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49-606: Reverend Amituanaʻi Anoaʻi and Peter Maivia were blood brothers , a connection that continued with Amituanaʻi's sons Afa and Sika, who regarded Peter as their uncle. Peter married Ofelia "Lia" Fuataga , who already had a daughter named Ata, whom he adopted and raised as his own. Ata married wrestler Rocky Johnson , and the couple became the parents of Dwayne Johnson , who wrestled as Rocky Maivia and The Rock before establishing himself as an actor. Dwayne's daughter, Simone Johnson , performs in WWE as Ava. Peter's first cousin, Joseph Fanene,

98-618: A Loser Leaves Town match . As a result of losing this match, Smalls was forced to leave the promotion. He left WXW while Smooth focused on a singles career. After a short while, Smalls returned to WXW and the two partners reunited again as Samoan Gangstas and began teaming in the tag team division. They feuded with several tag teams in WXW and focused to regain the WXW Tag Team Championship. However, due to their family disputes and problems with each other, they did not take part in

147-410: A champion there. Independent Mexican wrestlers may use a lot of gimmicks, including some that may be based on copyrighted characters from American television shows, such as Thundercats and X-Men . (These gimmicks are often changed if the wrestler playing them makes it into AAA or CMLL; the most prominent example of non-compliance with this method is midget wrestler Chucky from AAA, whose gimmick

196-527: A five-year extension on its TV wrestling monopoly from January 1982 to December 1986. However, by the mid-1980s Dixon had won over many wrestlers and fans from Joint who were tired of the Big Daddy -orientated direction of Joint. Eventually this culminated in All Star gaining a TV show on satellite channel Screensport and later, a slice of ITV's coverage from 1987 until the end of ITV wrestling in 1988. By

245-525: A good impression may be offered a developmental or even a full-professional contract. The advent of the Internet has allowed independent wrestlers and promotions to reach a wider audience, and it is possible for wrestlers regularly working the indie circuit to gain some measure of fame among wrestling fans online. Additionally, some of the more successful indies have video distribution deals, giving them an additional source of income and allowing them to reach

294-581: A large enough crowd to fill such a venue were they able to do so. Instead, they make use of any almost open space (such as fields, ballrooms, or gymnasiums) to put on their performances. Some independent promotions are attached to professional wrestling schools , serving as a venue for students to gain experience in front of an audience. As independent matches are seldom televised, indie wrestlers who have not already gained recognition in other promotions tend to remain in obscurity. However, scouts from major promotions attend indie shows, and an indie wrestler who makes

343-549: A larger audience outside of their local areas. Unlike the North American or Japanese products which have large, globally renowned organisations such as WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling with several hundred smaller promotions , Australia only has approximately 30 smaller independent circuit promotions which exist in all but one of the states and territories, that being the Northern Territory . Tours from

392-541: A major promoter with shows featuring himself as headline heel. In 1958, when Bert Assirati was stripped of the British Heavyweight Championship , Lincoln formed the BWF alliance of promoters to support Assirati's claim, later recognising Shirley Crabtree as champion. Lincoln's BWF was eventually bought out into Joint in 1970. Welsh promoter Orig Williams also used the BWF name, promoting from

441-524: A member of the Anoaʻi family, Paul Heyman has served as the manager of several members of the family, including Rikishi and Roman Reigns. Peter Maivia Jr., son of Peter Maivia , wrestled for NWA Polynesian Pro Wrestling . Hollywood stuntman Tanoai Reed (known as Toa on the American Gladiators ) is the great nephew of Peter's wife Lia Maivia, while professional wrestler Lina Fanene (Nia Jax)

490-532: A region and maintain a consistent schedule. After Vince McMahon , seeking regulatory relief, gave in 1989 testimony in front of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission where he publicly admitted pro wrestling was in fact a sports-based entertainment, rather than a true athletic competition, many state athletic commissions stopped regulating wrestling. This obviated the need for complying with many expensive requirements, such as

