In 1992, Anoai was contacted by Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and offered a roster spot along with The Samoans (Fatu and Samoan Savage). On an August 17, 1992 episode of "Prime Time Wrestling" the Samoans (soon to be the Headshrinkers) made their debut. Commentator Gorilla Monsoon made mention of another, larger Samoan that they would soon be seeing in the WWF. Anoa'i would make his initial debut as Kokina in an untelevised match on September 1, 1992 at a "WWF Superstars" taping in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Wrestling as Kokina, he defeated Ron Neal. This would be the only time that Anoa'i wrestled under his former gimmick. Shortly after he was offered a new gimmick: Yokozuna.