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00:00There have been many legendary professional wrestling dynasties, from the Guerreros and
00:16the Von Erics to the Hearts and the McMahons themselves. But of all the great families to
00:21have graced the business, none have produced as many notable sports entertainers as the
00:25extended Anawahi clan. The Samoans often portrayed wild men in the ring, using their incredible size,
00:31strength and athleticism, while playing up the savage stereotype. Their workers won them
00:36plaudits and ensured that family members typically have jobs or at least receive opportunities on the
00:41biggest stages. Away from the spotlight, however, the Anawahi family have, at times, struggled with
00:47life in the civilian world, these struggles occasionally landing them in trouble with the
00:52law, and every now and again, behind bars in a jail cell. The Anawahi family deserve to be
00:58celebrated for their enormous contributions to the wrestling industry, an industry that would look
01:02very different without them. But as this legacy continues to be pushed in major storylines on
01:08WWE television, it's worth remembering, or simply noting for those unfamiliar, that their path to
01:14the top was not always a smooth, incident-free ride. On the contrary, the Anawahi family, either those
01:20born into it, or those who became members by marriage, are no strangers to controversy and
01:25have had a fair few criminal convictions in their history that many fans may know nothing about.
01:50The Anawahi family's documented criminal history begins in December of 1970, and it begins with
02:00a tragedy. On Christmas Day 1970, Afa Anawahi, who had not long since made his in-ring debut but would
02:07go on to have a Hall of Fame career with his brother Sika in the Wild Samoans tag team, was involved in an
02:12incident that turned deadly. According to reports in the Argus, a newspaper for the town of Fremont,
02:18California, Afa became involved in an altercation that escalated and resulted in a 50-year-old man
02:24being sent to the hospital. Per the reports, Afa punched Fremont resident James P. Reagan at about
02:294.50pm following a dispute over parking spaces. The two men had been arguing about cars being parked
02:36in a manner that other vehicles couldn't get out. Specifically, it was overblocking a driveway by
02:41visitors to Reagan's neighbour, a 36-year-old man named Leonard Patton.
02:46The report cited witness accounts that Patton first slapped Reagan in the face, after which
02:51the 27-year-old Afa struck him, rendering him unconscious. Reagan, it should be noted,
02:57was described as being a £156 church gardener. Reagan was rushed to the Kaiser Hospital in Hayward,
03:04California, where he was treated for internal injuries. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries
03:10on December 27th. Afa was charged with felony manslaughter for the Christmas Day incident and
03:16pleaded innocent when appearing in municipal courts on January 26th, 1971. Despite his plea,
03:23on July 23rd, Afa was arraigned on a charge of second-degree murder after the Superior Court ruled
03:28that manslaughter was not the correct legal charge. At a later hearing, Deputy District Attorney John Burke
03:35argued to Judge Roy G. Pucci that Afa had acted neither in the heat of passion nor with diminished
03:40capacity, so that malice was inferred. However, the judge disagreed and said that Reagan had died
03:46due to a spontaneous quarrel and reduced the charge against Afa to involuntary manslaughter.
03:52On January 12th, 1973, the Oakland Tribune reported that an Alameda County Superior Court jury
03:58had found Afa guilty of involuntary manslaughter, with Judge Gordon Minder scheduling sentencing for
04:04February 2nd. The Oakland Tribune article also noted that at the time of the crime, Afa was on
04:10parole for armed robbery in Alameda and the Contra Costa counties. Ultimately, Afa would not do any
04:16time for his involvement in Reagan's senseless and utterly avoidable death. He was given a suspended
04:22prison sentence and put on probation for five years. Judge Minder also ordered him to pay Reagan's
04:28family $3,500, as well as $75 a month in child support for his third child, who was living with
04:34a grandmother. A former U.S. Marine, Afa would continue to wrestle around the world for the rest
04:40of the decade, eventually becoming a regular with the World Wrestling Federation. When his active in-ring
04:45career came to an end, he became a trainer and gave starts to future stars such as Batista.
04:51In a 1998 interview with Allentown, Pennsylvania newspaper, The Morning Call, Afa said that part of
04:57the reason he opened his school was to get wayward youths off the streets and stop them succumbing to
05:02drugs and a life of crime. Afa Anawahi passed away on August 16th, 2024, at the age of 80.
05:15Fiji-born high flyer Jimmy Snooker was a member of the Anawahi family by marriage, having wed Sharon
05:21Georgie in 1964. Georgie was the daughter of a Samoan chief who was blood brothers with Peter
05:27Maivia and Reverend Anawahi, effectively making her their niece. Though Snooker was married to Georgie,
05:33he had what newspapers referred to as a travelling companion during the early 1980s. Nancy Argentino
05:40was Snooker's girlfriend and mistress and accompanied him on the road while Snooker was
05:44working as one of WWE's main attractions. As well as being his girlfriend, she also provided the
05:50function of driving Snooker from arena to arena as he didn't have a license and most of the locker
05:55room refused to travel with him due to his irrational, often drug-fuelled behaviour.
