatu to once again team with his cousin. It worked out fairly well for Rodney, as he would eventually debut as the sumo wrestler Yokozuna.
Despite the name change, the Headshrinkers’ “wild man” gimmick remained the same, and Fatu and Samu would put on matches with High Energy and the Natural Disasters early in their run.
3 WWE World Tag Team Champions
During their time together in WWE, the former Samoan SWAT Team would turn babyface, adopting former Wild Samoans manager Captain Lou Albano as their manager.
From there, they would challenge the Quebecers — Jacques Rougeau and Pierre Carl Ouellet — for the World Tag Team Championship, dethroning the champs on a May 1994 episode of Monday Night Raw and ultimately facilitating the Quebecers’ break-up. The Headshrinkers’ reign would last for 124 days, ending at the hands of Shawn Michaels and Diesel at a house show.
2 Captain Lou Albano Attempted To “Civilize” Fatu & Samu
Initially managed by the aforementioned Afa, Captain Lou Albano would join the Headshrinkers’ management team in 1994. Albano’s run as a regular on-screen character would end early the following year, but not before the Captain made some efforts to “civilize” Samu and Fatu in order to help the babyface transition, including making them wear boots.
When Samu had to take time off for injuries, the kayfabe reason was attributed to Albano’s efforts — as well as eating “some bad fish.” The Barbarian would replace Samu, adopting the name Sionne, but this version of the Headshrinkers would find little in-ring success.
1 The New Samoan SWAT Team In MLW
The year 2022 brought a new generation of the Samoan SWAT Team, over in Court Bauer’s promotion Major League Wrestling. This revived version features Samoan Savage/Tonga Kid’s son Jacob Fatu, Samu’s son Lance Anoa’i, and the impressive Tongan super heavyweight Juicy Finau, who isn’t part of the family but whom Jacob Fatu has taken under his wing.
Of the three, Jacob Fatu is arguably the biggest star, having been a part of MLW’s Contra Unit faction and holding the MLW World Heavyweight Championship for 819 days.