539-534: A sofa, wields a katana , and is put down when a statue is broken on his head. He was also the film's stunt fight co-ordinator . In 1981, Maivia was diagnosed with inoperable cancer , having reportedly ignored symptoms along with his friends and family's requests to see a doctor. He died on June 13, 1982. Maivia was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame , along with his daughter's ex-husband Rocky Johnson , in 2008 by his grandson Dwayne Johnson , with

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588-657: A tag team currently wrestling in the Puerto Rican wrestling promotion World Wrestling Council and WXW. The team consists of Afa Jr. and L.A. Smooth . The team was formed at WXW in 1998, briefly as a stable with Samu . The team reformed in April 2009 at a WXW show with Afa Jr. and L.A. Smooth. In 2013, they began wrestling at the WWC promotion in Puerto Rico. At Euphoria 2013, they lost to Thunder and Lightning . They won

637-466: A tag team using the names Rosey and Jamal, respectively. 3-Minute Warning acted as enforcers for Raw brand General Manager Eric Bischoff . The team was used to squash any activity in the ring that Bischoff deemed "boring". Bischoff would often cue the team's surprise entrances by uttering the phrase "three minutes". Samoan Gangstas was a tag team in the independent promotion World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW). The tag team consisted of members from

686-482: A week or once a month in local towns. Independent promotions are usually local in focus and, lacking national TV contracts, are much more dependent on revenue from house show attendance. Due to their lower budgets, most independent promotions offer low salaries (it is not unusual for a wrestler to work for free due to the fact most promoters can only afford to pay well-known talent). Most cannot afford to regularly rent large venues, and would not be able to attract

735-649: Is Dwayne Johnson 's second cousin once removed. Ricky Johnson, Rocky Johnson 's brother, was also a professional wrestler. Dwayne Johnson's daughter Simone performs in WWE 's developmental brand NXT as Ava (shortened from her previous ring name Ava Raine). She is the on-screen general manager of NXT. Afa Anoaʻi 's daughter, Lynn Toval Anoaʻi (Vale Anoaʻi), is an author and artist. Vale's husband wrestles for World Xtreme Wrestling as Vertigo "The Cure" Rivera. Journey Fatu, son of Sam Fatu , wrestles primarily in deathmatches . Thamiko T. Fatu, son of Rikishi , wrestles on

784-657: Is a villainous professional wrestling stable performing in WWE. The group was initially led by Roman Reigns , who was the first to simultaneously hold the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship . Also in the group is Reigns' cousin Solo Sikoa , who is a former NXT North American Champion and current leader of the group. The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), who previously held

833-511: Is also not uncommon for veteran wrestlers who have had past tenures with major promotions to appear on independent shows, either as special attractions or as a way to prolong their careers. The "indie" scene in the United States dates back to the days of regional territories. When a promoter ran opposition in even one town controlled by a National Wrestling Alliance sanctioned territory, they were often called an "outlaw" territory. This

882-640: Is based on the Child's Play movies.) Until 1984, no independent puroresu promotion per se existed in Japan; potential talent went directly into the training dojos of either New Japan Pro-Wrestling or All Japan Pro Wrestling . ( International Wrestling Enterprise also was a third-party promotion until 1981.) The advent of the Japanese Universal Wrestling Federation offered a long-sought third alternative. From 1986 to 1988

931-573: Is considered by some to be a forerunner to indies since some stars of the past got their start in these low quality local rivals to the big regional territories. The modern definition of the independent circuit came about in the middle to late 1980s and fully formed and flourished after 1990. These promotions initially sought to revive the feel of old school territorial wrestling after former territories either went national, such as WWF , went out of business, or eventually did both, such as WCW . Several indies did in fact manage to tour different towns within

980-549: The AWA winning many championships in the process. He joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation in mid-1977. He was one of the company's biggest stars, working matches with many top wrestlers such as Superstar Billy Graham , Ivan Putski and Bob Backlund . He turned heel for the first time in his career in 1978 on Backlund in a match against Spiros Arion and Victor Rivera . During his tenure in

