Grilling JR - Umaga [Show Notes] (Patreon)

He was known to us as Umaga but he was first known to the world as Edward “Eki” Smith Fatu...he was born on March 28, 1973 in American Samoa - an unincorporated territory of the US located in the South Pacific Ocean. Umaga’s mother was Vera - the sister of Afa and Sika, the Wild Samoans. His father was Solofa Fatu Sr. Umaga grew up with two older brothers, Sam and Solofa, also working as professional wrestlers. Not only that, but Umaga was the uncle of The Usos and a cousin of Yokozuna, The Rock, Rosey (S.H.I.T.) and Roman Reigns.

In other words, it’s in his blood in a major way.

Just on paper, when you see someone is this deep in rich wrestling heritage, does that give them an advantage over others breaking into the business?

The Anoa’i wrestling dynasty got started when Umaga was a child, living in San Francisco. His uncles, Afa and Sika, were huge fans at the Cow Palace who got so riled up watching the matches and cheering for Peter Maivia, scaring heels from the long walk to and from the ring. Roy Shire wanted to get them out of the arena for the safety of his own wrestlers, so Maivia befriended them and they were eventually taught wrestling and sent to Vancouver. They started as the Anoai Brothers, but later became The Wild Samoans.

Do you remember hearing stories about the Samoans?

Umaga trained under his uncle, and began pro wrestling in 1995. He became tag team partners with his cousin Matt Anoaʻi (Rosey) at the Wild Samoan professional wrestling school.  In 1995, with his training complete, Umaga debuted in his uncle Afa's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion - a Florida based independent that held events across the US, Japan, and other locations. They worked shows for Afa in Allentown, and had a brief run in 1996 in WWF. They were signed to contracts and Umaga spent several years based out of Cincinnati with Matt as a tag team. He had tremendous agility, speed and endurance for his size. Kim Wood, an assistant coach with the Cincinnati Bengals at the time, remarked upon seeing him work on Les Thatcher shows, that somehow he must have slipped through the system because a guy of that size and agility should be in the NFL.

How well do you think Umaga would have worked on the gridiron?

He and cousin Matt, who is Leati’s oldest son, formed a tag team as both the Samoan Gangstas and Island Boyz.

In 2001, Umaga, 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 Umaga 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.

Umaga (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. 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. 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. Their most notable event came when they attacked two lesbians.

This was pretty early into Eric Bischoff’s reign as general manager. Did you like the idea behind 3-Minute-Warning?

In September, 3-Minute Warning began a feud with Billy and Chuck. In their most memorable moment, they crashed Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo’s ‘Commitment Ceremony’ on the ‘Season Premiere Of SmackDown!. After Chuck and Billy’s stylist Rico turned heel on his men, and the Justice of the Peace unmasked as ‘Uncle Eric’, the 3 Minute Warning performed a run-in. Ekmo delivered Samoan Drops to Palumbo and SmackDown! GM Stephanie McMahon before the SD! locker room rushed the ring and the Raw ‘invaders’ retreated into the crowd. Two weeks later 3 Minute Warning marked their official debut by defeating Chuck and Billy in an ‘Interpromotional Match’ at Unforgiven (22nd September). Rico, Billy and Chuck's former manager, also began to manage 3-Minute Warning.

During this time, Jamal gained a reputation for being reckless in the ring, injuring several performers, notably on October 14 when Pat Patterson suffered a separated shoulder. The rumor and innuendo is this led WWE to punish him by being on the receiving end of a Stink Face by his real-life brother Rikishi during the Royal Rumble match.

Do you remember Umaga getting heat for injuring people, namely Pat? Would he have been made to take the ass face spot at the Rumble because of this?

The team lasted just shy of a year, with Umaga being released from his WWE contract in June 2003, reportedly after his involvement in a bar fight. Details are sketchy on this but the reports were that he had possibly roughed up some police officers during the incident.

Do you remember Umaga/Jamal having a nasty bar fight that cost him his job?

On September 24, 2003, Umaga 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. Umaga made his final appearance on August 11, 2004 NWA-TNA PPV, where he lost to Alex Shelley.

Umaga debuted in All Japan Pro Wrestling in late 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. 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. 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. 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 in September 1, where Jamal was once again defeated. 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.

In December 2005, Umaga re-signed with World Wrestling Entertainment.

We have to know how this happened. Also, what made Vince decide to give him a monster push upon return?

He returned on the April 3, 2006 episode of Raw with a new character, and the one he was best known for: 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. Billed at 6’4” and 360 pounds, sporting dreadlocks, tribal face paint, and a tattoo of “SAMOA” across his stomach, Umaga was a terrifying presence.

