Afa Anoa’i had been suffering from health conditions for a while now. And a few hours ago, he was announced dead by several reports online. However, his daughter refuted the claims, giving further hope to the fans of the pro wrestling legend. However now, Vale Anoa’i, the daughter of the WWE legend has announced that her father has passed away this afternoon at the age of 81.

In a public announcement made on X, Afa Anoa’i’s daughter wrote, “Today, all of our lives are irreparably changed. I love you so much, Dad. More than any words could ever express. Your strength was absolutely superhuman. You fought all the way to the end, and the end was peaceful. That’s all I could have hoped for. I love you so very much.” Anoa’i was earlier stated to have passed away by Dave Meltzer, who later corrected his claims by writing, “Afa has not passed away. He is battling.” 

No official cause of death has been stated by the family yet, but in the announcement, it was revealed that Anoa’i broke his back in two places in March and had to go through surgery, which was followed by another surgery to replace a heart valve. These series of surgeries had left him very weakened and left him under hospice care. Possibly leading to the passing away of the legend.

Reactions from the Anoa’i family

Afa Anoa’i’s wife, Lynn Anoa’i also shared the tragic news on her Facebook, as she wrote, ” My heart is breaking as I share the tragic news that we lost my beloved husband, your Pops, WWE Hall of Famer, Afa “The Wild Samoan Anoa’i. Surrounded by an abundance of love from our family, and with God’s angels, bringing peace, love and calmness, while holding my hand, God has taken Afa home. Afa / Pops is the strongest man that many of us have ever known and I know without any doubt that he is happily reunited with our loved ones, especially his soulmate and tag-team partner, his dear brother, Sika! I love you Honey. You fought until the end! God is good all the time. All the time God is good!”

His daughter Vale Anoa’i also shared a sweet message for her father where she wrote about her prior surgeries and how she was preparing herself for the unfortunate. However, this experience only made her stronger as she wrote a lovely note for her father. “I will always love you. You will be remembered, honored, missed, and respected forever. The strongest man I’ve ever known. The 3-count comes for us all, eventually, but you fought it all the way to the end. You kicked out more times than anyone else ever has.”

She further added, “You are forever our undisputed champion. I love you so much. I will never have to know what it is to live without you, because I know you’re always with me. Thank you all so much for your love, respect, stories, and memories that you’ve been sharing over the last few days.”

Anoa’i broke into the professional wrestling business in 1973, working for several independent promotions before joining the WWF in 1982. During his first stint with the company, Afa won the WWF World Tag Team Championship twice, teaming up with his brother Sika as the Wild Samoans. The WWE Hall of Famer fought his last match in WWF in 1994, a year before his retirement. Despite this, he returned to compete occasionally up to four times. The 81-year-old won 18 championships throughout his career, all of them as a tag team with his brother Sika. Both were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2007.

Afa was the uncle of WWE’s Original Tribal Chief Roman Reigns, although we are yet to get a reaction from the former WWE Universal Champion. However, this passing will surely sadden many fans as it comes just a few months after the death of his partner Sika Anoa’i, the father of Roman Reigns. His brother and teammate passed away on June 25. We at EssentiallySports would like to share our condolences with the Anoa’i family and those affected.