1029-1033: The NWA 's New Zealand territory. Later in 1964, Maivia followed up his previous success by winning the NWA Australasian Heavyweight Championship . Maivia became the new Australasian champion by defeating Kangaroo Kennedy , and he carried the belt for four years before finally losing it to Steve Rickard in 1968. After developing his repertoire and ring skills in New Zealand, Maivia slowly began to branch out and take bookings in larger promotions. Maivia continued working mainly in Hawaii during most of his career. In 1968 he worked for International Wrestling Enterprise in Japan. From 1969 to 1975 he worked in NWA San Francisco , NWA Hollywood , WCCW , Houston Wrestling , and

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1078-806: The National Wrestling Alliance member Polynesian Pro Wrestling in Hawaii . Maivia made his debut in 1960 at the age of 23. He worked for NWA Hawaii , and in other places including France, and the United Kingdom. After spending his first twenty years in American Samoa, Maivia moved to New Zealand. He began competing, wrestling under the ring name Prince Peter Maivia. He was trained in New Zealand by local wrestler and promoter Steve Rickard . Both in and out of

1127-569: The WWC World Tag Team Championship from Thunder and Lightning on February 9, before losing the titles back to Thunder and Lightning on March 30 at Camino a la Gloria. However, they won the titles on June 29, 2013, at Summer Madness. The Usos (born August 22, 1985) were a Samoan American professional wrestling tag team consisting of twin brothers Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso , who appear in WWE. They were three-time Raw Tag Team Champions (during their first two reigns, it

1176-493: The independent circuit . Sean Maluta , Afa's nephew, was a participant in WWE's Cruiserweight Classic tournament. Afa's nephew David Tua is a professional boxer . Jimmy Snuka was a member of the Anoa'i family though his marriage to Sharon Georgi. Their two children, Jimmy Snuka Jr. (otherwise known as Deuce ) and Tamina Snuka , would also wrestle for WWE. In WWE from 2002 to 2003, Matt Anoaʻi and Eddie Fatu formed

1225-408: The indies ) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. Independent promotions are essentially viewed as a minor league or farm system for the larger national promotions, as wrestlers in "indie" companies (especially young wrestlers just starting their careers) are usually honing their craft with

1274-524: The Anoaʻi family. Samoan Gangstas was a tag team made up of brothers from another mothers Matt E. Smalls and Sweet Sammy Silk (Matt and Samu Anoaʻi). Their tag team was formed in 1997 in WXW, the promotion of one half of The Wild Samoans , Samu's father and Matt's uncle Afa Anoaʻi . The duo received success in WXW in the tag team division. On June 24, they won their first WXW Tag Team Championship by beating Love Connection (Sweet Daddy Jay Love and Georgie Love). However, they were temporarily suspended and

1323-566: The Flyinʻ Hawaiian, was of the Ali'i lineage of Malietoa . Maivia's traditional Samoan tattoos , which covered his abdomen and legs, were a symbol of his High Chief status. According to Superstar Billy Graham , they were completed in three days. His wife Ofelia Fuataga, more commonly known as Lia Maivia , was one of the first female professional wrestling promoters. Maivia adopted Lia's daughter Mataniu Feagaimaleata "Ata" Fitisemanu. Maivia

1372-723: The Japanese system went back to the two-promotion system, but then the UWF was reformed and another promotion, Pioneer Senshi, was started. Because of Japanese societal mores which implied that a wrestler was a lifelong employee of a company and thus identified with it wherever he went, neither AJPW nor NJPW made an effort to acquire wrestlers trained in other promotions; wrestlers from the major promotions who left, such as Genichiro Tenryu , Gran Hamada , Yoshiaki Fujiwara , Akira Maeda , Atsushi Onita , and Nobuhiko Takada had to start their own independent promotions in order to keep themselves in

1421-595: The North American product are regularly sold out in capital cities such as Melbourne , Sydney , Perth and Brisbane . Lucha libre has many more independent wrestlers in proportion to the rest of North America, because of the weight classes prevalent in the Mexican league system as well as its emphasis on multiple person tag matches; just about anyone with ability can emerge from an independent promotion into either AAA or Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and be