06:00Their relationship was tempestuous and one particular incident resulted in Superfly being taken to jail.
06:07At around 2am in the morning of January 18th, 1983, police were called to the Howard Johnson
06:12Motor Lodge in the town of Salina, New York after receiving a call from night manager Thomas Donovan
06:18about a woman screaming. Guests in an adjoining room had called the front desk to complain of
06:23loud noise and what they said was a male beating up a female. Police showed up to find the then 39-year-old
06:29Snooker and the 22-year-old Argentino in the hallway arguing. According to reports,
06:34Snooker was either naked or wearing only his underwear, while Argentino was covered by a sheet.
06:40Argentino told officers that Snooker had returned from a match in Elmira when he became angry with her as she
06:46was ignoring him while he tried to talk to her about the truth of God. Argentino made it clear
06:52that she wanted to get away from her boyfriend, but he ignored her and the officers and dragged
06:57Argentino back into their room before slamming the door. Deputies called for additional help
07:02and forced the door open. Snooker resisted, pushing one officer against the wall before another officer
07:08placed a nightstick against Snooker's throat as others worked to get him in handcuffs. All told,
07:13it took a total of nine officers and two police dogs, one of which accidentally bit an officer
07:18on the thigh during the scuffle to properly subdue him. Snooker was then dragged to a police car in
07:24his underwear after refusing to put on clothes. Snooker was charged with assault, attempted assault,
07:29resisting arrest and obstruction and held in the county jail before being released on a $5,000 bond.
07:36Argentino, meanwhile, was taken to the hospital with injuries to her head,
07:40back and scalp from being dragged by her hair. Snooker ended up plea bargaining down and pleading
07:46guilty to just one charge of harassment that April in Selenatown Court. He also paid a $15 fine
07:53and around $1,500 to the Ronald McDonald House charity, a favourite of Sheriff John Dillon.
07:59Justice Herman Harding gave Snooker a one-year conditional discharge.
08:04Following a main event match at a house show in Syracuse on April 7th,
08:08Snooker publicly apologised for the January incident in front of the live crowd.
08:13Publicly, Superfly was repentant. Argentino had initially sought prosecution,
08:18with an officer's note saying that Vince McMahon had attempted to talk her out of making an official
08:23complaint. However, she made up with her man despite the protestations of her family and continued
08:29to travel with him around the North East. It was a decision that would prove deadly.
08:35On May 10th, 1983, Snooker performed at a television taping at the Lehigh County Agricultural Hall in
08:41Allentown, Pennsylvania. After finishing his last match for the evening, he returned to the George
08:46Washington Motor Lodge in nearby Whitehall, where he found Argentino gasping for breath. Snooker called for an
08:53ambulance at 11.47pm, but it was in vain. Despite the ambulance crew working on her feverishly at the
09:00scene, Nancy Argentino passed away two hours later at the Lehigh Valley Hospital Centre. The cause of
09:06death was due to complications of a skull fracture. Upon viewing the body, County Coroner Wayne immediately
09:12suspected foul play and notified the District Attorney. Given the couple's history and the fact
09:18that he had placed the call, Snooker was labelled as the only suspect in her death and brought in for
09:23questioning. Yet, after being questioned, Snooker was released while an autopsy determined that Nancy
09:28had died due to injuries sustained in a fall. However, there were marks of abuse all over
09:34Argentino's body, including over two dozen cuts and bruises, leading many to speculate that her death
09:39was not simply the result of an accidental head injury, which Snooker claimed to law enforcement
09:44occurred when the two of them pulled over to the side of the road to relieve themselves earlier in
09:48the day and Nancy slipped, having initially told officers that he had pushed her during some rough
09:54horseplay. Investigators were looking to ascertain whether the fall was accidental or part of an
10:00intentional act. However, after an investigation that lasted just a couple of weeks, the decision was
10:05made not to file charges against Snooker and officially the case was left open. Snooker would have
10:12further issues with the law, however, when WWE toured the Middle East in 1984 and 1985.
10:18On one tour, Snooker was reportedly involved in a fight at a hotel regarding his behaviour with a
10:23woman. On another tour in Kuwait, Snooker was caught with cocaine strapped to his body by customs
10:28officials and was only permitted to leave the country after some costly mediation from WWE officials.
10:35On yet another occasion, Snooker was found with cocaine and this time sent to jail. It took Rocky
10:41Johnson, who supposedly had some sway with a Saudi Arabian king, to get him out of there.
10:46This escalation in irrational and destructive behaviour was the end of the line for Snooker,
10:51who had undergone a stint in rehab prior to these incidents, and WWE let him go.
