Where would Umaga be today?

[Steve-O-Matt]

Everybody... Listen, to me! My name es... Steeeeeve... Oooooo... Matt!!! And let me introduce to you... UMAGA!!!

Umaga, one of best forces to hit the WWE. So many good things about this guy. His gimmick was awesome, his manager, Armando was really cool and he had a pretty good domination going on. Not like these days when almost anyone who debuts gets to be undefeated for months...

This guy was a powerhouse, I never saw him do anything wrong and he was a great example of a ruthless Samoan wrestler. Sadly though Eddie Fatu died back in late 2009, which I'm sure we can all agree was a terrible thing to happen, to such a great guy.

There was plenty of points in his career when you could tell this guy has found his place and that he is going to reach some great heights. The point of this thread is this:

- If Umaga was still alive where would he be today?

- Would he have been a (multiple time) world champion by now?

- Dare I say, is he Hall of Fame material for the work he put into the WWE, is it enough?

 

[theBec2101]

I guess he would be in some type of main event. I think he some of the people they have now would be great matches for the bigger guys. Such as Him vs Tensi, Ryback, Mark Henry, and Sheamus. It would all depend on whether he was face or not and the other person. Or he could go the Kane rout and just dominate everyone and just be fine not being champ. I would of made him kind of like a Yokozuna type. He was a heel and didn’t talk, then go face and develop where he could talk.

He probably would of been multi champ. That’s just how WWE is right now or was a year ago till Punk and Sheamus won the belts and HHH said he was changing short reigns. So yes, and I wouldn’t of mind. He could but on good matches.

Sorry, I do not think he is hall of fame worthy. But I also wouldn’t be mad if he was in it either. What little time he was there he but his impact on it.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The issue isn't "if he was still alive" as he was released for his drug issues about 9 months before his death. Had he gone to rehab instead of refusing, is perhaps the more appropriate question.

IF Umaga had gone to rehab when WWE asked him to then I think he would have returned stronger, leaner but with the Uso's and Tamina in tow as a new "Samoans" faction. I think he would have been in line for a push similar to Jack Swagger's, where he became WHC for a time but ultimately I think it would have been short and he would have moved down the card and be in TNA or ROH now.

Sadly Eddie Fatu chose not to go to rehab and sort his problems out so he was out of the business when he died... had he survived and still not sought that help, he would still be out of the business... if he did later get that help on the WWE programme, then he might have made it back to the WWE, but it would have been more likely that he just was an indy.

His career was not long or storied enough to warrant HOF or even "legend" status, he was a tag wrestler, got fired, returned as Umaga, only had 2 years in the big time before being canned again. He did main event a WM, but like Lashley, that didn't count for much.

 

[Waylon Mercy]

He probably would have ended up in TNA, an organization that doesn't care whether or not performers have substance abuse problems. If I were booking him as a member of the TNA roster, I would definitely have him feuding with Abyss, and a long-running feud with Samoa Joe. A feud with Samoa Joe would have intrigued me enough to watch TNA.

 

[mr_dna]

He was 90% set for a WWE return there were rumors before his death that he was due for a return to WWE around the RR of 2010 as his drug issues where sorted . This was reported on thesun in the uk who spoke to wwe

I think he would have returned and had at least 1 title shot and if he had keep his issues under raps he could have become a multi time WHC

 

[justinept]

Umaga was a monster heel whose gimmick made it so that he couldn't pick up a microphone. He "didn't" speak English and thus NEEDED a manager to speak for him. Let's take a look at the history of guys like this in the WWE...

The last guy that "couldn't" speak to hold the WWE Title was Kane in June 1998. He held it for one day. You have to go back to WrestleMania 10 when Yokozuna dropped the belt to Bret Hart to find another instance of a non-speaking wrestler holding the belt. The only other instance of a non-speaking wrestler holding the WWE Title was The Undertaker during his first reign in 1991, which lasted 6 days.

In the WrestleMania era - an era in which it is necessary to communicate with the audience via the microphone - only three non-speaking wrestlers have held the title. Between the three of them, there were four reigns, and they lasted a combined 287 days (Yokozuna's second reign lasted 280 of those days.)

Suffice to say, Umaga probably wasn't destined to have a long, illustrious run with the WWE Title - which means, he probably would've wound up on the midcard if he stayed on Raw.

His odds wouldn't have been much better on SmackDown, as only The Great Khali has ever held the World Heavyweight Championship despite not being able to speak. So again, had he been thrown on SmackDown, then he probably would've wound up on the midcard.

To suggest that Umaga would've been a multiple time World Champ is ridiculous since Yokozuna is the only non-speaking wrestler in the WrestleMania era to have multiple WWE Title wins. Umaga was not on Yokozuna's level. This isn't to say that Umaga wouldn't have been in the hunt for stretches at a time; he probably would have. However, I can say with almost 100% certainty that VKM was never going to give that character one of the two major titles.

