Pacific Unleashed: Wrestling's biggest stage awaits at Wrestlemania 40

Wrestlemania 40 will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for Polynesians in the WWE. The starpower, storyline and performance from the Rock, Roman Reigns and the Usos is unlikely to ever be topped.

Four members of WWE’s legendary Anoa’i family will feature in Wrestlemania 40, with the Rock and Roman Reigns headlining night one, and Roman Reigns headlining night two of the event.

Night one will also feature twins Jimmy and Jey Uso who face each other for the first time as singles competitors.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the world of professional wrestling as of late, let me break it down for you.

Roman Reigns or the “Tribal Chief” has held the WWE Universal Championship for 1310 days, and the WWE Championship for 729 days. The most dominant champion with the longest reign in the WWE’s 71-year history. Son of WWE Hall of Famer Sika Anoa'i of the “Wild Samoans”.

The “Usos” Jimmy and Jey are the longest reigning tag-team champions in WWE history, holding the Raw Tag Team titles for 316 days and Smackdown Tag Team titles for 622 days. The most dominant tag-team competitors in WWE history are two Samoan twins. Sons of WWE Hall of Famer “Rikishi”.

Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, an attitude era icon, WWE’s most electrifying man, one of the most popular stars in the world. Son of Rocky “Soulman” Johnson, and grandson of High Chief Peter Maivia.

Never before have we seen this amount of Pacific star power dominate the WWE, and for this weekend’s 40th anniversary at professional wrestling’s grandest stage - the collection of stars will never happen again.

The “Bloodline”

In the past four years, the Bloodline* has dominated WWE, laying waste to all other stars and leading several engaging storylines and breaking championship records. The group’s inception began following Roman Reigns' dominant championship run in 2020 during the pandemic.

Reigns would run through all opponents put in front of him, leading into an eventual feud with his cousin, Jey Uso, beginning an intense rivalry. Using aspects of their family ties and Samoan culture, the two drew millions of eyes to an emotional rivalry during the peak of Covid-19.

A promo before their match saw the Wild Samoan’s discuss the importance of holding a “chief” title in the Samoan culture. The feud dawned the name “Tribal Chief” and “Head of the Table” in reference to leading the family.

The match between Roman and Jey was labeled as “tribal warfare” a play on Pacific culture, and the end would see the eventual victor, Roman, bestowed an ulafala as the “Tribal Chief”.

Following their match, Jey and his twin brother Jimmy joined Roman Reigns to form the Bloodline. The Usos soon collected both Raw and Smackdown tag-team titles, and Reigns defeated then WWE champion Brock Lesnar, to become the undisputed champion of the company.

With the inclusion of Solo Sikoa (son of Rikisihi), Sami Zayn and legendary manager Paul Hayman, the Bloodline became the leading and most dominant faction in the business.

Tensions rose amongst the Bloodline, which led to their ultimate demise in 2023, after Sami Zayn betrayed Roman Reigns - Jey Uso was soon to join Zayn in betraying his cousin. And since then, the Bloodline has consisted only of Solo Sikoa, Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso and Paul Hayman.

The Rock Returns in 2024

Every Polynesian wrestling fan knows the feeling they got hearing the “if you smell what the Rock is cooking!” watching an episode of Smackdown or Raw. This weekend, the infamous theme song will shatter walls again, on wrestling’s grandest stage, Wrestlemania 40.

As Roman Reigns continued his dominant reign throughout 2023, whispers began about Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson returning to put a stop to the Tribal Chief. Those whispers turned into reality earlier this year, when the Rock returned on an episode of Smackdown to finally face off with Roman Reigns for the match of the century.

The question will finally be answered - who is the real Tribal Chief? The real Head of the Table?

But, the Rock's return to challenge Reigns would soon turn sour, as WWE fans around the world took online to protest the match between the two stars given that Cody Rhodes, the winner of the Royal Rumble and Reigns’ last opponent at Wrestlemania, was the rightful challenger at Wrestlemania.

Despite a faceoff between the Rock and Reigns, fans detested the match. Eventually, leading to a press conference between Rock and Reigns, where Cody Rhodes returned to call out the Rock for stealing the spotlight.

Rhodes continued to cut a promo, demanding his place to face Roman Reigns at Wrestlemaniainstead of the Rock. The Rock would eventually go from Roman Reigns’ foe, to family, as he stood next to the undisputed champion and began a verbal assault on Cody Rhodes.

The following weeks would see the Rock return in a Versace vest bringing back his “Hollywood Rock” persona of the early 2000s. This “heel” version (or bad guy persona) of the Rock has since turned up to episodes of Smackdown and Raw, cutting intense promos and abusing Cody Rhodes.

The Rock has now donned the nickname “the Final Boss”, a nod to his prowess and his intense demeanor and starpower he has shown since returning. The Rock would eventually raise his finger with the Bloodline, and acknowledge Roman Reigns as his Tribal Chief.

The Usos Rivalry

Since Jey Uso’s departure from the Bloodline last year, he has had a singles and tag-team run of matches. His twin brother, Jimmy, stuck with the Bloodline and has continued by Roman Reigns side during his dominance in the WWE.

The twins will face off in a singles match for the first time ever in the WWE, having competed since their debut in 2010 as tag-team competitors. The longest-reigning tag team champions will have a long awaited feud at the biggest ever event for the WWE.

The two said in an interview during their time with the Bloodline that they would love to end their WWE careers facing each other.

Pacific representation in the WWE

Along with the intense rivalries, this weekend will also be a huge milestone for Pacific peoples in the WWE. Currently, there are only seven WWE superstars that hold Pacific heritage competing in the pro-wrestling organisation.

Last year, the Bloodline held eight WWE titles at Wrestlemania 39 and were included in two matches: The Usos vs Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for the undisputed tag-team titles; Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes for the undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

Both Roman and the Usos wore traditional ulas during their entrance to the ring, and all three stars wear traditional Samoan tattoos on their bodies. They all are drawing eyes to Pacific culture through the unique storytelling of the Bloodline, the Anoa’i family and the Samoan culture.

Wrestlemania 39 drew in 500 million viewers around the world - and they are watching our Pacific athletes be the top superstars in an event that is hugely important for our people. This year’s Wrestlemania 40, with the inclusion of the Rock and the intense buildup, is expected to draw even more viewers to watch.

With this much starpower, and our Samoan superstars at the top of a billion dollar sports entertainment industry - including the inclusion of one of the world’s highest paid actors, makes this a particularly historic occasion.

Wrestling terms:

Bloodline: A group in the WWE consisting of Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, Jimmy Uso, the Rock and Paul Heyman. The name is in reference to the Anoa’i family bloodline.

Heel: A bad guy or enemy to the fans of WWE.

Promo: A speech delivered by a WWE superstar in the ring or backstage, usually talking about their opponent. It can also refer to a promotional video, ahead of a match or event.

Raw: A weekly WWE show that features on Monday nights.

Smackdown: A weekly WWE show that features on Friday nights.

Storyline: A storyline is a feud between superstars that will usually lead up to matches, and involve a lot of buildup between events.

Wrestlemania: WWE’s biggest event of the year, known as the grandest stage where usually the biggest superstars feature and the biggest storylines of the year concludes.