What can you say about the image? How much of that was Eddie Fatu and how much of that was from WWE Creative?

He also showed up using the Samoan Spike as his finishing maneuver. It’s an interesting choice because it doesn’t showcase his strength or his size. However, it could be argued that it showcases his savagery. Sometimes, when used against smaller opponents, he would pick them up with a choke before delivering the spike - which looked so cool.

Why go with the Samoan Spike for Umaga’s finish? Did you like it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRFV3hlP8jM

Another important element in the Umaga-package was his manager: Armando....Alejandro….Estrada

Played by Hazem Ali, “Estrada” was a Cuban businessman from a family that exploited its ties to Fidel Castro to live in luxury - while the rest of Havana (even his other family) lived in poverty. Initially, Estrada would introduce himself...pausing between each name...and rolling the r’s in his last name. He would also throw in a short laugh, “ha ha.” But he began to get cheered by fans while doing this. Estrada stopped introducing himself and his middle name was removed as well.

Do you remember this decision? Did Estrada get himself over too much?

On April 3, 2006 at the AllState Arena in Chicago - the Raw after Wrestlemania, Umaga made his debut with his manager. Estrada picked a fight with Ric Flair - telling him he was too old to still be in the business. Umaga attacked Ric Flair in his debut at the orders of Estrada.

Here’s a weird and wild fact. Umaga made his in-ring TV debut on April 10 from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and defeated Chris Guy - better known to us all today as Colt Cabana. He won with a nerve hold.

He then defeated Flair at Backlash on April 30 in Lexington, Kentucky. He won in three minutes with the Samoan Spike.

Did having Umaga debut by destroying the legendary Flair help him to develop heat as a heel? Why was that a better choice than debuting against someone like, say, Shelton Benjamin? (A younger babyface)

After this, Umaga laid waste to the Raw roster. He began with a feud against, of all people, Eugene. During that time, he beat up Viscera and Hacksaw Jim Duggan, who was working with Eugene at the time. At Vengeance 06 in Charlotte, NC - the event best known for when DX returned - Umaga crushed Eugene, who had Doink, Hacksaw, and Kamala in his corner.

On July 17 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio - on Raw - Umaga pinned John Cena after the Samoan Spike! On July 31 on Raw from the East Rutherford, NJ, Umaga picked up an even rarer win: a victory over Shawn Michaels!

That seems like a major vote of confidence from everyone, especially Vince McMahon. Who did he impress so quickly and how did he impress them?

His next feud started 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. 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. After being separated by different brands, Umaga and Kane had one final match at Cyber Sunday, where Umaga again defeated Kane.

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 2007.

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.

Was the plan always for Cena to be the person that ended Umaga’s undefeated streak?

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. 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. 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 after wrapping a loosened ring rope around his neck during an STFU.

Super creative spot that elevated both guys. What did you think when Cena won by using the rope for a crossface in the STFU?

Umaga was named Vince McMahon's representative for "Battle of the Billionaires" with the President of the United States Donald Trump at WrestleMania 23. Immediately after choosing Umaga, McMahon granted him a match against the Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy, which he won to take the title. After Bobby Lashley was named Trump's representative, the two began a feud which lasted even beyond WrestleMania.

On March 12’s edition of Raw, the Rock was in a pre-taped promo shown to the arena where he talked about the Trump/McMahon feud. He endorsed Lashley & Trump - ironically - and said ‘Umaga’ in Samoan meant “shriveled up monkey penis.”

At Wrestlemana 23 - in front of 80,103 announced fans - Umaga lost the Battle of the Billionaires' hair versus hair match by taking a stunner from Stone Cold. The stipulation meant Vince McMahon had to get his head shaved.

Why do you think Umaga was chosen for this spot? Was anyone else ever talked about for it?

In Hardcore Holly’s autobiography, Holly claimed he was supposed to be Vince’s representative in the match - before Umaga. Did you ever hear that?

After the big event, he was out with an injury and never fully got on track into his Smackdown title match program with The Undertaker that was planned, according to rumor and innuendo.

Two weeks after WrestleMania, Raw was in Milan, Italy. The show opened and shortly thereafter, Mr. McMahon cut an in-ring promo insulting the fans. He brought out WWE IC Champion Umaga, with Armando Allejandro Estrada and said ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley wouldn't be on the show because he didn't make it through customs; McMahon then issued an open challenge for anyone in the back to face Umaga in a title match; after no one came out to accept, McMahon challenged anyone from the crowd and picked a man from the front row, who introduced himself as Santino Marella, leading into the opening match  Lashley interfered in a match and helped Marella defeat Umaga for the Intercontinental Championship.

