Wikipedia

Samoan Joe

This article is about the original Samoan Joe who wrestled inAustralasiaduring the 1970s and early 1980s. For the American professional wrestler, seeSamoa Joe.

Joseph Afamasaga[2](2 January 1949 - 9 July 2015), better known by hisring nameSamoan Joe,was aNew Zealandprofessional wrestlerwho competed in theAustralasianandSouth Pacific regionduring the 1970s and early 1980s.

Samoan Joe
Birth nameJoseph Afamasaga
Born(1949-01-02)2 January 1949
New Zealand
Died9 July 2015(2015-07-09)(aged 66)
Melbourne, Australia[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Samoan Joe
Billed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Billed weight290lb(130kg)
Billed fromWestern Samoa
Debutc. 1976
Retiredc. 1989

He was a popularfan favouritewhile wrestling forSteve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling and frequently appeared on the long-running wrestling television programmeOn the Mat.He later travelled to theUnited Stateswhere he had a brief stint in theAmerican Wrestling Associationbefore his retirement in 1989. In 2009, Afamasaga was ranked #10 byNew Zealand Heraldsports columnistChris Rattue as one of his "Top 10" favourite wrestlers of all-time.[3]

Professional wrestling career

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Joe Afamasaga began wrestling in New Zealand during the mid-1970s and soon joined All Star-Pro Wrestling, then on the rise, underSteve Rickard.He quickly became very well known throughout the country while accompanying the promotion on its national tours as far north asWhangārei[4]as well as his regular appearances on the wrestling programmeOn the Mat.[5][6]

By 1977, he had established himself as one of New Zealand's most popular"fan favourites"often appearing on theundercardor inmain eventsagainst native and foreign"heel" wrestlersalike.[2][3]That year, he teamed withMark LewinandSiva Afiin a losing effort againstBruiser Brody,Bruno BekkarandKing Curtis IaukeainWellington, New Zealandon 12 September 1977.[7]Other opponents included Merv Fortune, "Cowboy" Billy Wright,[8]Lars AndersonandLarry O'Dayas well as forming a successfultag teamwith fellow Samoan Lu Leota. He and Fortune also had a memorablemixed tag team matchwithmidget wrestlersCoconut Willie and Little Kevin respectively.[9]

He was among the top New Zealand stars to appear at the Gay World Stadium, as did American wrestlersKiller Karl Krupp,The Masked AssassinandKing Kamaka,during ASPW's tour ofSingaporein May 1982, along with wrestlers from the United States, West Germany, Australia, Samoa and South America.[10]When theNWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championshipwas vacated the following year, Afamasaga entered a championship tournament and lost toRip Morganin the finals held inAucklandon 8 September 1983.[11]In his final New Zealand TV appearance, Afamasaga wrestled with Larry O'Day, Mel Fortuna, Tony Rickard and Rip Morgan in the final episode ofOn the Matwhich aired on 23 July 1984.[12]

After the cancellation ofOn the Mat,Afamasaga moved on to Australia where he found some success[5]before heading to the United States. He spent the last year of his career in theAmerican Wrestling Association,[13]mainly used as apreliminary wrestleragainst opponents such asBrian KnobsandThe Rock 'n' Roll Express(Ricky MortonandRobert Gibson),[14][15][16]before retiring around 1989. Afamasaga subsequently relocated to Australia[2]where he joinedthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsand later completed aMormon mission.He later settled inVictoriawhere he served on thehigh council of a Stake presidency.During the2009 Samoa tsunami,he usedTwitterto report on conditions in his homeland and, according to hisaunt,claimed that "the body count is in the hundreds" but that his family had escaped danger by reaching higher ground.[17]

Afamasaga appeared in both episodes ofOn the Matwere chosen to be shown onNZ On Screenin early-2010;[6]the first was a tag team match between him and Lu Leota againstSweet WilliamandBrute Miller(29 July 1980) and the second againstJohnny Garcia(17 March 1981).[5]On 9 April 2010,Scoop.co.nzreported thatOn the Matranked #3 among the top 10 most watched videos on NZ On Screen.[18]

A number of New Zealand media personalities have referred to Afamasaga as their favourite wrestlers while watching "On the Mat" as children.Wallace Chapman,co-host of the political interview showBack Benches,claimed that his "favourite TV moment" was watching Afamasaga among other "On the Mat" stars as a child.[19]Jason Conlan,longtime cartoonist forPro Wrestling Illustrated,has also claimed that Afamasaga was his favourite wrestler.[13]In March 2009,sports columnistChris Rattue of theNew Zealand Heraldnamed several former "On the Mat" stars including Afamasaga as among his "Top 10" favourite wrestlers of all-time.[3]

References

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  1. ^"Samoan Joe".Fight Times Magazine. 16 July 2015.Retrieved24 January2023.
  2. ^abcClarke, Chris (26 July 2006)."Ask 411 Wrestling 07.26.06: Joe, Reckless Youth, No Way Out, More..."Columns.411mania.Retrieved26 July2010.
  3. ^abcRattue, Chris (6 March 2009)."Chris Rattue: NZ's 10 favourite wrestlers".The New Zealand Herald.
  4. ^Eves, Tim (5 February 2007)."WRESTLING - Wrestling returns to Whangarei".The Northern Advocate.APN News & Media Ltd.Retrieved17 July2010.
  5. ^abcByers, Ryan (9 March 2010)."Into the Indies 03.09.10: NWA on the Mat".Columns.411mania.Retrieved2 August2010.
  6. ^abAnderson, Scott (13 June 2010)."On The Mat on NZ On Screen!".NZPWI.co.nz.Retrieved2 August2010.
  7. ^David Baker; Mark Eastridge; Rich Tate & Jim Zordani (16 April 2010)."Mid-Atlantic Superstar Wrestling Results - Bruiser Brody".David Baker's Mid-Atlantic Superstar Wrestling Results.MidAtlanticGateway.Retrieved26 July2010.
  8. ^Kiwi Pro Wrestling(November 2007)."Cowboy Billy Wright".Legends.KiwiProWrestling.co.nz.Retrieved26 July2010.
  9. ^All Star-Pro Wrestling (Producer) (1979).Best of New Zealand, Disc 2(DVD). New Zealand: Harry's Classic Match Listings.
  10. ^"Samoan wrestler in All-Star show".The Straits Times.4 May 1982.
  11. ^"New Zealand Heavyweight Title".Wrestling-Titles.Puroresu Dojo. 2003.Retrieved9 June2010.
  12. ^"Crazy capers in What's Up, Doc?".New Straits Times.23 July 1984.
  13. ^abConlan, Jason (26 October 2008)."On the Mat: Man Mountain Link".Blog Archive.OnTheMatWrestling.blogspot.Retrieved26 July2010.
  14. ^"ESPN Classics on ESPN".Professional Wrestling Territories (Pre-1990s).PWChronicles.Retrieved26 July2010.
  15. ^"AWA on ESPN 1988".AWA on ESPN.Wrestleholic2001.Retrieved26 July2010.
  16. ^Harrison, Randy (20 May 2008)."411's AWA on ESPN Classic Report 05.19.08".TV Reports.411mania.Retrieved26 July2010.
  17. ^"Latest updates: Tsunami disaster".The New Zealand Herald.1 October 2009.
  18. ^"NZ On Screen: Top 10 for March 2010".Top Scoops.Scoop.co.nz.9 April 2010.Retrieved2 August2010.
  19. ^Television New Zealand(2010)."'My favourite moment is...' (part 4) ".TVNZ.co.nz.Retrieved2 August2010.
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