THE WAY I SEE IT 4/21/07
- 04/21/2007 (1:02:40 pm)
- Afa The Wild Samoan
……
The Way I See It
By Afa “The Wild Samoan”
As I promised, I have Wrestlemania memories that I would like to share with you. It was a weekend that was fit for a king. The WWE staff went out of their way to make us inductees and our families feel special. No expense was spared to give us the time of our lives. I want to say a special thank you to my long time friend Vince McMahon, his lovely wife Linda, & their family for everything they have done for me and my family throughout the years.
From the time that I found out that my brother Sika and I were being inducted, it did not hit me as to what a real honor this was. I felt proud and happy but had no clue of how much this meant to our fans.
From the start of our trip the red carpet was rolled out. My wife, daughter, and I were flown first class. We were greeted at the airport by our driver and taken in a Cadillac limo to our hotel. The party started on the Thursday prior to Mania and never ended until we got on the plane to head home April 2nd.
It was so great to see so many of my long time friends and to remember the good old days. For awhile I thought I’m wrestling all over again. J. One of the best memories I can remember when I and Steve Austin were talking and he told me that he used to watch my brother and me wrestle and thanked me for paving the road for all of them. I realized then that even these young superstars do remember who we are and he showed his respect to me. A chill ran through my body and I looked at this young star and told him from my heart that I’m proud of him and to keep up the hard work. We hugged and parted as friends.
It also brings back memories when we were present at the premiere of "The Condemned", which is an excellent movie that is sure to be a box office hit. It was at the premiere that Friday night before the Hall of Fame when it really hit me about how special the induction is. The Fox Theater was jam packed with fans who were screaming and cheering for the wrestlers and it felt like electricity going through my body. I must say that the feeling was beyond anything I can think of and a feeling and high that I will never forget.
The Hall of Fame felt like we were at the Academy awards. It was so elegant and exciting. Sika and I were the second inductees to be announced and we did have a time limit for our speech. There were so many people who I wanted to thank and with the time limit I did not want to leave anyone out. I feel that I should take this time to say special thanks to a few of the people who I feel have been a part of my career. Thank you to my cousin Ata Johnson, my Auntie Lia Maivia, my dear friend Georgieann, my kids Sam, Komiti, Bernadette, Monica, Lloyd, Afa Jr, Tovale and Jaye and to my wife who I refer to as MY LIFE.
It was great to sit around with my friends Mr. Fuji, Don Murraco, Bobby Heenen, Haku, Jimmy Superfly Snuka, Undertaker, Michael Hayes, my former students Batista & Snisky among others and to share stories, memories and many laughs.
I feel that the best part of the weekend for me was to meet so many great fans, there was one who was from London and is a ChatterBox reader. It touched me deeply when he told me that he came all the way to Detroit just to see my brother & me get inducted because we were his favorite wrestlers. This is what makes what we do feel so good.
It was a weekend that will stay in my heart as one of the best weekends of my life and to me, to be inducted into the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame means that we made it all the way to the top of our careers.
Thank you all who have supported “The Wild Samoans” career.
WXW Upcoming dates:
Saturday May 5th Mountainville Hall South 4th Street Allentown, PA 7:30 PM
Saturday May 26th Fernwood Hotel & Resort, Bushkill, PA 7:30 PM
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