Edward Smith Fatu (March 28, 1973-December 5, 2009) was a Samoan-American Professional Wrestler best known for his work in WWE as Jamal and Umaga. He debuted in 1995 and competed in various independents and for FMW before he and his cousin Matt Anoa'i caught on with WWE and were assigned to the developmental leagues as the Island Boys, billed respectively as Ekmo and Kimo. Renamed Jamal and Rosey, they debuted in 2002 as enforcers for Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff as the team Three Minute Warning, with manager Rico. The team lasted until Fatu was released in 2003. He would go on to compete for All Japan Pro Wrestling, TNA, MLW and other promotions before returning to WWE in late 2005. He was reintroduced in 2006 as Umaga, a character closer to the Wild Samoan tradition originated by his uncles. He would hold the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship
twice before leaving in 2009. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 36 from a heart attack brought on by combining drugs.
"Bulldozing Tropes":
- Acrofatic: Moved very well for a 300+ lbs. guy.
- Arch-Enemy: His main ones were John Cena and Bobby Lashley but has had some feuds with Jeff Hardy and CM Punk.
- Ass Kicks You: One of his regular spots as Umaga was running to the corner and smashing his butt against his opponent's head. Spanish television commentators Héctor del Mar and Fernando Costilla accurately nicknamed the move "Killer Gluteus".
- Ax-Crazy: As Umaga at least. Jamal/Ekmo was pretty cool.
- Boring, but Practical: The Samoan Spike was a simple (taped) thumb jab to the throat. Not too flashy for pro wrestling, but believable as a finisher.
- Braids of Barbarism: To go with his vicious Samoan jungle thing he was clearly going for, though Umaga's braids were much shorter than most examples of this trope.
- The Brute: For Vince McMahon when you consider his other main forces for punishing face wrestlers at the time were The Spirit Squad, a stable of male cheerleaders. Also this when he joined the rest of the Raw Roster to take out John Cena and Randy Orton. Umaga was the only one they could not stop, at all, but he turned on his teammate when JBL accidentally hit him with a chair. (Umaga no sold the hit but went after JBL anyway.)
- The Leader: Of Team Umaga at Survivor Series against Team Triple H.
- Bury Your Gays: In a shining example of
Values Dissonance, he and Rosey beat the ever-loving crap out of two scantily-clad "lesbians" at the end of Eric Bischoff's "Hot Lesbian Action". - Captain Ersatz: You can find him the Playstation 2 Fire Pro Wrestling games onward, though what you'll find is more like Jamal.
- Catchphrase: He had the tendency to shout Fa'a Samoa! frequently.
- Combat Pragmatist: Direct strikes to the throat are supposed to be illegal, yet Umaga was never called out for using the Samoan Spike. Probably because the referees were too scared to call him out on it.
- Death from Above: MLW War Games included what started as a handicap match with Mana "The Polynesian Warrior" against Matt Martel (Striker) and Richard J. Criado. The Samoan Island Tribe (Samu and Ekmo) made their way out brawling with Monsta Mack of Da Hit Squad, and it got turned into a Falls Count Anywhere Weapons Match. The Samoans absolutely destroyed their opponents. It ended with Martel set up on a table in the crowd. Ekmo climbed up so he was on top of the posts of the two rings and dove OVER the guardrail to put Martel through the table. The referee didn't even bother to count the pin.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: He faced Ric Flair on the December 12, 2007 Raw during Flair's "Retirement" Tour, where every one of Flair's matches had the "Career on the Line" stipulation. Flair won by countout after Umaga charged at him out on the floor and smashed through the barrier.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: His hair was originally wild instead of braided and the Samoan spike was a submission/knockout manuever.
- Establishing Character Moment: For the Umaga gimmick, it was manager Armando Alejandro Estrada making his surprise debut on the April 3, 2006 Raw and introducing Umaga by having him attack Ric Flair.
- Facial Markings/Tribal Facepaint: As Umaga.
- Finger Poke of Doom: Subverted, unlike the trope namer. The Samoan Spike is a thumb jab to the throat with a fully extended arm. Sometimes he jabbed the opponent repeatedly until they bled or did it off of the top rope.
- Finishing Move: Samoan Drop, top rope splash, Samoan Spike.
- Foreign Wrestling Heel: Samoa is a US territory but he was paired up with a Cuban manager who did all the talking. When Umaga faced Kamala on the June 26, 2006 Raw, Estrada encouraged him to "do it for Samoa!"
- Fun with Acronyms: The Samoan Island Tribe.
- Hard Head: Inevitable with a gimmick like his. He sometimes used the diving headbutt.
