The Samoan Swat Team of Lance Anoa’i and Juicy Finau were granted their release from MLW recently. And that means it’s shoot interview time!
Anoa’i did one with WrestlingNews.co’s Steve Fall, and he said spoke highly of his time in MLW and the opportunities the promotion gave him. He asked for his release because they didn’t have any dates for him after he returned from working in Japan. Given that…
“I just wanted that freedom mainly for right now, especially with my family being at the top of the best company there is.”
The family & company Lance is referring to, as you can probably tell by his last name, is WWE’s Bloodline. There was talk of Roman Reigns’ relatives making special appearances on Raw or SmackDown on a few occasions. Anoa’i discussed two of them in his chat with Fall.
“I’ve missed a few opportunities being with MLW. That one on A&E [the Samoan Dynasty episode of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures]. I missed the possibility of being on the Tribal Court they were doing [on the July 7 SmackDown], bringing in the whole family. I missed that opportunity. Now I can do it all. I can be at extra work. I can be at tryouts. Like nothing is stopping me now, so I’m just ready to go.
“So the Tribal Court, they wanted a lot of us. They asked my grandfather, my dad, my uncles, me, Jacob, they wanted us all and unfortunately, you know, due to our contracts and everything, we weren’t able to, but that’s okay, you know. We weren’t able to and we just carried on and now we just don’t know man. Time will tell.”
Fall asked if Anoa’i suggested to MLW that he could bring exposure to the promotion by appearing on WWE television:
“We pitched that point and we got shut down. We don’t know why. You know, it is what it is. Like, you know we just ran with it. They even did the A&E special, like filming my whole family at our family reunion, and we weren’t allowed to be in any of it. So you know, there’s just a few missed opportunities and hopefully, it just comes right back around and we’ll be able to, everybody will be able to see how big our family is still growing. I’m not the only one left. There’s still a lot of guys. Jacob Fatu is my cousin. His brother, Journey. Solo is already in there, man. Zilla Fatu, who’s Umaga’s son. We’re just all just going and we’re all young and hungry and ready to achieve and follow our footsteps, our family’s footsteps, and just keep the Bloodline going.”
A contract’s a contract, so MLW certainly isn’t in the wrong here (and that’s even before you consider their ongoing antitrust lawsuit against WWE). It’s unfortunate for Lance, but now he’s free for the next big family angle WWE wants to run for Reigns, Solo Sikoa & The Usos on Raw or SmackDown.
Check out Steve Fall’s entire interview with Lance Anoa’i here.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login