Rikishi endorses real-life Bloodline member ahead of WWE RAW

The Bloodline continues to dominate WWE, with family members on both rosters. As a senior member of the family, Rikishi has just endorsed a rising star.

Lance Anoa'i is the son of Samu, who held the WWF Tag Team Championship with Rikishi as The Headshrinkers. Lance debuted on the indies in 2010 and continued to work for the family-owned WXW promotion. He eventually signed with MLW and held the Tag Team Championship on one occasion.

Afa's grandson was granted his MLW release a few months back, and since then, he has been rumored to sign with WWE. Lance took to Instagram this week to tout how he's in the best shape of his career and just getting started. Rikishi took it to his Instagram stories and re-posted the photo, captioning it with a brief but bold endorsement.

"@LANCE_ANOAI [blood drop emoji] [finger pointing up emoji]," Rikishi wrote.

Screenshot of Rikishi's post to Instagram Stories

Anoa'i has worked several tryout matches for World Wrestling Entertainment in recent years. The Ascension defeated him and Rhett Titus during SmackDown on December 30, 2014.

Then Lance teamed with Garrison Spears for an NXT loss to AOP on February 1, 2017. During a feud with Roman Reigns, Shane McMahon defeated Lance on the May 27, 2019 edition of RAW.

MLW nixed WWE appearance for Lance Anoa'i

Lance Anoa'i left MLW last fall after requesting his release. The company apparently prevented him from making a special WWE appearance the year before his departure.

WWE held a second Tribal Court segment with The Bloodline on SmackDown in July 2023. This was a part of Roman Reigns' feud with cousin Jey Uso, which led to the Tribal Combat at SummerSlam. The segment ended in chaos as The Bloodline began to really fall apart.

There were apparently plans for the company to bring in additional Anoa'i Family members to appear in the Tribal Court segment. Speaking to Steve Fall, Lance revealed that MLW nixed his booking, and Jacob Fatu was also pulled. Lance noted that the creative team wanted to book several family members.

"I missed a few opportunities, being with MLW. The possibility of being on the Tribal Court they were doing, with the whole bringing in the family. I missed that opportunity. They [WWE] wanted a lot of us," Lance said.

Lance went on to reveal more details on why MLW nixed the booking and what officials had planned. The former MLW Tag Team Champion is currently teasing a WrestleMania XL appearance.