WWE's Solo Sikoa talks post-Christmas show at MSG, a home away from home for his family

Being a touring performer with WWE often means spending the holidays away from your family. But one family will be very much united when WWE returns to Madison Square Garden this Monday for its annual post-Christmas event.

The "Bloodline" will be well represented in the Garden, when tag team champions Jimmy and Jey Uso team with their younger brother Solo Sikoa and “Honorary Uce” Sammi Zayn in the main event. And while they may not be gathered around the fireplace, Sikoa noted that MSG has been a home away from home for his family for decades.

“I know my uncles and my dad and my brothers and Roman passed through that building many times,” said Sikoa, referencing his famous wrestling relatives, which include the “Tribal Chief” of the Bloodline, his cousin Roman Reigns, and Sikoa’s father, Rikishi.

Growing up the son of the Hall of Fame wrestler, Sikoa said he learned at a young age the sacrifices of a life in WWE.

“I understood as a young kid, ‘Okay, he’s not here for Christmas. He’s not here for the birthdays. But I know what he’s doing. He’s on the road.’ I knew that. So hopefully, when my years are done, both of my kids, as they get older, will know that when I wasn’t there for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I was working,” Sikoa said. “Yeah, it [stinks] sometimes. But I knew that before I joined.”

Few wrestlers have grown up as immersed in the wrestling industry as Sikoa, 29, a member of the revered Anoaʻi family, which includes multiple generations of stars from the Pacific Islands. But Sikoa said growing up, his role in his family was far different than the one he has now as the “Enforcer” of the Bloodline.

“I used to get beat up, get picked on, get left alone. Nobody wanted to play with me.  But I grew up, I got older, I got bigger. And as you can see, now I'm the bigger, younger brother,” Sikoa said. “I utilize that with the enforcer character in the ring. You’re not going to touch me. You’re not going to beat me up no more. I use that anger in the ring against my opponent.”

And, although they were cousins, Sikoa acknowledges that he didn’t have much of a relationship with Universal Champion Roman Reigns before joining WWE.

“It was a huge age gap difference between me, him and my brothers. He was always around my brothers. I’d see him at the house every now and then, and at the family barbecue cookouts. But that was it,” Sikoa said of Reigns. “Now that I'm in the business, you know, he's like my mentor. He's always teaching me stuff, always talking to me, giving me critiques, giving me feedback. I’m really, really blessed to be in this position, especially with him.”

And Sikoa has another famous cousin he hopes to get to know better inside a WWE ring—Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Fans have been clamoring for Johnson to return to WWE for a dream match against Reigns.

“That would be the big draw right there. Roman vs. The Rock, to see who is the head of the table,” said Sikoa, who doesn’t rule out the possibility of one day stepping in the ring, himself, against his movie star cousin. “That would be cool. Family member against family member. Who wouldn’t want to see that?”

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.