Fahayra and Joe are the perfect power couple: high school sweethearts, best friends, madly in love. Well, they used to be, anyway. Now, Fahayra is confused with Joe's recent change in behavior as the man she fell in love with twenty years ago is now...
We have been blessed to share nearly three decades together as childhood sweethearts and twelve years as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage. Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth.
This decision has been reached amicably and we will both continue to participate fully in the upbringing of our children.
Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness. We greatly appreciate your understanding in respecting our privacy as our family navigates this transition in all of our lives.
This is the only statement either of us will make.
-Joe and Fahayra Anoa'i
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Fahayra Soleil Mattio (born June 15, 1985), known professionally as Fahayra Mattio and by her ring name Essence, is an American retired professional wrestler, model, dancer, choreographer, and actress. She is currently signed to WWE working as an ambassador. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, she wrestled for WWE for seven years prior to pursuing an acting career. She became the youngest woman and third black woman to receive all four of the major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony (EGOT).
Fahayra and longtime boyfriend Joe Anoa'i, better known by the ring name Roman Reigns, were married in Maui on November 11, 2011. Through their marriage, she was a member of the Anoaʻi family, a Samoan-American wrestling dynasty. The couple resides in Tampa and Pensacola, Florida.
In June 2024, Mattio officially filed for divorce. In August 2024, they both agreed before court that they would end their marriage due to "irreconcilable differences" and agreed to joint custody of their children. They also agreed that neither of them need spousal support. Mattio was declared legally single on August 12, 2024. This allowed her to drop "Anoa'i" as her legal last name and ended their marriage. During their marriage, she suffered two miscarriages, and was the stepmother to his children from his affair.
Their first child, daughter Khaila, was born in May 2008 and appeared with Joe in a PSA in June 2014. Their second child, another daughter Karimah, was born in February 2012. Anoaʻi and Mattio had twin boys, Jairo and Jeremias in October 2016, followed by another daughter Kyanne in March 2018, another set of twin boys, Fenix and Felix in June 2020, and another set of twins: a boy, Suney, and a girl, Sienna in November 2023.
After Fahayra files for divorce in June, Joe is determined to hold his family together at all costs. While Fahayra is ready for a new beginning away from Joe and the Anoa'i name.
A|N: I will continue The Pursuit of Fahayra in this book.
