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Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Cousin Signs With WWE’s Rival Company

Published 05/27/2022, 10:00 AM EDT

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The professional wrestling industry has seen ample wrestlers from the legendary Samoan family, Anoa’i. High Chief Peter Maivia paved the way for Samoan wrestlers in the business and eventually we got to see some phenomenal wrestlers like The Wild Samoans, Yokozuna, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and Roman Reigns currently.

The Samoan legacy has played an imminent role in wrestling entertainment. We have seen other Anoa’i family wrestlers like Rikishi, Umaga, and Rosey and their distinguished careers in WWE.

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The Anoa’i family has made a huge name in wrestling around the world. Wrestling fans can find at least one Anoa’i family wrestler in a promotion outside WWE.

Lance Anoa’i cousin of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Roman Reigns signs with MLW

Recently, talking with SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Court Bauer, owner of Major League Wrestling (MLW) shared news about a new superstar he signed. The new MLW signee is Lance Anoa’i, who belongs to the great Anoa’i family and is a cousin of Dwayne Johnson.

Court Bauer said, “We’ve just signed Lance Anoa’i. Lance is the son of Samu, the cousin of The Rock, cousin of Roman Reigns, and he’s a third-generation wrestler. Grandfather’s Afa Anoa’i, and he’s part of our new era of Samoan Swat Team with Fatu and Big Juicy.” (H/T Wrestling Inc)

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This isn’t the first time for the cousin of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson to compete for MLW. He made his debut for the promotion back in March 2018. He has made several appearances for them since then. The 30-year-old made his wrestling debut back in 2010. Further, Lance Anoa’i has since been wrestling on the independent circuit and has competed for a few known organizations.

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The latest Anoa’i in MLW will surely try to walk in the footsteps of his cousin Jacob Fatu, who held the MLW World Heavyweight Championship for 819 days. Anoa’i had also wrestled in a few tryout matches in WWE previously. 

Lance Anoa’i’s WWE career

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Lance Anoa’i may be signed with MLW now, which will be his first tenure in a major wrestling company. He has wrestled in the independent circuit since his debut. However, Lance Anoa’i has also wrestled a few matches in WWE.

He was on an episode of SmackDown in January 2015, where he teamed with Rhett Titus in a losing effort against The Ascension. In February 2017, he competed in a losing effort at a WWE NXT event against The Authors of Pain. 

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Even though the above appearances were tryouts, Lance Anoa’i had a major match against Shane McMahon, where he represented his family in the May 2019 episode of RAW. He lost the match via submission after Drew McIntyre attacked him. After the match, McMahon and McIntyre beat him down before Roman Reigns saved him.

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Written by:

Tushar Deogharkar

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Tushar Deogharkar is a WWE writer at EssentiallySports. Tushar has done his Master's in Tourism Management and is an ardent fan of pro wrestling. He follows WWE and AEW very closely and wants to learn how the promotions are run.
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Edited by:

Sreeda U M