Lance Anoa’i Doesn’t See Living Up to His Family’s Legacy as Pressure

– Lance Anoa’i spoke with Wrestling Inc for a new interview and discussed the legacy of his family and the pressure of living up to it. Highlights are below:

On not originally setting out to be a wrestler: “We breed professional wrestlers, our whole family. All the way from my grandfather, WWE Hall of Famer Afa, my father, Headshrinker Samu, coming from a great lineage is awesome. Growing up in the business, it’s something, honestly, I never wanted to do growing up. I always wanted to be a baseball player, but at the time [wrestling] just grew on me. Just living and following in my family’s footsteps, it’s been a dream for me. So now, I just want to continue to follow my dream and fill the same footsteps that my family did.”

On the pressure of his family’s legacy: “It’s not really pressure to me. Yes, I have big shoes to fill: Umaga, Yokozuna, The Rock, Hall of Famers. It is big shoes. I don’t feel much pressure but pressure is there. I don’t want to be the one to not make it. But if I don’t, I’m happy. I love what I do. It’s a whole different ballgame [now]. Back then, it wasn’t like this. You can almost make a living off independents which I like. Performing and meeting new people every day – basically you do the same thing [as major promotions]. You don’t get paid as much, but I love doing it. I’ll keep doing it until I can’t do it no more. So, maybe one day I’ll be able to make it [to WWE], but until that time comes, you can see me anywhere.”