1470-499: The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, left the group, though Jimmy rejoined and was subsequently removed post-WrestleMania XL. In February 2024, The Rock —considered a cousin by Reigns through ancestral blood brothers—joined the group. Paul Heyman , who is the special counsel to Reigns, is also a member of the group. On April 12, 2024, Tama Tonga , adopted son of Haku , joined The Bloodline as

1519-722: The WWWF, he also competed in Hawaii, Japan, Toronto, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New Zealand. He left the WWWF, which had now been renamed to the WWF, in 1981. After leaving the WWF, Maivia returned to California and won the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship . He wrestled in his last match in Hawaii in February 1982, defeating Victor Rivera in a singles match. He retired on February 11, 1982, due to his battle with cancer. Maivia, also known as

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1568-417: The award being accepted on his behalf by his daughter Ata Maivia-Johnson. In the 2016 Disney animated film, Moana , the character design of Maui was derived from photographs of Peter Maivia, according to interviews with his grandson, Dwayne Johnson, who voices Maui in the film. Independent circuit In professional wrestling , the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or

1617-461: The death of Giant Baba and retirement of Antonio Inoki , which effectively broke their control over the promotions they founded, the major promotions began looking to the smaller promotions for talent. In 2000, the first major signing from an independent, Minoru Tanaka by NJPW from BattlARTS , took place; soon after NJPW stocked the junior heavyweight division with independent talent such as Masayuki Naruse , Tiger Mask , Gedo , and Jado . On

1666-553: The end of this period, All Star had effectively replaced Joint (by now owned by Max Crabtree , brother of Shirley) as the dominant promotion in the UK. Joint, renamed Ring Wrestling Stars in 1991, dwindled down before closing with Crabtree's retirement in 1995, All Star has continued to be the dominant non-import live promotion in the UK up to the present day. Its principal competitors since that time have been Scott Conway's TWA, John Freemantle's Premier Promotions, RBW and LDN Wrestling. Since

1715-409: The future. Peter Maivia Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia (born Fanene Pita Anderson ; April 6, 1937 – June 13, 1982), better known as Peter Maivia , was a Samoan-American professional wrestler, actor and stunt coordinator. Maivia was the grandfather of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson via adoption, and was also part of the famous Anoaʻi family via blood brother pact. He was also the promoter of

1764-537: The goal of being noticed and signed by a major national promotion such as WWE , All Elite Wrestling (AEW) (which also owns Ring of Honor (ROH)), or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in the United States, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide or Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico, or New Japan Pro-Wrestling , Dragongate , All Japan Pro Wrestling , World Wonder Ring Stardom or the CyberFight promotions in Japan. It

1813-469: The independents that were signed included Akitoshi Saito , Takahiro Suwa , and Taiji Ishimori ). Although AJPW, NJPW, and Noah remain committed to their dojos, the reliance on independents is growing as obscure talent is recognized for its ability. For most of the years of ITV 's coverage of British Wrestling, the dominant promoter in the United Kingdom was the Joint Promotions cartel, which

1862-416: The late 1960s up until the early 2000s and then sporadically until his death in 2009. From 1982 to 1995, Williams had a Welsh language TV wrestling show "Reslo" on S4C. Brian Dixon, a referee for Williams, set up his own company Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead later renamed All Star Wrestling c.  1984 . An alliance with promoter and former top star Jackie Pallo failed to prevent Joint gaining

1911-405: The limelight ( Wrestling Association "R" , Universal Lucha Libre , Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi , Fighting Network Rings , Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling , and Hustle respectively) . As the 1990s ended, though, things began to change. Independent promotions began gaining more prominence as they were featured in major specialized media such as Shukan Puroresu and Shukan Gong magazines. With

1960-426: The need for an on-site ambulance and trained emergency medical personnel at each bout. After the business was thus exposed and deregulated, just about anyone could be a promoter or a wrestler since no licensing beyond a business license was then required. Many thought they could save money by holding shows in lesser towns and smaller arenas with little to no televised exposure, leading to many shows being held only once