That’s a big debut for Santino. Why have him go over Umaga? Did it hurt Umaga or did the circumstances, with interference by Lashley, make it work?

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. Umaga would continue to be involved with that feud, competing at Judgment Day in the return match for the ECW World Championship, which was once again a Handicap Match with the McMahons along with Umaga taking on Lashley, which Lashley won. However, Lashley did not win the title because he pinned Shane and not the champion, Vince. The feud culminated at One Night Stand, with Umaga aiding Vince in defending the ECW World Championship against Lashley in a Street Fight, which Vince lost.

In June, Umaga was re-entered into a feud with Marella.. When they met at the Vengeance pay-per-view, Umaga was solidly in control of the match, but lost by disqualification when he disregarded the referee's instructions and continued to punch Marella. In a rematch on July 2, Umaga defeated Marella to win the Intercontinental Championship for the second time.

Not long after, he turned face by joining forces with John Cena against Carlito and Randy Orton.

Umaga… as a babyface? Was he just so bad ass that the fans wanted to cheer?

After defeating both Carlito and Mr. Kennedy in a triple threat match at SummerSlam to retain the Intercontinental Championship, he interrupted a match between Kennedy and the returning Jeff Hardy, assaulting Hardy and leaving him lying in the ring, thus turning heel once again.

During the weekend of August 30, 2007, articles posted by Sports Illustrated, the New York Daily News, and The Washington Post named Umaga as one of many superstars to have purchased pharmaceuticals from an online pharmacy, a violation of the WWE "Talent Wellness" program. Fatu specifically was said to have received somatotropin, a growth hormone, between July and December 2006, after the "No drugs from online sources" rule was instituted.

What was the reaction to the news?

One week later, on the September 3 episode of Raw, Umaga lost the Intercontinental Championship to Hardy.

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. He was given a match against Triple H 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.

During all of these big marquee feuds, especially for the titles, Umaga never can seem to get the win.

On November 18, at the 2007 Survivor Series from Miami, Florida, Umaga’s team lost to Triple H's team.

On March 3, 2008, along the road to WrestleMania XXIV, Umaga was announced to be facing Batista in a battle between Raw and Smackdown at Wrestlemania. During this period, William Regal was with him and called him UMANGA. In 2013, Regal tweeted, “People ask me a lot why I used to say Umanga the way I did.It was so people would remember it.I'm glad I did.A great man.” But unfortunately for him, Umanga lost at Wrestlemania 34. Batista beat him with a botched Batista Bomb - he basically fell down when delivering it. During the match, Umaga was getting cheered while Batista was getting some boos.

What did you think about the match, the botch, and the cheers?

Now, a bit of a detour...it was in March, 2008 that legendary manager - and mobster - Gary Hart passed away of a heart attack at his home in Texas at age 66. But the rumor and innuendo is that feelers had been sent his way to get him to help out with developmental, creative, or even on-air work. An idea was constructed that Hart would form a heel stable with Umaga as his top gun called Black Friday Management. The concept was not the old Hart's Army or H&H Enterprises, but to redo Hart as a Don King type with a criminal vibe and dress him like Suge Knight with a mob style business suit. He'd be presented as a recruiter of international talent, with the idea he was independent of WWE and bringing talent to WWE. There was also the idea that Hart would be accompanied by a hot Asian girl based on Gogo Yubari, the Catholic School Girl assassin in "Kill Bill."

Do you remember talk about having Gary Hart come in as Umaga’s manager? Rumors were that Vince wasn’t warm to the idea because of a clash with Hart while trying to bring him in during the late 80s.

On June 23, 2008, Umaga was drafted to the SmackDown brand, as a part of the 2008 WWE draft. He would lose again to Batista on the next night on Smackdown in the main event but by DQ.

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 March 6 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. At Judgment Day, Umaga defeated Punk, but would lose at Extreme Rules on June 7 from New Orleans in a Samoan Strap match, ending their feud in what was Umaga's last appearance in WWE.

Had the office totally lost confidence in him by this point?

The next day...On June 8, 2009, WWE announced that Umaga was released from his WWE contract. It was later revealed that his termination was due to violation of the Wellness Policy; even though this was only his second failure, the rumor and innuendo was his refusal to enter rehabilitation led to his dismissal

What can you remember about this or tell us about this? Was it the right decision?

Surely the company didn’t find out about the violation between Sunday night and Monday during the day, right?

On July 11, 2009, Umaga appeared at the World Wrestling Council (WWC) in Puerto Rico, defeating Mr. Anderson in a singles match.

