The incredible character of Umaga helped journeyed wrestler Jamal make his mark in the industry. Jamal wrestled for years as part of the Samoan Dynasty before forming the 3-Minute Warning tag team with his cousin Rosey. The agility and size of Jamal added huge positives to having him on the WWE roster, but things didn’t work out for his first stint.
Umaga was the character given to him for a return in his second stint with stronger results. The Samoan Bulldozer gimmick was not only a hit in the ring, but it helped him show new sides of his strengths by playing a non-speaking character. Umaga passing away at a young age sees stories shared to remember his time in wrestling. Find more about what happened behind the scenes with the best backstage stories about Umaga.
8 Hurt Steve-O For Not Selling His Offense
The cast members of the Jackass movie and television franchise agreed to work with WWE for co-promotion. Umaga was the wrestler tasked with delivering moves to the untrained wrestlers who got famous by taking part in dangerous stunts.
Steve-O specifically felt the wrath of Umaga when trying to be funny during the attack on him. Umaga grew upset that the non-wrestler refused to sell and laid in a few stiff shots to make it hurt for real. Steve-O admitted that the shots from Umaga were some of the most painful moments of his life in future interviews.
7 Rikishi Stink Face Spot Was Done To Punish Him
The 3-Minute Warning chapter of Umaga’s career deserved more time, but WWE started to lose interest in the act. Umaga performed as Jamal and teamed up with his cousin Rosey in the dominating team working under Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff.
There were reports of Jamal getting backstage heat for working recklessly in the ring with others. Rikishi giving Jamal a stink face in a Royal Rumble match was claimed to be a punishment by WWE for his dangerous moments. WWE didn’t take Jamal’s issues slightly, as 3 Minute Warning ended before hitting their potential.
6 First Release Was For A Bar Fight
The first WWE stint of Jamal ended in disappointing fashion when the legend had one too many backstage issues. Jamal getting into a bar fight after a WWE event led to the company feeling they had to make the move to release him.
The firing ended the tag team run of 3-Minute Warning with Rosey having to rebound. Rosey did find a role teaming with The Hurricane in a new tag team, but Jamal was on his own. TNA and All Japan each gave Jamal a chance before he later returned to WWE playing the Umaga character.
5 Second WWE Release Was Due To Turning Down Rehab
Umaga found success as a great character when getting over with a monster gimmick. However, this run also ended faster than expected due to personal issues. Umaga violated the WWE Wellness Policy and was getting suspended for thirty days at least.
WWE instead wanted him to attend rehab or deal with a harsher punishment. The desire to avoid rehab saw Umaga getting released from WWE. Umaga didn’t feel the time in rehab was necessary, but it was a dealbreaker for the company. Carlito suffered the same fate to end his WWE time when not attending rehab.
4 Convinced The Usos To Quit Their Job For Wrestling
The Usos were some of the more successful members of the Samoan Dynasty, related to Umaga as his nephews. Both Jimmy and Jey were working together for a furniture installation company when Umaga was trying to help get them started in wrestling.
Umaga gave them one final chance to travel with him to a show and get training. The Usos agreed to ditch work the next day and lose their job for the opportunity to get their feet in the doors of wrestling. It turned out to be a great decision, as Jimmy and Jey are an all-time great WWE tag team.
3 Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff Wanted Him In TNA Before His Death
The end of Umaga’s first WWE stint saw him working with Hulk Hogan of all people. Hogan had his own tour booked in Australia centered around the main event of him vs. Ric Flair, coming out of retirement every night to draw the crowds.
Umaga was arguably the biggest name on the cards after Hogan and Flair. Eric Bischoff revealed on his podcast that he and Hulk both loved the work of Umaga. It made sense, since the Umaga character would have been the perfect rival for a peak Hogan. The duo had Umaga in mind when taking over TNA the following year, but he passed away at a young age in heart-breaking fashion.
2 Injury Prevented Him From A Title Feud Against Undertaker
The Undertaker winning the World Championship at WrestleMania XXIV saw him needing new opponents to work with in the future. Umaga was reportedly the first heel after Edge expected to have a program with Undertaker given the monstrous run of his character.
Unfortunately, an injury would rule Umaga out for a few months and completely end those plans. WWE could have seen Umaga gaining ground as an even bigger star if he had been shining against a name like Undertaker in the main event picture.
1 Randy Orton Stood Up For Him Against Shawn Michaels
The backstage politics in WWE can provide some of the worst instances of drama in any sport or entertainment field. One wild story featured Triple H, Umaga, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels all getting involved.
Michaels was upset that Umaga got the same color tights as Triple H and felt it was a disrespectful act. Orton was the only person to stand up for Umaga against Michaels, now that he had a little more backstage power in WWE. The friendship between Umaga and Orton sees Randy still praising the fallen legend today.