10:57That same year, the family of Nancy Argentino, who never accepted what the Allentown authorities had
11:02told them regarding her death, hired a private investigator and filed a wrongful death lawsuit
11:07against Snooker. They won a default $500,000 judgment against Snooker, who filed for bankruptcy
11:14in Hawaiian courts later that year and never paid. Though Snooker was never formally charged in the
11:19death of Nancy Argentino, interest in the case remained high. That interest was reignited by a 2013
11:26article in the Allentown Morning Call newspaper, which included a pathologist's report that gave the
11:31recommendation her death should be investigated as a homicide. The case was reopened, and following a
11:37grand jury investigation, Snooker was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and involuntary
11:43manslaughter on September 1, 2015. The grand jury said they came to the decision based on new witnesses
11:51coming forward, coupled with Snooker's own inconsistent statements about the incident over the course of
11:56three decades, including in his 2012 ghost-written autobiography. A demonstrable history of domestic
12:02violence against not only Argentino, but his ex-wife Georgie, was another factor. They concluded that Snooker
12:09repeatedly and brutally beat Nancy Argentino on May 10th, 1983, then allowed her to lie in bed while
12:16he went to wrestle and failed to get her the medical attention that could have potentially saved her life.
12:22Two months after being charged, Snooker pleaded not guilty.
12:26Sadly, Argentino's family would not get their long-awaited day in court. On June 1, 2016,
12:33Judge Kelly Bernack ruled that Snooker, who had been battling stomach cancer and was reportedly
12:38suffering from dementia, was not mentally competent to stand trial. On January 3, 2017,
12:44the charges against Jimmy Snooker were dismissed. He died of stomach cancer just 12 days later,
12:51at the age of 73.
12:59Canadian-born Wade Douglas Bowles began his professional wrestling career in 1964,
13:04becoming a major star in various territories as Rocky Johnson. The Soul Man made WWE history when,
13:11in a match taped on November 15, 1983, he and Tony Atlas became the first black men to win
13:16championships in the company when they defeated the Wild Samoans to bag the tag team titles.
13:22Johnson had married Atamaya Veer, daughter of Lea Maia Veer and then adopted by her husband,
13:27High Chief Peter Maia Veer.
13:30After the Soul Patrol had dropped the tag titles, Rocky Johnson's professional wrestling career
13:35entered a downswing. And while wrestling for the Tennessee-based CWA promotion in the fall of 1987,
13:41Johnson was accused of violating a 19-year-old woman who was a huge wrestling fan and had,
13:46according to her sister, been talking to Johnson about going to wrestling school.
13:51Per reports, the woman said that Johnson and three other men assaulted her in a car,
13:55a blue pickup truck belonging to another man, in a rural area of Madison County on September 21st.
14:02Records showed that Johnson wrestled a match at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis on that date.
14:07The woman further claimed that the four men forced her to become drunk before carrying out the assault,
14:12though nobody else was charged in relation to the alleged crime.
14:15Johnson was arrested and then released after posting a $10,000 bond.
14:20The belief within the business was that charges would be dropped,
14:23since the woman changed her story numerous times after initially going to the police.
14:27Johnson himself believed that he had been set up by rival wrestlers.
14:31Johnson went back to work for the CWA promotion on October 5th,
14:35though his presence was played down on cards he was never put over,
14:38and didn't appear on the company's television afterwards.
14:41His last appearance for CWA came on November 1st at an event in Jackson, Tennessee,
14:47where he put over Hector Guerrero.
14:49In January, the grand jury in Tennessee concluded that they couldn't find enough evidence to indict
14:54Johnson, believing that the alleged victim's story didn't hold up to scrutiny.
14:59That same month, Johnson began working in Puerto Rico, although the run would be brief,
15:04as his in-ring career was, for all intents and purposes, over.
15:07His run-ins with the law, on the other hand, were not.
15:10In September of 2000, while his son Dwayne was riding high as one of the biggest stars in WWE,
15:16Rocky Johnson was put under investigation for theft and harassment.
15:20According to an article in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, the then 56-year-old was accused of
15:25making improper comments towards women at the Pine Island Community Center, where he worked part-time
15:30as an activities leader and weight room supervisor, making $9.11 an hour as a town employee.
15:37He was also accused of taking home a boxing dummy that was worth $200 from the gym, though Johnson's
15:42lawyer Daniel Aronson claimed that that was a misunderstanding and that his client had been
15:46instructed to take it home by a supervisor so that he could then transfer it to another town
15:50fitness center the next day. Town officials had looked over sets of complaints before handing things
15:55over to police. No official charges were filed initially, though the investigation did get
16:00play in Davie, Florida, where Johnson was residing at the time. Not because of his superstar son or his
16:06own former glories, though, but because of his friendship with the town's mayor, Harry Venus,
16:11who was apparently being trained to wrestle by Johnson. Rocky was due to be made a full-time employee
16:16when he was placed under investigation and suspended with pay instead. Things got worse for Johnson when a
16:23second article appeared in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel ten days after the first one.
16:28This new article provided more salacious details of just what exactly Johnson was being accused of.
16:34These allegations included unwanted sexual activity in a backroom, unwanted groping of a female employee,
16:40illicit discussions of anatomy in front of children, and inviting a 12-year-old girl to play strip poker.
