Umaga (wrestler)
Edward Smith Fatu was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment, under the ring name Umaga. Fatu was also known for his tenure in All Japan Pro Wrestling in the mid-2000s, under the ring name Jamal.
He was a member of the Anoaʻi family, a renowned Samoan wrestling family. During his first stint with WWE billed as Jamal, he was part of tag team 3-Minute Warning, with his cousin Matt Anoaʻi, billed as Rosey. He was released from the company in June 2003, later going to All Japan Pro Wrestling and becoming a mainstay for the company from late 2003 to 2005. In April 2006, Fatu returned to WWE under the ring name Umaga. Fatu went undefeated on the Raw brand throughout the year before finally suffering his first defeat in January 2007 at the hands of then WWE Champion John Cena. The following month, he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the first time, and won it for the second time in July 2007. He also appeared in the "Battle of the Billionaires" WrestleMania 23 match as Mr. McMahon's representative. He was released by WWE in June 2009 and wrestled on the independent circuit until his death in December of that year.
Early life
Edward Smith Fatu was born in American Samoa on March 28, 1973, to Vera and Solofa Fatu. He was a member of the Anoaʻi family. His mother was the sister of Afa and Sika of The Wild Samoans. He has two older brothers who are also professional wrestlers: Sam and Solofa Jr.. He was also the uncle of Jacob Fatu, Jonathan and Joshua Fatu, and Joseph Fatu, as well as a cousin of several professional wrestlers, including Rodney Anoaʻi, Matt Anoaʻi and Joe Anoaʻi. Fatu grew up in Samoa and played football in high school.Professional wrestling career
Early career (1995–2001)
Fatu trained with his cousin Matt Anoaʻi at the Wild Samoan professional wrestling school operated by members of their family. In 1995, with his training complete, Fatu debuted in his uncle Afa's World Xtreme Wrestling promotion. From 1999 to 2000, he worked for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in Japan.World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (2001–2003)
In 2001, Fatu, along with his cousin Matt, signed developmental contracts with the World Wrestling Federation, and were assigned to Heartland Wrestling Association, adopting the tag team name the Island Boyz, and with Fatu using the ring name Ekmo. They won the HWA Tag Team Championship in November by defeating Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore. They also competed for Memphis Championship Wrestling, holding the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions.Fatu and Anoaʻi made their main roster debut on the July 22, 2002, episode of Raw as 3-Minute Warning, a pair of villainous thugs. They were hired as enforcers of Eric Bischoff, attacking random wrestlers each week, after Bischoff either gave people three minutes to entertain him before they were attacked or decided that three minutes of a segment was enough before the team appeared to end it. They attacked numerous wrestlers at the orders of Bischoff, including D'Lo Brown and Shawn Stasiak. They also attacked non-wrestlers, including ring announcer Lilian Garcia and former wrestlers Jimmy Snuka, Mae Young and The Fabulous Moolah. Their most notable event came when they attacked two lesbians on the September 9 episode of Raw.
3-Minute Warning then began a feud with Billy and Chuck, interfering in their storyline commitment ceremony, and defeating them on September 22 at the Unforgiven pay-per-view event. Rico, Billy and Chuck's former manager, also began to manage 3-Minute Warning during this time. On November 17 at Survivor Series, they competed in an elimination tables match, which was won by The Dudley Boyz. The team lasted just shy of a year, with Fatu being released from his WWE contract in June 2003, reportedly after his involvement in a bar fight.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003–2004)
On September 10, 2003, Fatu debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name of Ekmo Fatu, helping Sonny Siaki defeat D'Lo Brown in a casket match. He then formed a tag team with Siaki. From October to August 2004, he teamed with Sonny Siaki to defeat the teams of Shark Boy and Mad Mikey, Danny Doring and Roadkill, and America's Most Wanted. Fatu made his final appearance on August 11, 2004, where he lost to Alex Shelley.All Japan Pro Wrestling (2003–2005)
Fatu debuted in All Japan Pro Wrestling in November 2003 under his former ring name Jamal, immediately aligning himself with Taka Michinoku's Roughly Obsess and Destroy stable. He most often teamed with fellow members Taiyō Kea and Buchanan, though he began to receive a push as a singles wrestler in early 2004. Entering that year's Champion Carnival, he failed to advance past the group stages, though earned a major upset win over Keiji Mutō. In May, he began a feud with Toshiaki Kawada, setting his sights on Kawada's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. The two fought for the belt on June 12 in Nagoya, Aichi, where Kawada was victorious. After this loss, Jamal spent the rest of 2004 primarily focused on the tag division, and on December 1, 2004, he and frequent partner Taiyō Kea won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League tournament, beating Kaz Hayashi and Satoshi Kojima in the final.The following month on January 16, 2005, they won the World Tag Team Championship for the first time, beating New Japan Pro-Wrestling representatives Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie. Following this win, he was once again pushed in that year's Champion Carnival, earning big wins over established names such as Kawada and Kojima on his way to the final, where he lost to Kensuke Sasaki in Tokyo. With a strong record of wins against champion Satoshi Kojima, Jamal began to pursue the Triple Crown once again in August, culminating in a match between the two in Sapporo on September 1, where Jamal was once again defeated. After this, he once again entered the Real World Tag League with Kea, however, they failed to advance past the group stages. Jamal left All Japan Pro Wrestling in December 2005.