- Hell Is That Noise: The primal breathing in his last theme.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: CM Punk defeated him in their Samoan Strap Match at WWE Extreme Rules 2009, which was Umaga's last WWE match.
- Also in his Last Man Standing match at the 2007 Royal Rumble with John Cena, where his manager undid the top turnbuckle for him to use as a weapon. Cena ended up using the rope to choke Umaga into passing out for the 10-count.
- It Runs in the Family: His brothers are Rikishi and Yokozuna. His former tag team partner Kimo/Rosey and his little brother Roman Reigns are among his cousins. Also his nephews The Usos and Solo Sikoa.
- Kick the Dog: Eric Bischoff forced Maria to face him, leading to John Cena having to make the save.
- Language Fluency Denial: Umaga spoke entirely in Samoan until May of 2009 when he challenged CM Punk, in English, to a Samoan Strap Match.
- Lightning Bruiser: Huge, fast, strong, and could fly.
- Meaningful Name: Umaga is Samoan for "the end."
- Once per Episode: The whole idea behind the name Three Minute Warning was that something would be happening in the ring and Bischoff would walk out and tell whoever was there that they had been there "three minutes too long," leading to Rosey and Jamal running in and beating the hell out of the victims of the week.
- One-Hit Kill: The Samoan Spike was so well-protected that pretty much no one ever kicked out after being hit by it. One of the only people who required two Samoan Spikes to keep down was Kane.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Went nuts after Mr. Kennedy injured Bobby Lashley and sent him out of WWE.
- Power Stable: RO&D, in All Japan.
- Psycho for Hire: He was Vince McMahon's representative against Donald Trump's choice of Bobby Lashley for the Hair vs. Hair "Battle of the Billionaires" at WrestleMania XXIII, which Umaga lost. This led to Vince and Shane looking for revenge against Lashley, with Umaga as the muscle, culminating in Vince defeating Lashley for the WWE ECW Heavyweight Title. He was also often enlisted by or paired with top heels such as Randy Orton and Edge when their usual company was either unavailable or ill-equipped to handle their lightweights.
- Red Baron: "The Samoan Bulldozer" (as Umaga).
- Screaming Warrior: He'd yell a lot when hitting moves as Umaga.
- Signature Move: He greatly popularized the running turnbuckle butt smash, especially after he died and many wrestlers including his nephews started doing it in tribute. He was also known for setting up the tree of woe for a jumping headbutt.
- Squash Match: Many during Umaga's initial buildup in 2006. These included not only wins over Jobbers or developmental wrestlers, but he also defeated "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in a mere 1:32 on the June 12, 2006 Raw. Even more impressive than that, he defeated the 500 lbs. Viscera on the May 29th show in only 30 seconds! In fact, his first night as Umaga, while not a match, was effectively squashing Ric Flair!
- Tag Team: The Island Boys/Three-Minute Warning
- (in MLW): The Samoan Island Tribe, with Samu and Mana.
- Take That!: The Umaga gimmick was seen by some as one of these to TNA's Samoa Joe, who is not part of the family and did not do a Wild Samoan gimmick. Became Hilarious In Hindsight when Joe started his "Nation of Violence" gimmick and started heading down that direction himself. WWE even originally billed Umaga as "the Samoan Smashing Machine," which isn't too far from Joe's own nickname, "the Samoan Submission Machine."
- Three Month Rule: When he returned to the WWE as Umaga, his previous run as Jamal was ignored.
- Tournament Arc: Jamal entered the Phoenix Championship Wrestling Russ Haas memorial tournament with Charlie Haas as his partner. Jamal did not participate in the finals, as he had to be substituted for by Nova.
- Underwear of Power: He's wrestled with a pair of "Orton" trunks over his regular gear
- Unstoppable Rage: As Umaga, who would just attack anyone or anything in sight.
- The Voiceless: When it came to speaking English, at least, he was this most of the time as Umaga, except for when he challenged CM Punk to a Samoan Strap Match. He was going on Hot-Blooded rants in angry Samoan for years.
- Wild Samoan: He was one raw fish meal away from being the quintessential example and the Trope Namers are his uncles. Hell, he even provides the page photo. He even had the word SAMOA on his stomach.
- Would Hit a Girl:
- Infamously, he and Rosey beat up the two lesbians from the "HLA segment." Worse, he worked as stiff with the girls as he did with his usual male opponents and legitimately injured one of them.
- He also beat the crap out of Maria once and was about to give her the Samoan Spike if it weren't for John Cena.
- Wrestling Family: Part of the Samoan Dynasty.
- Wrestling Monster: Very much booked this way and described that way on this very site, for both being vicious and destructive and for being able to No-Sell getting hit in the head with metal steps.