16:46Davie, Florida's Parks and Recreation Department director Sharon Kent had questioned in memos to town
16:52administrator Tom Willey why Johnson was still being allowed to work around children after more
16:56people had come forward to substantiate the allegations. Johnson was also alleged to have
17:01conducted personal business while on the job, that he didn't keep his regular working hours,
17:06that he grabbed a female employee on the buttocks twice, that he asked the same employee to remove her
17:11top, and that he had spent time in the community centre napping, kissing, and getting massages.
17:17In one incident, a 16-year-old girl allegedly walked in on Johnson getting a massage while a
17:22woman was straddling his back. In another, Johnson wore a t-shirt with the word Puta,
17:26Spanish for prostitute, on it, prompting a complaint from a parent.
17:30There were other allegations too, all of which Johnson denied, as well as a bunch of politics
17:35and infighting within the town's office that didn't exactly help matters.
17:39Nonetheless, on March 16, 2001, the Broward County State Attorney's Office announced that they would
17:45not be pressing any charges against Johnson. The reason no charges were filed is because
17:50there were no eyewitnesses willing to come forward and give up their anonymity.
17:54An assistant state attorney in the prosecutor's office did say that they had found sufficient
17:59evidence to proceed with a charge of sexual battery, and that a 23-year-old woman made a very
18:03credible witness, but that she wanted her name kept out of it, and thus they were unable to proceed.
18:09After that, Johnson briefly became a trainer for Ohio Valley Wrestling, but was let go soon after.
18:15Inducted by The Rock into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, Johnson passed away on January 15,
18:212020, at the age of 75. On June 30, 2022, Sports Illustrated published a story documenting how
18:29Johnson had five other known children through other relationships he had had on the road,
18:33which was confirmed via DNA testing.
18:41Billed as a cousin of Jimmy Snooker, Sam Fatu gained notice in WWE during the mid-1980s as a
18:47member of the Islanders tag team with Haku. After teaming with Haku for two matches at a set of
18:52Superstars tapings in the Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida, on December 9, 1987, Fatu went out for a night on the
18:59town. He would end that night in jail. An article published in the December 11 edition of the Tampa
19:05Tribune reported that three wrestlers got into an after-hours brawl in the parking lot of the
19:10Sydney's nightclub, with two of the three being arrested for their involvement. The story noted that
19:15the three men were members of a party of about 15 wrestlers who entered the club at around 1am.
19:21Club waitress Kimberly Lightheart stated that Fatu and the two other men sat away from everyone
19:26else drinking tequila and had caused an issue while inside when the third unnamed man began
19:30shouting that he couldn't find his camera case. He subsequently picked up their table and threw it
19:36to the ground, smashing glasses in the process. A club employee was cut on the forehead by the glass,
19:41but refused medical treatment. The third unnamed man then realised that the case had been placed
19:47behind the bar for safekeeping and went to retrieve it, breaking two more glasses in the process before
19:52the three men went outside. Once in the parking lot, they proceeded to argue over who was the most
19:57sober one to drive, the argument soon degenerating into a full-on brawl. Fatu and Samu were both
20:03arrested and charged with fighting, a misdemeanor. The unnamed third man got away, though police said that
20:09the three men were related, narrowing down the list of suspects somewhat.
20:18After the death of her husband Peter Maiavea in 1982, Leah Maiavea began running the Polynesian
20:23Pro Wrestling promotion in Hawaii, which was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance.
20:28In doing so, she became one of the industry's first female promoters.
20:32Though there were some successes, including a card that featured the likes of Ric Flair,
20:37Dusty Rhodes, and Andre the Giant that drew around 20,000 fans, PPW was never a thriving
20:43territory and began to sharply decline before ultimately closing in 1988.
20:47In November of that year, Leah Maiavea would be accused of extortion.
20:52Reports said that Maiavea and two business associates were being accused by federal
20:57authorities of trying to extort money from a promoter who was seeking to run a show at
21:01the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu. World Pacific Wrestling Association President Maiavea,
21:07Ati Soho, described as the association's vice president, and Larry Hainimi, its secretary and
21:12treasurer who previously wrestled as Lars Anderson, were alleged to have extorted $1,800 from would-be
21:18promoter John R. Wakayama, also known as Dunbar, with the expectation he would pay them a further $3,200.
21:24Wakayama had previously worked for Maiavea's promotion as a ring announcer, but intended to
21:30stage his own shows in a bid to revitalize Hawaii's flagging wrestling scene. The trio were initially
21:36held without bail after it was argued they posed a threat to the community and witness, but were then
21:41released on a $20,000 bond. They were also made to surrender their passports and told not to leave
21:47Hawaii, nor were they allowed to contact Wakayama, his family, or any other witnesses. Indicted on two counts
21:54of extortion each, all three entered pleas of not guilty.
21:58FBI agent Joseph F. Holtzlag Jr. claimed that they had demanded a $5,000 tribute from Wakayama to run
22:05his show, something that they had practiced before with others looking to run shows on the island.