Return to WWE (2005–2009)
Undefeated streak (2005–2007)
In December 2005, Fatu had re-signed with World Wrestling Entertainment. Fatu returned on the April 3, 2006, post-WrestleMania 22 episode of Raw with a new character called Umaga, the same name of the final and most painful part of the Samoan tattooing process, meaning "the end"; he was depicted as a destructive savage who could be controlled only by his manager, Armando Alejandro Estrada. Umaga attacked Ric Flair in his debut at the orders of Estrada. He then defeated Flair at Backlash on April 30.In mid–2006, Umaga started a winning streak against the majority of the Raw roster, including going over top stars John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. His next feud started on August 20 at SummerSlam, where he was supposed to be an enforcer on behalf of Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon during their match against D-Generation X, only to be attacked by Kane as he made his entrance. Umaga feuded with Kane for the next two months until Umaga won a Loser Leaves Raw match on the October 9 episode of Raw, sending Kane off of the brand. After being separated by different brands, Umaga and Kane had one final match at Cyber Sunday on November 5, where Umaga again defeated Kane.
Umaga, having still not been pinned, was then deemed the number one contender for the WWE Championship and placed into a feud with then-champion John Cena over the title. Cena retained his belt at the New Year's Revolution pay-per-view on January 7, 2007 by pinning Umaga with a roll-up, officially ending his undefeated streak. In that time, Umaga was never pinned or made to submit on television, but he suffered two losses by disqualification and another in a double countout. For the rest of the month, Armando Alejandro Estrada played down Cena's victory, claiming it was a fluke, until a Last Man Standing rematch was signed for the Royal Rumble on January 28. On an episode of Raw between the two pay-per-views, Umaga attacked Cena causing a worked injury to his spleen and putting the match in jeopardy. Cena refused a medical exam, the results of which could cause him to forfeit his title, and then defeated Umaga at the Royal Rumble after wrapping a loosened ring rope around his neck during an STFU.
Intercontinental Champion (2007–2008)
On the February 19 episode of Raw, Umaga was named Vince McMahon's representative for "Battle of the Billionaires" with Donald Trump at WrestleMania 23. Immediately after choosing Umaga, McMahon granted him a match against the Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy, which he won to win the Intercontinental Championship. After Bobby Lashley was named Trump's representative, the two began a feud which lasted even beyond WrestleMania. At WrestleMania on April 1, Umaga lost the Battle of the Billionaires' hair versus hair match and caused McMahon to get his head shaved. On the April 16 episode of Raw, Lashley interfered in a match and helped a planted fan, Santino Marella, defeat Umaga for the Intercontinental Championship. On April 29 at Backlash, Umaga, Vince, and Shane McMahon wrestled Lashley for his ECW World Championship in a handicap match, winning the title for Vince. Umaga would continue to be involved with that feud, competing at Judgment Day on May 20 in a rematch for the ECW World Championship, which was once again a handicap match with the McMahons and Umaga taking on Lashley, which Lashley won. However, Lashley did not win the ECW World Championship because he pinned Shane and not the champion, Vince. The feud culminated on June 3 at One Night Stand, with Umaga aiding Vince in defending the ECW World Championship against Lashley in a Street Fight, which Vince lost.In June, Umaga was re-entered into a feud with Marella. When they met at the Vengeance pay-per-view on June 24, Umaga was solidly in control of the match, but lost by disqualification when he disregarded the referee's instructions and continued to punch Marella. In a rematch on the July 2 episode of Raw, Umaga defeated Marella to win the Intercontinental Championship for the second time. On the August 6 episode of Raw, Umaga turned face by joining forces with John Cena to face Carlito and Randy Orton in a tag team match on August 13, which they won. He defeated both Carlito and Mr. Kennedy in a triple threat match at SummerSlam on August 26 to retain the Intercontinental Championship. He then interrupted a match between Kennedy and the returning Jeff Hardy the following night on Raw, assaulting Hardy and leaving him lying in the ring, thus turning heel once again. One week later, on the September 3 episode of Raw, Umaga lost the Intercontinental Championship to Hardy.
Later that night, he teamed with Carlito in a handicap match against Triple H, after which Triple H struck him several times with his signature sledgehammer, injuring him. He was given a match against Triple H on October 7 at No Mercy, which was changed to a title match for the WWE Championship during the event when Triple H won the title earlier that night. Umaga was defeated by Triple H in their match. At Survivor Series on November 18, his team lost to Triple H's team in a Survivor Series match. On March 30, 2008, at WrestleMania XXIV, Umaga was defeated by Batista.