Alright, so I spent some time recently trying to map out that Anoa’i wrestling family tree. It’s something I’d been curious about for a while, you know? You hear the names constantly – Reigns, The Usos, The Rock – and you know they’re connected, but figuring out how exactly? That’s where it gets wild.
It started pretty simply. I just grabbed a piece of paper, actually, and started jotting down the big names I could think of off the top of my head. Roman Reigns, obviously. Then Jimmy and Jey Uso. Solo Sikoa came to mind right after. And of course, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
Then I started thinking back, further back. Rikishi, Yokozuna… those names popped up. And the Wild Samoans, Afa and Sika. That felt like getting closer to the roots. I remembered hearing they were foundational.
Digging In
So, I started trying to link them. I knew The Usos and Solo were Rikishi’s kids. That was easy enough. And Roman Reigns is Sika’s son. Okay, making progress. But how did The Rock fit in? His dad was Rocky Johnson, his grandad was Peter Maivia. Peter Maivia… that name rang a bell alongside the Anoa’i name.
I found out Peter Maivia and Amituana’i Anoa’i (Afa and Sika’s father) were considered blood brothers. That was the key connection I was missing! So, not direct blood relatives in that specific link between Maivia and Amituana’i, but deeply connected through this brotherhood, which in their culture is taken very seriously, like family.
This got messy fast. I tried sketching it out.
- Started with Amituana’i Anoa’i at the top.
- Branched down to his kids, Afa and Sika.
- Then listed their kids – Afa’s sons like Samu, Manu. Sika’s sons like Rosey and Roman Reigns.
- Then Rikishi, who is Afa’s nephew (son of Afa’s brother, Junior Anoaʻi, according to some digging I did, though sometimes linked directly under Afa/Sika generationally in simpler trees). And his kids – The Usos and Solo Sikoa.
- On the other side, I put Peter Maivia. Linked him to his daughter, Ata Maivia.
- Then linked Ata Maivia to Rocky Johnson (married).
- And finally, their son, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
Connecting the Generations
So, through that blood brotherhood thing, Peter Maivia’s grandson (The Rock) is considered a cousin to Sika’s son (Roman Reigns). It’s like a ‘cousin once removed’ situation, sort of, but complicated by the blood brother aspect. It makes your head spin a bit trying to trace the exact lines sometimes.
I kept adding names as I found them. Yokozuna (Rodney Anoaʻi), who was Afa and Sika’s nephew. Umaga (Eddie Fatu), who was Rikishi’s brother. Jacob Fatu, Samu’s son. The list just kept growing. It felt like almost everyone had a connection back to those original brothers, Afa and Sika, or Peter Maivia.
Honestly, trying to verify every single connection perfectly was tough. You read different things in different places. Some sources simplify it, others make it incredibly complex. I just tried to piece together the most commonly accepted lines based on what I could find online and from wrestling history stuff I remembered watching.
It wasn’t about making some academically perfect chart. It was more about finally getting a visual for myself, seeing how this incredible dynasty branched out. Starting with just a few names and ending up with this sprawling network was quite the process. Took a good afternoon of just sitting, thinking, searching, and sketching it all out. Pretty fascinating stuff when you lay it all down.