22:10It was further alleged that Wakayama had been threatened with violence if he did not comply,
22:15and that threats had also been made against his two young children. As well as the $5,000, it was claimed
22:21that during their lunch at the Podoga Hotel restaurant that Maivia informed Wakayama that
22:26he would have to use two wrestlers being sponsored by her on his show, rent a ring for $1,100, and buy
22:33three commercials on Maivia's regular Saturday morning television show for $450.
22:39Per the FBI agent's affidavit, Soho had called Wakayama's business and left a threatening message
22:45following the restaurant meeting. Fearing for his safety, Wakayama went to the FBI and agreed to
22:50record subsequent meetings. The FBI tape-recorded a meeting between Wakayama, Maivia, and Hainimi
22:57later that day at another restaurant, and then videotaped a meeting between the three at Wakayama's
23:02office. During the meeting at the restaurant, it was again reiterated that Wakayama must pay the
23:07tribute. While at his office, Maivia was recorded saying that Soho was the type of person who went bang,
23:12bang, bang, and made a shooting gesture. Wakayama would recount how he initially thought
23:18Maivia had wanted $500, not $5,000, and likened the initial meeting to like being in a grade-B
23:26gangster movie. Defense attorneys claimed that Wakayama had lost $60,000 on his wrestling venture
23:32and was trying to blame it on the defendants. The show Wakayama ended up producing only generated
23:37around $5,000. Maivia's attorney, William Brady, claimed that Wakayama was reading
23:43more into the situation and that his client was simply trying to procure a booking fee.
23:48Brooke Hart, an attorney for Soho, said that the only interaction he had had with Wakayama was at
23:53the initial restaurant meeting and that Maivia had used Soho's name without his knowledge when
23:57making threats. Wakayama, however, identified Soho as the man who made the threatening call,
24:03something that was backed up in court by the testimony of 51-year-old referee and former
24:08wrestler Fasamoa Mausali, who performed as Sam Samson. The defense attorneys contended that it
24:14was in fact Mausali himself who had made the threatening call. On November 27, 1989,
24:20the three defendants, who were facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison,
24:24were acquitted by a federal jury who felt that Soho was not the threatening caller and agreed with the
24:30defense that Maivia was only asking for a booking fee and nothing else. After a six-week trial,
24:36the jury deliberated for more than a day and a half before returning their verdict. An elated
24:41Maivia was quoted in the Honolulu Star Advisor as saying, I love the jury. God knows I'm a lady
24:48innocent. She also said she held no ill will towards Wakayama, saying he knows he's wrong,
24:53but he's still a friend. It's okay, I forgive him. According to her grandson Dwayne, the FBI came
25:00back around to Leah on illegal alien charges soon after and deported her back to Samoa while freezing
25:06what little assets she had. She was actually homeless come 1991 before Dwayne identified a
25:12loophole to get her legally back into the United States in 92. When he started making big money as
25:18The Rock several years later, he bought her a condo in Davie, Florida where she lived until
25:23she passed away on October 19, 2008 at the age of 77. In 2024, Dwayne posthumously inducted her into the
25:31WWE Hall of Fame.
25:40On July 22, 2002, Eddie Fatu, brother of Rikishi and Sam Fatu, made his WWE main roster debut.
25:49As Jamal, Fatu appeared alongside his cousin Matt Anawahi, aka Rosie, as the three-minute warning tag
25:55team. Though they were pushed as a force to be reckoned with, the team's first few months were
25:59plagued with incidents where it was said that they, and Fatu in particular, were being reckless
26:04with their fellow wrestlers and other talents such as extras. For Eddie, things went from bad to worse
26:10when he was involved in an incident in a Pensacola, Florida bar on November 29.
26:16The police description of the incident is that an off-duty officer named James James was working at
26:22the Seville Quarter nightclub when he attempted to remove a woman who was causing a disturbance
26:26after breaking a tip jar. That woman was Eddie's wife, Lietta Fatu. James tracked Lietta down as she
26:33was talking with her husband and explained to her that the club's management was requesting that she
26:38leave the premises. Lietta refused, at which point the officer attempted to physically shepherd her out
26:43of the building. According to James, Eddie Fatu then took an offensive posture and warned him to
26:49take your hands off my effing wife. Despite being asked repeatedly to back up, Fatu instead advanced
26:55toward James with a clenched fist and slapped the officer's hand away while saying, I will kill your
27:00effing ass, you redneck mother effer. James struck Fatu with his flashlight when the future Umaga began
27:07swinging. At this point, Shane Schrock, a 6'2", 200lb bar patron, got involved and jumped on Fatu in an
27:14attempt to subdue him. It was reported that Fatu was yelling out to unnamed family members for help.
27:20During the incident, James was struck with a beer bottle in the shoulder. Fatu was ultimately
27:26arrested and charged with assault and battery on a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct,
27:31and resisting arrest with violence before he was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
27:36According to the police report, Fatu told James to kiss his family goodbye while both were at the
27:41hospital and made similar threats to two other officers who accompanied him in the ambulance.