2009-628: The ring, Rickard taught the young Samoan a great deal about professional wrestling, and under his guidance, Maivia developed at an amazing rate. On 3 August 1964, after less than a year in the business, he won the New Zealand Heavyweight Championship . The title victory was impressive, however Maivia's reign was extremely short, and he held the championship for just three days, with the championship returning to Rickard on August 6, 1964. The point had been made though, and from then onward, Maivia enjoyed main-event status in

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2058-534: The same year, following the Pro Wrestling Noah split, AJPW was forced to fill its ranks with independent talent; Nobutaka Araya , Shigeo Okumura and Mitsuya Nagai signed up (Araya is the only one who remains, but other signings since then have been Kaz Hayashi , Tomoaki Honma , Hideki Hosaka , and Ryuji Hijikata .) Noah admitted one wrestler from the independents, Daisuke Ikeda , to its ranks as well (Ikeda has since left, but other wrestlers from

2107-423: The title was declared vacant. Matt was repackaged as Matty Smalls. They returned in the summer of 1997 and defeated Siberian Express (The Mad Russian and Russian Eliminator), on September 17 to win their second WXW Tag Team Championship. Problems began between Smalls and Smooth. The two partners began feuding with each other and could not focus properly on their tag title. On March 27, 1998, Smooth defeated Smalls in

2156-528: The tournament for the vacated tag title, and instead feuded with each other. Samoan Gangstas feuded with each other after their splitting until Smalls left WXW and began wrestling as Kimo. He began teaming with Ekmo (Eddie Fatu) as The Island Boyz and the duo worked in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) before signing with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and working in its developmental territories. The Sons of Samoa are

2205-479: The “Right Hand Man” to Solo Sikoa. Haku is considered an uncle by The Rock. On May 4, 2024, Tonga Loa , son of Haku, joined The Bloodline. On the June 21 episode of SmackDown, Jacob Fatu , son of Sam Fatu , debuted in WWE as a member of The Bloodline and is currently Solo Sikoa’s personal enforcer. Hikuleo , adopted son of Haku, wrestled his final match for NJPW on June 9, 2024. There are reports linking him to WWE in

2254-696: Was called the WWE Tag Team Championship) and five-time SmackDown Tag Team Champions —their fifth reign is the longest reign for the title as well as the longest male tag team championship reign in WWE history. They are the first tag team to simultaneously hold the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship . The pair were previously managed by Tamina Snuka and are one-time FCW Florida Tag Team Champions . The Bloodline

2303-464: Was originally modelled on the NWA and later amalgamated into a single company. Nonetheless, throughout this period, untelevised alternative promotions flourished with at least one significant competitor to Joint for live shows. Initially the main rival was the former dominant promotion in the territory, Atholl Oakley 's BWA. By the time of its demise, wrestler/promoter Paul Lincoln had established himself as

2352-561: Was the blood brother of Amituanai Anoaʻi, the father of the Wild Samoans ( Afa and Sika ), and thus the Anoaʻi family regard the Maivia family as part of their own family. Maivia was also an actor, appearing in the fifth James Bond film, You Only Live Twice , where he played a driver who transports a disguised Bond to Osato headquarters. His character also fights Bond, is hit with

2401-797: Was the father of Savelina Fanene, who is known in WWE as Nia Jax . Trinity Fatu, known in WWE as Naomi , married into the family by marrying Jimmy Uso. Jimmy Snuka is related by marriage, having been married to Sharon Georgi, the daughter of a Samoan chief who was also blood brothers with Peter Maivia and Reverend Anoaʻi, effectively making her their niece. Jimmy's children Sarona Snuka , known as Tamina, and Jimmy Snuka Jr , known as Deuce or Sim Snuka, have both wrestled for WWE. Dwayne Johnson considers Tonga ʻUliʻuli Fifita, known in wrestling as Haku , his uncle. Tonga's sons Tama Tonga , Tanga Loa , and Hikuleo , and their cousin Bad Luck Fale , have all wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Although not

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