Four months later, Umaga appeared on Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania Tour of Australia. Titled “Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin,” Umaga was a main attraction on the tour. On November 21, 2009, Umaga teamed with Orlando Jordan to lose against his brother Rikishi and Brian Christopher. On November 24, 2009, Umaga defeated Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. On November 26, 2009, Umaga and Orlando Jordan were defeated by Beefcake and Mr. Anderson. Wrestling as Edward “Osu” Fatu, he pinned Ken Anderson on 11/28 in Sydney, Australia in what turned out to be his last match. Anderson noted how spooky it was that he had Umaga and Eddy Guerrero’s final match before either man died.

On the final three shows of the tour, he was a key part of the Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair main event. In each city, he did his running hip attack, to cause someone to be carried out. Then, he would interfere in the main event, do the same spot to Hogan, but Hogan would Hulk up.

Why do you think Umaga was selected to be the top heel on these fan-friendly cards? Is that a testament to his heat?

He had reached an agreement to return to WWE shortly before his death, Meltzer said. The chance to return came when WWE attempted to sabotage the Hulk Hogan tour of Australia, where Umaga was probably the No. 2 heel. He was given a shot to return and it was made clear they didn’t want him doing the tour. But he kept his commitments.

Rumor and innuendo was that Hogan tried to get him to come to TNA, but he said he had already made his commitment to WWE, where he was scheduled to debut at or around Royal Rumble time. He told Hogan he felt a degree of loyalty to Stephanie McMahon and HHH, who gave him the opportunity for his biggest run.

What does that say about the man Eddie Fatu? That he kept his commitments to Hulk but showed loyalty to the McMahons for making him?

After the tour, he returned to the U.S. on a flight with both Ric Flair and Britney Spears. Spears recognized him even before Flair, telling him she knew him for when he worked with her ex-husband (Kevin Federline, who did a few WWE Raw shows).

On December 4, 2009, Fatu was found by his wife in their Houston, Texas home, unresponsive and with blood coming from his nose. He had moved to Houston with his family and actually lived next door to a few current WWE wrestlers. His wife went to bed as he was watching TV on the couch. Earlier in the day he'd told people he was feeling weird. Later, she went to check on him, saw he'd fallen asleep, and put a blanket on him. She came down a second time later, but this time she discovered he wasn't breathing and had blood coming out of his nose. She called 911. He was rushed to the hospital and they managed to restart his heart on the way, but he wasn't showing any brain activity. He was on life support in the hospital for much of Saturday, and friends and family were urged to come be at his side. He suffered a second heart attack and was pronounced dead at approximately 3 p.m. Pacific.

He was 36 years old.

Toxicology reports revealed that Fatu had drugs hydrocodone, carisoprodol, and diazepam in his system. Houston medical examiners also found that Fatu had both heart and liver disease. It was determined that the combination of Fatu's drug use, along with his bad heart ultimately led to his death, and his death was officially ruled a heart attack brought on by an acute toxicity of multiple substances

Can you walk us through how you got the news? What was your reaction? What about Vince, Hunter, or others? How did they react?

Afa wrote: "On behalf of my family, the Anoa'i and Fatu family, we are devastated and shocked by the loss of our Eki. Our son, nephew, brother, cousin, husband, father. Our hearts are broken, and words can't express what each of us are feeling. It is so comforting to know how loved Eki is by his family, peers, friends, and most of all his fans. When I received that a.m. phone call that my nephew was in the hospital, I dug deep and prayed and cried and begged for a miracle. When we lost Eki, I knew it was God's will, and that he is with my sister, his mother, who passed just a year ago.

"We are making our plans now for our farewell to Eki, but I wanted to take this time to thank everyone for all of the thousands of posts, emails, letters, and cards. Although I have not been able to bring myself to answer them personally, your kindness does not go unnoticed. I want to especially thank our WWE family and Stephanie McMahon for everything, and her phone call was very comforting to me in my time of sorrow.

"God bless each and every one of you, and I've said it a hundred times, the best people in the world are our wrestling people. You'll never find a more dedicated group of people.

"Be safe and be healthy, and love one another."

There’s a lot of pain coming from those words. How hard was this on the family? What might Stephanie’s role here have been?

Despite his tragic passing, a lot was written about Umaga’s condition in the weeks leading up to his death...

From the Observer: Over the past several days, several different people who have tried to book him to work on shows noted that he seemed out of it, and would be slurring his words and reacting slowly in conversations. He hadn’t been working a lot, as he was expecting to go to All Japan Pro Wrestling, but the wrestling economy has worsened and they couldn’t afford him

At the time of his death he was living in Spring, TX, just outside of Houston. He owned a nutrition store in the area with Charlie Haas, and was very close to Shad Gaspard and Shelton Benjamin, who also live in the area. He even gave Torrie Wilson her pet dog as a present.