27:47When WWE found out about the arrest, they suspended Fatu, albeit only from house shows and not
27:53television, which was company policy at the time. He continued to wrestle for WWE until his release in
27:58June of 2003. Though his firing wasn't the direct result of his arrest, it certainly contributed to the
28:05company's decision, with then-talent relations head Jim Ross later saying that Fatu had to go away
28:10and mature and that they left the door open for his return. That return happened in 2006, after Fatu
28:17had enjoyed a fruitful spell on the indies and overseas for All Japan Pro Wrestling. It appeared
28:22that the Pensacola bar fight had not seriously impeded his career. Fatu's second run in WWE as the
28:29Samoan Bulldozer Umaga would bring him his greatest fame. Regrettably, it came to an end in June of 2009,
28:36after Fatu had fallen afoul of the WWE wellness policy and was released once more after refusing
28:42to attend drug rehab. He sadly passed away mere months later on December 4th at the age of 36,
28:49after suffering two heart attacks. Following toxicology reports, it was determined that
28:54Fatu's history of drug use combined with heart disease had led to his premature death.
28:59In 2003, Afran Awahi Jr., who would go on to have a brief run in WWE as Manu, was more concerned with
29:12a potential career in American football than his pro wrestling future, having verbally committed to
29:17attend the University of Connecticut. However, he didn't quite get the grades required and ended up
29:22attending a prep school in Virginia instead. He also got involved in a situation that threatened not
29:28just his collegiate football dreams, but his long-term future as a free citizen.
29:35In October of that year, it emerged that Afra Jr. was wanted by police as a suspect in the August
29:402nd robbery of 81-year-old Anna Kolioji. Anna Wahi was believed to have acted as the getaway driver
29:47for the crime, which they say was committed on 11th Street in Bethlehem Township in Pennsylvania,
29:52by 17-year-old Nicole Lee Transu and Ricardo Alessia. Police said that the two perpetrators climbed into
29:59an unlocked window and began going through drawers and cabinets looking for things to steal.
30:04They found a box containing $105,000 in savings bonds, as well as a certificate of deposit of $61,478.
30:14They also allegedly stole a purse, a television set, around $7,500 in jewellery, and other items
30:21including CDs and perfume. As they were robbing the place at around 4 o'clock in the morning,
30:27however, Kolioji got up and confronted them. Brandishing a steak knife she had retrieved from
30:33the kitchen, Transu told Kolioji to back off, but she attempted to tackle Transu and ended up being
30:39stabbed in the back and arm. Alessia then helped throw the 81-year-old into a closet and locked it
30:45as they ran off. Police got a lead when they found some of the stolen items at a local pawn shop and
30:51traced them back to Transu, who confessed to the crime on October 1st. Transu was charged with robbery,
30:57aggravated assault, burglary, criminal conspiracy, theft, receiving stolen property, simple assault,
31:04and reckless endangerment. Affa Jr., when hearing that police were after him, agreed to turn himself
31:09in to police in his hometown of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on October 11th. He was charged
31:15with robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, criminal conspiracy, theft, receiving
31:21stolen property, and reckless endangerment and released without bail. Anuahi told police that he
31:27didn't know what was going on with his friends and didn't participate in any activity. His attorney,
31:33John Caroli, claimed his client thought that Transu was retrieving something from her home
31:37when she and Alessia were actually robbing her neighbor. As a preliminary hearing on November 25th,
31:43several of the charges against Affa Jr. were dropped in what appeared to be a plea bargain
31:48in exchange for witness testimony. The only charge remaining was a misdemeanor of receiving stolen
31:54property. After convincing prosecutors that he didn't know what his two friends were up to,
31:59Affa was free to walk away and signed with the University of Connecticut in the summer of 2004,
32:04where he played as a defensive tackle. Transu, who did show remorse for the crime meanwhile,
32:10was sentenced to 21 to 42 months in the county prison. Northampton County Judge F.P. Kimberley
32:16McFadden also ordered her to undergo counseling and pay court costs, a $750 fine and around $1,000 to
32:24Koli Oji. Alessia, meanwhile, was sentenced to 11 to 23 months.
32:34The post-WWE life of Rikishi, who also worked as the Sultan and Fatou, saw the former Intercontinental
32:41Champion work primarily for the Italy-based New Wrestling Evolution promotion, which he also acted as
32:46the Booker for, as well as on the Independence scene and a fleeting visit to TNA. Unfortunately,
32:52he also encountered a little bit of legal trouble.
32:56Rikishi, real name Salofa Fatou Jr., was arrested at noon on Monday, September 5th,
33:022006 during a traffic stop on Highway 98. He had a warrant out on him after failing to appear at a
33:08show cause hearing on September 1st, as he was in Italy for NWE at the time.
