In 1985, Samu joined Gino Brito and Dino Bravo's Montreal-based Lutte Internationale promotion, which was the first time he worked in the same territory as his cousin Fatu.
When the promotion closed up two years later, the two cousins signed with the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico and were packaged as the "Samoan SWAT Team": Samu and Fatu.
The team adopted the "Samoan savage" gimmick that had made their fathers so well known and feared throughout the wrestling world, working barefoot and never speaking English on camera.
The team was presented as an unstoppable force, and even allowed to beat hometown heroes Kerry and Kevin Von Erich for the WCCW Tag-Team Titles on August 12, 1988.
[2] The Samoan SWAT Team made their pay-per-view debut at AWA Superclash III, the first (and only) PPV that the American Wrestling Association ever presented.
[2] The Samoan SWAT Team signed with World Championship Wrestling and was brought in as manager Paul E. Dangerously's replacements for the "Original" Midnight Express who had left the promotion.
[5] At The 1989 Great American Bash the Samoans teamed with former rival Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Jimmy Garvin losing a War Games Match to The Road Warriors, the Midnight Express and Steve Williams.
The Samoans started to lose more and more matches as 1989 drew to a close, but their fortunes appeared to be changing due to the injury to Sid Vicious.
As The Headshrinkers they first made their presence known when they helped Money Inc. beat the Natural Disasters to win the WWF World Tag Team titles.
[14] In March 1994 the Headshrinkers turned face and challenged then tag-team champions The Quebecers, with the addition of manager Lou Albano the team won the gold on May 2, 1994.
The kayfabe reason given to Samu's departure was that he "ate some bad fish and got a disease" and was not coping well with manager Lou Albano's attempts to civilize the Headshrinkers, especially wearing boots.
The two men did not wrestle for the WWF but watched Fatu from afar as the former Headshrinker tried to turn himself into a positive role model for kids on the street.
[26] The group returned at Major League Wrestling's Kings of Colosseum led by Jacob Fatu with Lance Anoaʻi and Juicy Finau.
On January 7, 2023, Anoaʻi & Finau won the MLW World Tag Team Championship at Blood and Thunder by defeating EJ Nduka and Calvin Tankman.