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Eddie Fatu
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Ekmo Fatu O.G. Ekmo Ekmo Jamal Umaga
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Billed weight	348 lb (158 kg)
Born	March 28, 1973 Samoa
Resides	San Francisco, California
Billed from	The Isle of Samoa
Trained by	Afa Anoa'i
Debut	1995

Edward Umar Fatu (born March 28, 1973) is a Samoan professional wrestler better known by his ring names Jamal, and currently Umaga. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on the Raw brand where he is the reigning Intercontinental Champion.

He worked the independent circuit as a tag team with his cousin Matt Anoa'i (Kimo), as The Island Boyz using the name Ekmo.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Three Minute Warning 1.2 Outside WWE 1.3 Return to WWE 2 In wrestling 3 Championships and accomplishments 4 Family 5 Trivia 6 References 7 External links

Career

Three Minute Warning

On the July 22, 2002 episode of WWE RAW, The Island Boyz made their debut as Three Minute Warning. Fatu (using the name Jamal) and his cousin (going by Rosey) were (kayfabe) hired as General Manager Eric Bischoff's enforcers, attacking seemingly random wrestlers each week on his order. Fatu was released from his WWE contract later that year.

Outside WWE

Fatu worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) for a short while after his WWE release under his old name, Ekmo, and would later move to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a member of the Roughly Obsess & Destroy (RO&D) faction. Later, with Taiyō Kea, Fatu won the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship. He also challenged Satoshi Kojima for the Triple Crown.

Fatu also wrestled in many independent promotions during this time, including his brother Solofa's Nu-Wrestling Evolution. However, in December 2005, Fatu announced he would be returning to World Wrestling Entertainment and gave his notice to AJPW. His time in Japan was seen by many as a period of great improvement in his career, as he became a regular in main events and took on an aura of strength and credibility as a singles wrestler.

Return to WWE

In December 2005, it was confirmed that WWE re-signed Fatu. A return of Three Minute Warning was hinted at for many weeks with the team of Matt Anoai and Fatu competing in dark matches together before RAW; however, Rosey was released before the team could be brought back on the main show. On the April 3, 2006, edition of RAW in Chicago, Illinois, Fatu made his redebut using the name Umaga, alongside his manager, the Cuban Armando Alejandro Estrada. When Estrada interrupted a Ric Flair promo he introduced his new client, Umaga, who proceeded to viciously attack Flair.

The Umaga gimmick is considered a "throwback" to many Samoan based tag teams like The Wild Samoans, and The Headshrinkers and has drawn comparisons to 1980s gimmick Kamala the Ugandan Giant. Most of the matches Umaga participated in while establishing himself were squash matches against various jobbers; however, after competing in one of these squash matches, Ric Flair returned to attack him. Their mini-feud culminated with Umaga winning a match against Ric Flair at Backlash 2006.

At SummerSlam, Estrada offered (the undefeated) Umaga's services to The McMahons (Vince and Shane) to "take out" their D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) opponents during their match. When he made his way to the ring for his mission, however, he was attacked by Kane. The two of them feuded, alternating the upper hand back and forth, for the next two months until Umaga won a Loser Leaves RAW match, sending Kane off of the brand. Their feud continued, however, at Cyber Sunday where Kane was again defeated by Umaga after fans selected him over Chris Benoit and The Sandman to be Umaga's opponent for the night. Umaga, still undefeated, was then named #1 contender for John Cena's WWE Championship and began challenging him for it, only to eventually lose to him at New Year's Revolution by roll-up, ending his streak. After Estrada claimed the win was a fluke, claiming Umaga was handedly in control of the match until the very end, a Last Man Standing rematch was signed for the Royal Rumble. On a RAW between the two pay-per-views Umaga attacked Cena (kayfabe) injuring his spleen and putting the match in jeopardy. When Cena refused to seek medical treatment, for fear of a medical suspension which could lead to him being forced to forfeit the belt, the match proceeded with Cena picking up the win after choking Umaga with the STFU with a ring rope that Estrada loosened earlier in the match.

On the February 19, 2007 Umaga defeated Jeff Hardy for the WWE Intercontinental Championship with a Samoan Spike, claiming his first championship in World Wrestling Entertainment.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Samoan Spike (Thumb thrust into opponent's neck or throat)
  • Wild Samoan Splash / Flying Sausage (Top rope stretch out splash)
  • Reverse piledriver - AJPW
  • Wild Samoan Drop (Gorilla press into a Samoan drop)
  • Samoan Wrecking Ball (Running hip attack to the head of an opponent seated and leaning against the bottom turnbuckle)
  • Swinging side slam
  • Throat thrust
  • Running headbutt drop to the head of an opponent held in the tree-of-woe position
  • Reverse STO
  • Diving headbutt
  • Turnbuckle powerbomb, usually preceded by an elevated three-quarter double-arm choke
  • Giant swing, occasionally into an object such as ring steps or a barricade

• Managers

• LionDen
• Rico
• Nidia
• Armando Alejandro Estrada

• Nicknames

• During Fatu's time as Umaga, he has gone by the nicknames "Samoan Wrecking Machine" and "Samoan Smashing Machine", both of which are believed (by some) to be parodies of "Samoan Submission Machine"; the nickname of Samoa Joe, before being given the more consistent nickname of the "Samoan Bulldozer".
• In AJPW, he was known as the "Samoan Typhoon", to go along with tag partner Taiyo Kea's nickname of "Hawaiian Tornado".

Championships and accomplishments

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Taiyō Kea
  • World's Strongest Tag Team League (2004) - with Taiyō Kea
• Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling / World Entertainment Wrestling
  • FMW/WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Anoa'i
• Hawai'i Championship Wrestling
  • HCW Kekaulike Heritage Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Taiyō Kea
• Heartland Wrestling Association
  • HWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Kimo
• Memphis Championship Wrestling
  • MCW Southern Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Kimo
• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time, current)

Family

Eddie is a member of the famous Anoa'i wrestling family, he is the brother of Solofa Fatu (Rikishi) and Sam Fatu (The Tonga Kid), cousin to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Rodney Anoa'i (Yokozuna), Samula Anoa'i (Headshrinker Samu), Matt Anoa'i (Rosey), Jimmy Snuka, Jr. (Deuce), and nephew to "Soulman" Rocky Johnson, the Wild Samoans (Sika & Afa), and Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.

Trivia

• In the traditional scheme of Samoan tattooing, the final part of the process is called Umaga, which means "the end".^[1].
• Fatu has Samoan designed tattoos on his arms, legs, and upper back. He also has a tattoo of a red rose on his left upper chest and the word "SAMOA" on his stomach.
• He sometimes wears a septum piercing as well as a grill while wrestling as Umaga.
• Umaga's undefeated streak lasted 34 televised matches and spanned from his debut in April 2006 to January of 2007. In that time he was never pinned or made to submit on television, although he did lose two matches by disqualification and another went to a double count out. He did however lose a number of house show matches.
• As part of his character Fatu only speaks in Samoan while appearing as Umaga. For example, before hitting the Samoan Spike, he can be heard to yell "Fa'a Samoa", and he counts in Samoan with the referee during pinfalls.
• Each lava-lava he wears to the ring is hand made at great expense.^{[citation needed]}.

References

1. ^ Samoan Sensation. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.

External links

• WWE Profile