The Samoan Anoa'i Family Member Who Went Nowhere In WWE

Manu is a member of the famous Anoa'i family, a family which has bred successful WWE superstars such as Roman Reigns, The Rock, The Usos, Yokozuna, Umaga, Rikishi, and Nia Jax, among others. With such a heritage one would think that Manu would be a shoo-in to be a success in WWE, however, it didn’t really work out that way. Manu RELATED: Ranking The Members Of The Anoa'i Family

Manu Joined WWE In 2006

In October 2006, Manu was signed by WWE and joined their developmental promotion, Deep South Wrestling. During this time, Manu was considered one of the most promising members of WWE’s developmental and was even called up to have a match on Heat against WWE legend Hacksaw Jim Duggan. While Manu lost the match, the commentators gushed about the potential of Manu, regarding him as a “can’t miss prospect,” something which rarely ever happened for enhancement talent at that time.

Manu would make his main roster debut at Unforgiven 2008, aligning with Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase. This formed the infamous faction, The Legacy. The concept behind The Legacy was a group of multi-generational wrestlers whose families had an extensive history in the wrestling business. As a member of the famous Anoa'i Family, Manu was thought to have fit the group like a glove.

Randy Orton would use The Legacy to help him win his feuds although he was very selective about who was a member. When Sim Snuka, son of Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, expressed interest in joining The Legacy, Orton made all Legacy members go through a series of tests to earn their participation in the group. Manu would fail his test in the first week and would eventually be kicked out of the group completely not too long after his call-up to the main roster.

One of Manu’s last appearances on Raw was a verbal burial by Randy Orton, who insulted Manu as well as his father, Afa of the Wild Samoans. The following week, Manu and Sim Snuka were demolished by Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted Dibiase. That would be the last time Manu would ever be seen on WWE TV and Manu was released from his contract a month later on February 23, 2009.

What Went Wrong?

As soon as Manu hit the main roster, company officials started to second guess his call-up due to his physical appearance. Manu’s Samoan physique certainly stood out when he was standing next to Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted Dibiase, who were all in incredible shape.

Internally, Manu was criticized for not having the right look and was told by many to lose weight. JR wrote in a blog at the time, "Manu gave us a glimpse of what might be in his future as Wild Samoan Afa's son had a really good outing with Batista. Manu is genuinely athletic and seems to have natural timing and instincts. My only suggestion to him would be to watch what he eats and how he trains therefore keeping his weight under control. Bottom line is that Manu has the potential to be a significant contributor down the road."

Regrettably for Manu, he was unable to lose much weight, probably due to genetics as all members of the Anoa'i Family have had similar builds to Manu and have all gained weight as they got older.

However, when Manu was first signed by WWE, he weighed significantly less than he did when he hit the main roster, so much so that he looked drastically different in his early days in developmental compared to his time on the main roster. Manu’s release from WWE was said to have been because of his psychical appearance rather than his in-ring work, although officials didn’t seem to be too high on that either.

Also working against him was a peculiar wellness policy violation. On March 20, 2008, Manu attempted to cheat a company-sanctioned drug test using the aid of a realistic prosthetic penis, known as the "Whizzinator.” This product is intended to defeat drug tests by filling a prosthetic penis with another person’s clean urine…

While he wasn’t the first person to use this device, he was the first person to be caught, which resulted in an automatic drug test failure, leading to a 30-day suspension.

Manu's WWE career shows that a prestigious family history alone is not enough to be a success in WWE.