Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia, later known as Peter Maivia, was born in American Sāmoa in 1937. At twenty years old, he moved to New Zealand to begin his career in competitive wrestling. He quickly rose to fame, winning the New Zealand Heavyweight Championship in his first year of training there and prevailed in subsequent competitions in the Pacific and Hawaiʻi. He proudly wore his peʻa, the customary Samoan tattoo from the waist to the knees, and often displayed Samoan and Polynesian symbols and costumes in the ring.

Maivia and his longtime best friend, Reverend Amituanaʻi Anoaʻi were so close that they declared themselves “blood brothers” and combined their family lines. This deep bond between the two families became known in the industry as the “Samoan Dynasty,” and their involvement with professional wrestling continues to this day.

Although Maivia died of cancer at age forty-five, he left a long legacy of wrestlers. He trained Anoaʻi’s sons Afa and Sika, who became the tag team called The Wild Samoans and competed in the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE) until the late 1990s. Maivia’s grandson, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, also started his career as a WWE wrestler.

This module considers the prominence of Samoans in sports, particularly wrestling and football, and the pervasive stereotypes of Samoans as “savages” and “warriors.” We discuss the harm of stereotypes and the different ways Samoans challenge us to expand our understanding of Samoan identity and sports representation.