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The Way I See It: Still The Teacher

Posted: Mar 2nd 2011 By: CMBurnham

It's been just over one year since I last wrote a column. I proudly wrote "The Way I See It" for my dear friend Georgiann Makpoulos's Wrestling Chatter Box Newsletter. My last column was published in February 2010, and I had to say goodbye to wrestling's first lady of news. Throughout my career, I haven't done many interviews or writings over the past 40 years but when Georgiann asked me to write for her newsletter I couldn't say no. Later on she told me that many of her readers often told her that my column was a favorite of theirs. It was my honor and pleasure to help her out in my small way and it was a nice way to reach my fans and the many great wrestling fans who I have befriended.

Just a few days ago I was contacted by Tommy Fierro, who is one of my "kids" in wrestling. He was excited to tell me about his newest wrestling related project and asked me if I would start up my column on his site. I think it's a perfect way to remember my dear friend Georgiann and a way to help my kid Tommy.

Tommy and I go back to the mid 90's. He was just getting involved in wrestling and was full of hopes, dreams, a love for the sport and lots of respect. I like to think that I took him under my wing and taught him the ropes. We cross promoted his ISPW with my WXW and had some great feuds. We spent a summer in Wildwood, NJ. running weekly events. Tommy was a good listener and wanted to learn everything he could about this great sport. Over the years he has come to me for advice and support and has always had the utmost respect for me and other veteran wrestlers.

So as a teacher to so many young dreamers, I will do what I can to give back to our sport that has been so good to me and my family. So here it is, "The Way I See it". I hope you enjoy reading my column as much as I enjoy reaching out to you - the greatest fans in the world!

I was real pleased when I heard the news that my nephew Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was to appear on Raw, and happy for the fans that he will host Wrestlemania 27. Although Dwayne reached mega success in Hollywood, he never lost his love for this great sport and I know that he enjoys every opportunity to reach his fans! Our sport is all about giving your all to your fans and coming home every chance you get.

Since my last column I am blessed to say that life in Florida is not half bad. It's 2 1/2 years since I moved to Central Florida to retire and haven't found retirement yet. The Wild Samoan Training Center and WXW Wrestling are still running as a teaching promotion and with the help of my nephew Haku and good friend Ricky Santana, I am proud to say that we have some prospects in our camp that are being looked at by WWE.

Ricky, Tonga and I teach our students respect, honor, loyalty and between the three of us, we have over 100 years of knowledge of this sport. Training is not all about being in the ring. We offer psychology classes and hours of stories of how things were yesterday and today. This is something that every up and coming wrestler should experience to really appreciate this great sport. Any of us veterans would take our shirt off to this generation who really want to learn. I don't pretend to know it all, but I am here to give my students my all and nurture them and hopefully turn them into the next superstars.

My daughter Vale has brought me into the world of technology with building me a Facebook fan page. Look up "Afa the Wild Samoan" on Facebook, and you'll see many photos, personal stories from my fans and friends, videos, and more. Now that I have given an update on my everyday life, I look forward to hearing from my friends and fans as this is an amazing way to be in touch with people all over the world.

For those of you who live in or visit the Central Florida area I hope you'll check out WXW Wrestling where my wrestling students give their 150% for the fans.

Until next time, stay strong in health and faith!

God Bless,

Afa "The Wild Samoan"

Tags: Afa