Afa Anoa’i Jr. (fka Manu) looks back on his run in Legacy.
In the fall of 2008, veteran performer Randy Orton introduced a new stable — called Legacy — that would allow some of WWE’s upcoming stars to sit under his learning tree. Permanent membership into Legacy, however, was contingent upon completing a series of tests coordinated by Orton. While Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase ultimately found success in these tests, Manu and Sim Snuka did not. As a result, Mani and Snuka were officially cast out of Legacy.
During a recent interview with MuscleManMalcolm, Afa Anoa’i Jr. (fka Manu) looked back on his stint in the stable. Though it was rather brief, Anoa’i Jr. asserts that it cultivated some fond memories.
“My fondest memory of being a part of Legacy, I’d probably have to say it was either my actual debut at Unforgiven when we cost CM Punk the world title or my debut singles match against Batista. Both of those were very, very big in my career,” Anoa’i Jr. said.
“The Batista match for special reasons. One, because it was in Atlanta, my first debut match was in Atlanta. When I first signed with the WWE, I had to move to Atlanta to perform in Deep South [Wrestling]. So it was kind of like a circle thing that I was wrestling in the town that I was living in at the time, and I was wrestling a Wild Samoan Training Center graduate and that is Dave Bautista. It was kind of a full-circle storybook, and I had a good one. I felt good about that one.”
The match in reference occurred on the November 17 2008 episode of WWE Raw, in which Anoa’i Jr. was pitted against former WWE Champion Batista. Anoa’i Jr. put up a valiant effort, but in the end, it was “The Animal” who emerged victorious.
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The Last Match
Recently, while speaking to Wrestlezone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard, Afa Jr. shared some insight on the guest wrestler spot that is part of The Last Match. Some of the announced guest wrestlers so far include Dalton Castle, Kayla Sparks and Matt Cardona, who played Alexander Swagger in the original shows.
“The way the guest wrestler spot is designed is, you’re going to see pretty much new wrestlers. New guest wrestlers pop up pretty much every night. And that goes beyond just the guest wrestler. That also goes with some of the female talent that’ll be going into the ballet with Teeth. So there’s a lot of moving parts. And it’s something that keeps it fresh. So that, if you did see one show in Rochester, you come a couple of nights later, it’s going to be a different show. Different moving parts to it and stuff. So it’s a really cool experience.”
Anoa’i Jr. also shared that fans will be in for a surprise and also local talent will also be present. He mentioned that it will be a unique experience in every city they perform.
“Yeah, it’ll be a good blend of both. It’ll be uh… You’re more popular wrestlers, you’re more seasoned wrestlers mixed with your locals. So the local variety of the way that we’re booking it with other outside companies, such as MCW and House of Glory and stuff like that. It makes it really unique to each area, each city that we stop in.”
The Last Match is currently on tour.