His only chance of winning a title would've been to "learn" the language. I wonder how the WWE universe would've reacted to an English-speaking, Samoan monster that was billed as a savage. My guess is they would've shit on it.

In terms of his HOF credibility --- not even close.

 

[klunderbunker]

Assuming the drug issues weren't a factor, about the same place he was in for most of his run.

Umaga is the kind of a character that didn't have a ton of upside. More or less what you saw was what you got. He was good at what he did, but once he lost his first match, a lot of the luster was taken off. He would have been fine to build up every now and then for a quick run near the top, but I can't picture him as a world champion other than as a transitional guy. He would be fine as a guy to feed to wahtever up and comer you need, but anything past a guy you beat to become #1 contender is too much of a stretch.

 

[asiatic7]

I loved Umaga's character and how they built him into a monster. I was hoping then that he would be WWE champion. He destroyed John Cena in every match they had...until the finish (but that's a typical Cena match anyway right?).

Unfortunatley, I think Umaga would end up pretty much where Tensai is now and where Kane was after WM14, just a scary Jobber who beats the snot out of a guy who gives the GM problems, but ends up losing.

I think WWE could have pushed him better while he was there.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

- If Umaga was still alive where would he be today?

Dead. Not the wrestler...the character. Ok, maybe that is a little too drastic. Umaga may have been a powerhouse, but there is only so far a character who can't talk can go. Once WWE got rid of Estrada as his manager, Umaga didn't really go anywhere. It's hard to have a legit feud when all you can do is scream and talk gibberish. I think eventually he would've had a MAJOR character overhual. Keep the samoan style...but make him talk and less of a wild beast.

- Would he have been a (multiple time) world champion by now?

No. Again, without the ability to talk, there can be no credible feud. The champ needs to be able to communicate and cut promos.

- Dare I say, is he Hall of Fame material for the work he put into the WWE, is it enough?

No. He didn't really do much. A headline WrestleMania match where he lost was about all I can remember from his career. Oh...and he lost the IC title to Santino (who made his debut as a "fan").

Nothing else that I can think of is memorable enough for HoF. He really didn't have THAT long nor great of a career.

 

[HBsam31]

If Umaga was still alive where would he be today?

If he got all of his drug issues sorted out, I think he would be in the same place he was for most of his time in WWE. He would be the big tough guy that dominated the top faces only to lose every match to said face.

- Would he have been a (multiple time) world champion by now?

No, I agree with the people who said not being able to talk would hinder him from being a top champion. It just doesn't happen to often. He would have been number 1 contender a bunch of times, but never able to win the big one.

- Dare I say, is he Hall of Fame material for the work he put into the WWE, is it enough?

No, he wasn't around long enough to have a HOF career. If he was alive and sorted out all his problems I am sure he could have put together a HOF career, but not as it stands now.

 

[Dagger Dias]

If Umaga was still alive today, he would be main eventing and have held the World Heavyweight (or WWE) Championship once, perhaps twice. He started to get boring after a while during his monster push but when he finally was allowed to talk and do actual promos, I saw his full potential. Then of course he ran into some personal problems and passed. He had the skills to make it further in his career but being the monster character without any major promos was holding him back. Had he been able to cut real promos sooner such as the one about the Samoan Strap match then he would have been more successful during his WWE career.

I doubt he'd be anywhere near the amount of world titles that guys like Cena or Orton have won, but he would have made it had he overcome his personal problems. At the very least some type of push similar to Mark Henry's last year would have been great for him and that would have led to the one or two world title reigns he may have gotten if he were still around. As far as him being Hall of Fame material? Umaga held the Intercontinental Championship and participated in the infamous Battle of the Billionaires match at Wrestlemania 23. People have gotten in for achieving far less in their careers, so we will see him get an induction someday.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

If Umaga was still alive and in the WWE today?

He'd probably be a mid-card comedy act in the vein of Khali.

Umaga was booked as the unstoppable monster. It's a great character... and it's a character specifically designed to put someone else over in the end. You have a monster tear through your entire roster. No one is able to stop him. Finally, that one guy steps up and he's able to beat the monster. Boom. That guy is made in a big way.

Traditionally, the monster would then carry his act on to the next territory... but you can't do that anymore. So once Umaga had done his job, and his aura was gone, there really wasn't a lot to do with him. If the WWE keeps these types around afterwards, they seem to like to go the comedy route with them, while still using them in a JTTS type role.

Likely, that would have been Umaga's fate.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

He would either be in TNA wrestling under a new gimmick or working the Indie scene as Umaga. there is a chance he would have returned to the WWE for a while and maybe of won the IC or us title but I think the character was a bit too one dimensional to have satyed in the Main event scene for to long.