Edward Umar Fatu

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Eddie Umar Fatu United StatesUnited States
Umaga en Chicago.jpg
Data
Ring name Ekmo
Ekmo Fatu
Jamal
O.G. Ekmo
Osu Fatu
Umaga
Additions to names Samoan bulldozer
height 188 cm
Fighting weight 158 kg
birth March 28, 1973
San Francisco , California , USA
death December 4, 2009
Houston , Texas , USA
Announced from The Isle of Samoa
Trained by Afa
debut 1995

Edward Umar Fatu (born March 28, 1973 in San Francisco , California , † December 4, 2009 in Houston , Texas ), better known by his ring name Umaga , was an American wrestler of Samoan origin. He worked for the wrestling organization World Wrestling Entertainment until June 8, 2009 , where he appeared on their weekly programs and major events. Fatu continued the tradition of the large and very successful Anoaʻi wrestling family . His greatest achievement was receiving the WWE Intercontinental Champion title twice .

life and death

Edward Fatu was a member of the Anoaʻi family, which had been represented in wrestling for decades. He was the brother of Solofa Fatu (Headshrinker Fatu / Rikishi) and Sam Fatu (Tonga Kid). His cousins ​​included Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) , Leati Joseph Anoaʻi (Roman Reigns) , Samula Anoaʻi (Headshrinker Samu), the late Matt Anoaʻi (Rosey / Kimo) and the late Rodney Anoaʻi (Yokozuna) . The former Wild Samoans Arthur Anoaʻi (Afa) and Leati Anoaʻi (Sika), as well as James Reiher (Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka) were his uncles. His nephews Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso are currently active in the WWE.

On December 4, 2009, Fatu was admitted to a Houston hospital after he was found lifeless in front of the television by his wife at home. According to media reports, he suffered a heart attack on the morning of December 4th. In the hospital he suffered another heart attack and died between 5 and 6 p.m. local time.

For a long time there was uncertainty about the reasons for the two heart attacks, and an autopsy finally revealed a mixture of painkillers, Valium and the muscle relaxant preparation Soma , which in this combination led to Fatus's death.

Career

Beginnings / World Wrestling Federation

Fatu was trained by his uncle Afa and began wrestling in 1995. As early as 1996 he was briefly seen in the then World Wrestling Federation when he appeared in Angles with his cousin Matt Anoaʻi and his brother Solofa Fatu . Together with Matt he then appeared in the tag team The Island Boyz mainly in smaller independent leagues until they were signed by the WWE in 2002.

Fatu's first WWE stint ended with little success in just under a year after he got into a real-life argument with a man outside a nightclub.

Fatu as Umaga in WWE

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / All Japan Pro Wrestling

A few months after his release, Fatu was signed up for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling .

Fatu later moved to Japan and competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling . Together with Maunakea Mossman (Taiyō Kea) he took part in the World's Strongest Tag Team League 2004, which the two were allowed to win. In January 2005 they were allowed to win the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship titles and held them for almost a year. They lost the titles when Fatu returned to WWE in December 2005.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Fatu appeared on RAW as Umaga from April 3, 2006 . First, he was allowed to win a series of squash matches . From the end of the year until next year's Royal Rumble , Fatu feuded unsuccessfully against WWE Champion John Cena .

On February 19, 2007 he was allowed to defeat the Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy at RAW and won his first title. This was followed by a feud with the McMahon family against Bobby Lashley until June 2007. On April 16, 2007 he had to lose his Intercontinental title against the then debut Santino Marella , but was allowed to regain it on July 2, 2007. In the RAW edition on September 3, 2007, he had to lose his title to Jeff Hardy, as Umaga was suspended for 30 days by the WWE for doping.

On June 23, 2008, Fatu was allowed to switch to the Friday program SmackDown . However, he was injured a short time later and had to take a break until January 2009. He was injured again shortly afterwards and returned on the May 1, 2009 SmackDown show as a feud against CM Punk . On June 7, 2009, he played his last WWE match against the same at Extreme Rules . A day later, WWE announced on its website that it had fired Fatu for violating the Wellness Policy.

Independent, Hulkamania

A few days after WWE was released, Umaga was back in the ring for the WWC . In November 2009 he took part under the name Osu Fatu in the "Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin Tour" organized by Hulk Hogan , where he played four matches.

successes

Umaga-Intercontinental-Champion.jpg
  • 1 × FMW / WEW Hardcore Tag Team Champion (with Matt Anoaʻi )
  • Hawai'i Championship Wrestling
  • 1 × HCW Kekaulike Heritage Tag Team Champion (with Taiyō Kea)
  • Heartland Wrestling Association
  • 1 × HWA Tag Team Champion (with Kimo )
  • Memphis Championship Wrestling
  • 3 × MCW Southern Tag Team Champion (with Kimo)

Web links

Commons : Umaga (wrestler)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.genickbruch.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=327
  2. Ex-WWE star Umaga dead at 36 , accessed on December 5, 2009
  3. a b Umaga is dead (English), accessed on December 5, 2009
  4. Umaga cause of death information released , accessed December 5, 2010