The Anoa’i family’s presence in the professional wrestling world goes back decades, with the likes of Rocky Johnson, The Wild Samoans (Afa & Sika), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Roman Reigns emerging as notable names in WWE. Per a new report, another member of the Samoan dynasty has followed suit.
According to Fightful Select, former MLW Tag Team Champion Lance Anoa’i signed with WWE over the summer, though he’s currently sidelined with an injury. As such, WWE has not made any imminent creative plans for Lance for the “WWE NXT” brand nor its main roster. While there is no word on the exact timeline for Lance’s recovery, Fightful claims that he will not be cleared to compete for “a while.”
On Thursday morning, a photo surfaced (courtesy of MuscleManMalcolm on X) of Lance standing in a “We Are NXT” shirt as he was surrounded by other up-and-coming talents of WWE’s Performance Center. At the age of 32, Lance, also the son of Samu, brings forth 14 years worth of in-ring experience, including appearances in Major League Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and WWE itself. Lance’s previous WWE work began in 2014, when he and Rhett Titus lost to The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor) on “WWE SmackDown.” Elsewhere, Lance battled The Authors of Pain on “NXT” as well as Shane McMahon on “WWE Raw” in 2019.
In October 2023, Lance confirmed that he, alongside his tag partner Juicy Finau, received his release from MLW after requesting it. Lance and Finau previously served as the MLW Tag Team Champions before their reign ended at the hands of AKIRA and Rickey Shane Page in July 2023.
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