CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE  

1/28/2003 4:32:00 PM  

In a business that does not always give credit to one another, I thought I would take this time to talk a little about a few former students of mine.

Over the many years that I have been operating my pro wrestling training centers, I have had many students come through my program and consider them all my kids.

Some of them have gone on and made big names for themselves and are seen all over the world on the WWE. 

( Batista, Billy Kidman, Rosie & Jamal, Rikishi, Head Shrinkers, Chris Kaynon, Doink The Clown, Gangrel, Luna Vachon, Sherri Martell, Paul E. Dangerously, just to name a few ) Others have gone on to make names for themselves in the overseas markets. Some have made a good living and names for themselves on the Independent circuits and others have tasted the business and decided to move on to other things in life.

Just like any parent, it makes me very proud to know that in some way I have helped so many people to have the chance to live their dream in this beautiful business.

I have been told that I am the shepherd of Professional wrestling because I have taken so many life's and have lead them to their dreams and that means a lot to me.

I have been truly blessed to have had the opportunity to be in this business for so many years and I know that our dear Lord has given me all of my success.

I am often asked to name a student of mine who stands out among the rest. This is always hard for me because I never like to choose one over another because they are all my kids.

I would like to however talk about a former student of mine, " John Rambo" who has gone on to make me very proud as a trainer and Father.

John is from the same area of Pennsylvania where I have my training center and he is also a graduate from the same High school (Freedom H.S.) that my nephew (The Rock ) and son (Afa, Jr) went to.

I would like to share with you that John was a Freedom High School All-American and academic all-American (maintained above a 3.0 GPA his entire junior high and high school years), all-city, all-region, etc., and his name is still in their showcase and record books. After HS, John chose to enter into pro wrestling and came to me for the skill and knowledge.

I trained John and he worked for my promotion to gain more ring experience before he left the nest to take his professional career to a higher level. He started in Portland, Oregon.

After 15 years in this business, John is settled in Hagerstown, MD. where he owns and runs the very successful House of Pain Pro Wrestling School and NWL Pro Wrestling Federation.

Besides the love and respect that John and I share, we have a great business relationship as well. We trade off WXW & NWL talents to offer them additional work and experience. This is something very rare for two promotions to work so close together. John can also be seen on WXW events. He has traveled to my area so many times to lend a helping hand and never once asked or took money from me.

My son, Samu who is like a brother to John also works close with him and can been seen many times throughout the year on NWL events.

In a business where you make your living off the reputation that you have built, I can proudly say that John has done well. He invited me down to visit him so many times and I finally put my busy schedule on hold and paid a visit to his school during one of his wrestling events.

As with every time I see John, he treated me with the utmost respect. He proudly introduced me to his workers, students and fans. After the show he invited me and the boys into his home for a very good home cooked meal. ( John cooks like a Samoan :-0 )

For those of you who may not know John Rambo, I can stand up and say that he is a good hardworking man and I would stake my reputation on him.

John is a loyal man who never forgot where he came from and I am proud to say he is a product of The Wild Samoan Pro Wrestling Training Center.

Wrestling fans who live in his area should check out the NWL, and for those of you who have the dream of being a pro wrestler, check out the House of Pain.  NWL and HoPWF Official Internet Headquarters

Just thought I would share this little bit with you about one of my sons.

God bless
Afa "The Wild Samoan"

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