His death was covered by a shocking number of press outlets, including TMZ, the AP, Fox News, the LA Times, Yahoo.com (a story on which linked to the Observer’s site and led them to double the previous biggest day in history, and that includes all the publicity they got as a result of appearing on Nancy Grace in the wake of the Benoit tragedy), and even at one point being the top story on CNN.com.

Why do you think this story got the attention that it did? Was it Linda’s campaign? Was it because it happened following the Benoit and Eddie tragedies?

After the death of the former Umaga, Jim Barnett (no relation to the former Director of Operations of the WWF during the 80s and famous wrestling promoter who dated back to the 50s), the campaign manager of her rival for the Republican nomination, Rob Simmons, told Greenwich Time, “The sheer number of deaths raises serious questions about whether or not Linda McMahon, as CEO, has done all she can to stop them. I think most CEOs, if they saw their employees and former employees dropping dead in their 30s and 40s, at this astonishing rate, would be compelled morally and ethically, if not legally, to get to the bottom of it.”

Robert Zimmerman of WWE pointed out, regarding Fatu, “We asked him to go to rehab and he refused to do so and his contract was terminated.”

But that ignores that the company had started recruiting him and there were plans for his return in January, six months after being let go.

Do you think the company trying to recruit him before his problems had been resolved may have hurt his chances to get clean?

Irv Muchnick in the article made the coal miner owner analogy, which fits, saying, “I think she bears responsibility in the sense in that coal mine owners were responsible for the hazards coal miners faced in getting black lung and other illnesses.”

What are your thoughts on that comparison?

In the wake of the death...

The WWE has clarified certain aspects of its Wellness policy, which would have pertained to the return of Edward Fatu, the return of Chris Masters and what is considered the likely return over the next few months of Jeff Hardy.

All three left the company with two test failures, with Fatu and Masters both fired after a second failure. Fatu was fired for refusing to go to drug rehabilitation. Masters was simply fired in late 2007, but hired back over the summer.

The new clarification which the company now lists publicly to its policy is that if a wrestler leaves the promotion with one or two strikes, and comes back, they still have those strikes.

In addition, if a wrestler is fired for a third strike, WWE will not bring them back for at least one year. The talent would have to pass a drug test to be rehired, and will be tested heavily during the first year back. One new test failure for a rehired wrestler who was once fired over drugs would be automatic termination, so even when returning, in a sense they will return with the equivalent of two strikes.

The drug policy also notes that while if a wrestler has never failed a test, they will be tested roughly four times per year, that those who have failures will generally be tested 16 times per year.

Some stiff changes happened here. Can you walk us through what might have been management’s mindset in making these decisions? Is it about the campaign, the company’s image, or truly helping the wrestlers?

The company also officially announced what was reported here regarding a failure for marijuana being a $2,500 fine. It had previously been a $1,000 fine. We’re told on the Smackdown side, that due to the increase in the fine level, usage is way down, but on the Raw side, there have been a number of failures of top level guys who don’t see the fine as a deterrent.

Have you ever overdosed on marijuana?

In all seriousness...

Questions

Nick asks...Who was Umaga’s best opponent in terms of chemistry, matches etc? 

Jeremy Priest asks...What was Umaga like to deal with backstage from a booking standpoint?

Dave said...I’d love to hear what Vince said after he kicked the shit out of @steveo and @chrispontius

Jeff Ronquillo said...Useless fun fact: Often when Umaga would speak, he was cussing in Samoan but obviously production had no clue

Matt asked...Do you think him (kayfabe) not being able to speak english held him back? Especially when Estrada was taken away from him

Jered asked...Hell yes. Beyond excited for this.  Was there a reason they put Umaga with Estrada?  Was it a language angle?  I thought he was a draw by himself.

Jakey asked..How serious was the heat on him when he stiffed Loony Lane in the awful HLA angle?

GDP asked...Was the original plan for Umaga to win the WWE Championship at New Year’s Revolution, or was John Cena always the man to defeat him for the first time?

The Drizzle asked...I was a huge fan of Armando Alejandro Estrada as Umaga’s manager. Were any other stars ever considered to use Estrada as a mouthpiece.

Charlie Thrower asked...Was there ever discussion of repackaging Rosey to have an updated Wild Samoans since they were once 3 Minute Warning

Francis asked...Why was he chosen by vince to put umaga in the hair vs hair match and was any other people was thought for that place?