Umaga (wrestler)

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 (WXW) promotion.[1] From 1999 to 2000, he worked for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in Japan.[2]

In 2001, Fatu, along with his cousin Matt, signed developmental contracts with World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and were assigned to Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA), 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 2001 by defeating Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore. They also competed for Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW), holding the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions.[1]

Fatu (renamed to Jamal) and Anoaʻi (renamed to Rosey) made their main roster debut on the July 22, 2002, episode of Raw as 3-Minute Warning, a pair of villainous thugs.[1][9] 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.[2][9] 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.[1] Their most notable event came when they attacked two lesbians on the September 9 episode of Raw.[10]

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.[9] Rico, Billy and Chuck's former manager, also began to manage 3-Minute Warning during this time.[1] On November 17 at Survivor Series, they competed in an elimination tables match, which was won by The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley).[9] 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.[1][2]

On September 10, 2003, Fatu debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) 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.[1]

Jamal at an AJPW live event in November 2003.

Fatu debuted in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in November 2003 under his former ring name Jamal, immediately aligning himself with Taka Michinoku's Roughly Obsess and Destroy (R.O.D.) 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.[11] 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.[1]

The following month on January 16, 2005, they won the World Tag Team Championship for the first time, beating New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) representatives Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie.[1] 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.[11] 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.[1]

Umaga at a WWE live event in 2006

In December 2005, Fatu had re-signed with World Wrestling Entertainment.[1] Fatu returned on the April 3, 2006, 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.[12] He then defeated Flair at Backlash on April 30.[13]

In mid–2006, Umaga started a winning streak (not including PPV matches like Survivor Series) 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 (Shawn Michaels and Triple H), only to be attacked by Kane as he made his entrance.[14] 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.[15] After being separated by different brands, Umaga and Kane had one final match at Cyber Sunday on November 5, where Umaga again defeated Kane.[16]

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 by pinning Umaga with a roll-up, officially ending his undefeated streak, which had lasted 34 televised matches and spanned from his re-debut in April 2006 to January 7, 2007.[17] 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.[11] 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.[18] 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.[19] Cena kayfabe refused a medical exam, the results of which could cause him to forfeit his title, and then defeated Umaga at the Royal Rumble on January 28 after wrapping a loosened ring rope around his neck during an STFU.[20]

Umaga (left) at One Night Stand in June 2007 with Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon

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.[21] After Bobby Lashley was named Trump's representative, the two began a feud which lasted even beyond WrestleMania.[22] At WrestleMania on April 1, Umaga lost the Battle of the Billionaires' hair versus hair match and caused McMahon to get his head shaved.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25] 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.

Umaga facing Triple H in November 2007

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.[26] In a rematch on the July 2 episode of Raw, Umaga defeated Marella to win the Intercontinental Championship for the second time.[27] 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,[28] which they won.[29] He defeated both Carlito and Mr. Kennedy in a triple threat match at SummerSlam on August 26 to retain the Intercontinental Championship.[30] 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,[31] thus turning heel once again. One week later, on the September 3 episode of Raw, Umaga lost the Intercontinental Championship to Hardy.[1]

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.[32] 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.[33] At Survivor Series on November 18, his team lost to Triple H's team in a Survivor Series match.[34] On March 30 at WrestleMania XXIV, Umaga was defeated by Batista.[1]

On June 23, 2008, Umaga was drafted to the SmackDown brand, as a part of the 2008 WWE draft.[35] Umaga suffered a torn PCL at a live event in Johnson City, Tennessee, on August 2. After two promos hyping his return to the brand, on the January 30, 2009, episode of SmackDown, Umaga returned with a new entrance theme, defeating Jimmy Wang Yang. Umaga then suffered his first defeat since his return against Triple H by disqualification on the March 6 episode of SmackDown, after The Legacy attacked Triple H. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Umaga returned from a two-month hiatus, attacking CM Punk on multiple occasions, repeatedly interrupting Punk's attempts to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase.[36] On May 17 at Judgment Day, Umaga defeated Punk, but lost to Punk at Extreme Rules on June 7 in a Samoan Strap match, ending their feud in what was Umaga's last appearance in WWE.[37] On June 8, 2009, WWE announced that Fatu was released from his WWE contract.[38] It was later revealed that his termination was due to violation of the Wellness Policy; even though this was only his second failure, his refusal to enter rehabilitation led to his dismissal.[4]

On July 11, 2009, Umaga appeared at the World Wrestling Council (WWC) in Puerto Rico, defeating Mr. Anderson (formerly Mr. Kennedy).[39] In November, Umaga appeared on Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania Tour of Australia under the ring name Uso Fatu.[40] On November 24, Fatu defeated Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, and two days later, he and Orlando Jordan lost to Beefcake and Mr. Anderson.[11] On November 28, 2009, Fatu wrestled his final match, where he was defeated by Anderson.[11] Shortly before his death, Fatu reportedly reached an agreement to return to WWE at the Royal Rumble in January 2010.[41]