33:14Charged with contempt of court, Fatou was taken into custody, with one spokesperson saying he
33:19went without any resistance and that despite his size and the persona that goes with his profession,
33:23he was a gentleman. It transpired that the original charge he failed to show up in court for
33:29related to non-payment of back taxes and authorities had been trying to find him for weeks.
33:35In a statement, Fatou said,
33:37I am dealing with a private matter at this time that I am unable to discuss in detail. However,
33:42I am confident that my name will be cleared in a court of law soon. Additionally, I will say,
33:48make sure to have all business affairs in order and up to date and do not trust anyone to handle
33:53for you, even if that person is your wife. I thank everyone for their continued support.
33:58In any event, Rikishi was soon out of prison and back to work. It appears that the matter was resolved,
34:04and there is no record of him having any other legal issues either before or since.
34:15WWE have made no secret of Jacob Fatou's criminal past, though exact details of it remain sketchy.
34:22What is known is that Jacob, son of Sam Fatou, aka the Tonga Kid, spent several years in the
34:27Sacramento County Jail for committing either straight robbery or armed robbery, reports vary.
34:34The Samoan Werewolf has spoken in the past about how he hadn't had any interest in professional
34:39wrestling until he saw his cousins, the Usos, performing on WWE television while locked down
34:44in the prison dormitory. That was in 2010, when Fatou was 18 years old. He didn't spend too much longer
34:52in jail as records show him making his debut for Uncle Rikishi's Knox Pro outfit on September 22nd,
34:582012. Jacob's criminal past had been seen as a barrier to him signing with WWE prior to him putting
35:05pen to paper in 2024. In July of that year, Paul Triple H Levesque reportedly had to pull some serious
35:12strings and hire a high-powered immigration lawyer in order to get Fatou to make an appearance at the
35:17Money in the Bank event which took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
35:29In June of 2010, it was reported that Leate Joseph Anawahi, son of Seeker and cousin of Matt,
35:34aka former WWE star Rosie, had signed a developmental contract. What wasn't reported is that around the
35:41same time he inked the deal, the future Roman Reigns had been arrested.
35:45According to what little information about the arrest is out there, the Georgia Tech alumnus was
35:51taken into custody on June 20th in the Pensacola, Florida region. He was booked for disorderly
35:57intoxication and a fray unlawful assembly or riot. Essentially, Reigns was put in handcuffs after
36:03appearing drunk in public and getting into a fight. He was released on a $1,000 bond and fined $500 for
36:09each offence. The arrest wasn't actually publicly known about until 2013, when his mugshot appeared
36:15on the website mugshots.com. Something tells me it would be a bigger story if it happened today.
36:21The Usos are now generally considered one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history,
36:34but it hasn't always been smooth sailing for twin brothers Jimmy and Jay. A lot of their issues have
36:40been to do with persistent driving-related offences which stretch back to their early days on the main
36:45roster. Of the two, it is Jimmy, real name Jonathan Fatu, who has had more problems.
36:52His first arrest occurred at around 3 o'clock in the morning on September 29th, 2011.
36:57According to reports, Jimmy was driving the wrong way down Howard Avenue in South Tampa when he was
37:02pulled over. The police report stated that he appeared glassy-eyed, was slurring his words,
37:07and failed multiple field sobriety tests. When given a breathalyzer, he blew a .180,
37:14over twice the state's legal limit. It was also noted in reports that Fatu's future wife Trinity
37:19McRae, aka Naomi, was in the car with him and that he was fined $256 for two minor traffic violations
37:27back in June. Jimmy pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to probation.
37:32On March 13th, 2013, it was reported that Jimmy had once again been arrested for DUI in Hillsborough
37:40County, Florida. The arrest was said to have been made at 12.47pm and Uso was released on a $500 bond
37:47at 3.08pm. However, a subsequent statement from Jimmy's attorney, Keith Ghosn, claimed that those
37:53reports were false. According to Ghosn, Uso was erroneously charged with driving on a suspended
37:58license, along with a probation violation related to his prior DUI charge. Ghosn added,
38:04We are extremely confident that once we get on the court's docket, Mr Fatu's probation will be
38:09terminated and the citation for driving on a suspended license will be dismissed.
38:14Ghosn's statement noted that Jimmy had completed the terms and conditions of his probation and that
38:19this most recent arrest was Fatu turning himself into the Hillsborough County Jail so that a warrant could
38:24be set aside. An administrative mix-up perhaps, but Jimmy's troubles were far from over.
38:312019 was a rough year, starting with his arrest on the night of February 13th. Uso was charged with
38:37disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice following an incident that took place after
38:42the car he was sharing with his wife was pulled over at around 10.15pm in downtown Detroit. The police
38:48report noted that Naomi was driving her Dodge Journey the wrong way down a one-way street when she was
38:54pulled over by police. Police said that they noticed the smell of alcohol in the car and when
38:58they were talking to Naomi, Jimmy exited the vehicle and took off his jacket and shirt and assumed a
39:04fighting stance. An officer produced a taser and instructed Jimmy, who was described as being irate,
39:09to get back in the vehicle to which he complied. He was then taken to jail where he was booked and
39:15released on bond. When news of the arrest hit the internet, WWE released the statement simply saying
39:21that Jonathan Fatou is responsible for his own personal actions. Evidently, WWE were not too
39:27upset at Jimmy as he and Jay won the WWE Tag Team titles at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view just
39:33four days later. Weeks afterwards, Detroit police released body cam footage of the incident in which
39:38Naomi admitted that her husband had drank a lot and was intoxicated, as well as showing Jimmy in
39:44handcuffs. On March 28, 2019, Jimmy Uso agreed to a plea deal in relation to the arrest. Speaking with
39:51TMZ Sports, his attorney John Freeman revealed that his client had pleaded no contest in exchange for
39:57paying a $450 fine. While that matter was put to bed with a simple fine, Jimmy's woes were not over for
40:04the year. At around midnight on July 24, Jimmy was once again arrested on DUI charges in Pensacola,
40:12Florida, when an officer pulled him over after he was caught speeding and swerving left and right.
40:17Fatou, who reportedly smelled of alcohol, was said to have refused to take a field sobriety test when
40:22he was pulled over and was booked at the Escambia County Corrections facility at around 3am before
40:28being released on a $1,000 bond. In a bitter piece of irony, the arrest came mere days after
40:34John Cena had made a joke about Jimmy's prior arrests on an episode of Raw. In December of 2019,
40:40Jimmy was found not guilty on the DUI charge after asking for and receiving a jury trial.
40:46Though it was reported that Uso had refused to take a field sobriety test, that turned out to
40:51not be exactly true. The officer had asked him to take one, and Jimmy had agreed if his lawyer could
40:57be present when he did so, a request which the officer on the scene, Deputy Jeremy Meeks, refused.
41:03Meeks had testified that Jimmy appeared to be having a hard time opening the door handle after
41:07he had been pulled over, and took two steps before stumbling and almost falling into the travel lane.
41:12WWE had pulled the Usos and Naomi from the road following the incident, but while the speeding
41:18ticket remained on Jimmy's record, the not guilty verdict allowed them to come back to work.
41:23Though he received a favourable outcome in this case, Jimmy re-offended less than two years later.
41:28On July 5th, 2021, Fatou was arrested at around 10.35pm near his home in Pensacola, Florida.
41:37Police documents showed that he was pulled over after being clocked going 50 mph in a 35 mph zone,
41:44and running a red light. Officers smelled alcohol on Jimmy, who admitted to having consumed several
41:50beers while questioning him, and asked him to leave his Dodge charger. He then failed a field
41:54sobriety test and blew a .202 and .205, more than double the legal limit, before being charged with
42:01misdemeanor DUI.
42:03Court records show that Usos cut a deal with prosecutors in early April 2022, pleading no
42:08contest to the charge. As part of his punishment, he was ordered to complete several courses related to
42:14the offence. Embarrassingly for Jimmy, TMZ published body cam footage of the arrest, which
42:20showed the belligerent WWE star swearing at a well-meaning officer who was earnestly wishing him well.
42:32Compared with his twin brother's rap sheet, Jey Uso, real name Joshua Samuel Fatou, is a saint.
42:39However, his record is not perfect. Because on January 14th, 2018, the then 32-year-old was pulled
42:45over and arrested in Hidalgo, Texas on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
42:50Jey was performing on WWE's tour of the Lone Star State and had competed at a live event in the area
42:56earlier that evening. According to the police report, Jey was pulled over by officers at around
43:011am for a traffic violation. He was given a field sobriety test where it was determined that he was
43:07under the influence. Taken to the station and booked in, Jey posted
43:10a $500 personal reconnaissance bond and was released that same day. In a statement two days later,
43:17WWE said,
43:18Joshua Fatou is responsible for his own personal actions.
43:22We are investigating the matter and awaiting information from local law enforcement officials.
43:28Though he wasn't suspended, Jey was reportedly removed from a television promotion after his arrest.
43:34WWE also didn't punish Jey by having the Usos lose the WWE tag team titles,
43:40with the duo holding on to the belts until dropping them to the Bludgeon Brothers at
43:44WrestleMania 34 on April 8th. It seems that, given the lack of updates,
43:48Jey managed to walk away from his DWI arrest without suffering any severe consequences.
44:01Since he began training at Booker T's Reality of Wrestling School in December of 2022,
44:06there has been much speculation regarding the in-ring future of Zilla Fatou.
44:11Zilla is the son of Umarga, and while not too much is known about him,
44:15it is common knowledge that he served six years for aggravated robbery in the Texas State Penitentiary.
44:21Fatou was charged with the crime at the tender age of 15, claiming that his lifestyle led him to
44:26hit rock bottom after getting mixed up with the wrong crowd following the death of his father and
44:30his family falling into poverty. The details of the robbery have not been made available,
44:35likely because Zilla, real name Isaiah, was a juvenile at the time of it, but he was released
44:40in March of 2022, mere months before he decided to give the family business a try.