My thoughts about Umaga

[Chrisjeffers]

If Umaga can refrain from getting injured too often he will defenatly be top face.

He is more entertaining then Samoa Joe... so much that Samoa Joe is more like Umaga now!

When he returned he was cheered heavily! What I remember from the match was seeing Umaga.... this wild animal so to speak.... In the ring excited about the reactions he was getting! It reminded me of a little kid getting praise for doing something good! It stuck out to me as really good story.

I can see Umaga returning from injury after wrestlemania to fued against Legacy! Sure he would lose.... its hard to win 3 on 1... but that doesn't mean that the mcmahons won't put Umaga in a cage with one of them! Then Umaga would eat them! lol

Umaga in my eyes is niether face nor heel.... he's just there!
Umaga's skills have been wasted ever since Lashley Vs. Umaga, hair vs Hair.
it was a mistake to make Lashley win.... But who seen him ditching wrestling to follow Brock Lesnar?

Umaga vs. Undertaker wrestlemania 26
It could happen... It should happen!

 

[Dave]

I like Umaga, he really is a good technical and athletic individual but I can't see him feuding with Legacy. That particular story is probably closed off to others at the moment. I would like him square off against Jeff Hardy again though. That street fight was an awesome match. In regard to Umaga vs Undertaker at WM26, I like it. It should happen.

 

[weird86]

Here's an idea on Umaga. Rumor was he was going to start talking, but he got "injured". Hear me out with this. Ironicly he got injured by just being thrown over the ring by HHH (this seems too ironic). There was a story where Umaga was laughing at Randy Orton because he wouldnt have to deal with HHH anymore (cause he got sent over to Smackdown), then the final pick was HHH then Randy laughed at Umaga (from what I hear Umaga and Orton in real life are really good friends so this was in fun). True or not true what I'm getting at is if this happened (storyline wise or in real life) they could make it a story line and have Umaga come back to destroy HHH in the match, OR if McMahons dont turn on HHH they can get Umaga to destroy Orton.

Then to really have Umaga a face have him start talking. He can say yah HHH injured me, but all you guys (Legacy) cared about was HHH not seeing if I was ok.

Of course he could of really been injured, and he really does need time to come back. When he does he should destroy HHH (to make him a face, have HHH a heel by then)

Undertaker vs Umaga at WM26 will be AWESOME! Have these guys do gimmick matches too. HIAC between these two should be great and brutal!

 

[jhaze22]

I like umaga as well. maybe umaga will be the 4th legacy member? isn't he a 2nd or 3rd generation wrestler as well? i think the only way he'd be involved in the hhh-orton match if he is the 4th member though. he could be face or heel...he just needs to talk! taker-umaga would be great! if undertaker can still go at that point...at that level.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I don't think Umaga was necessarily being cheered because people want him to turn face. I think it was a matter of people cheering for Eddie Fatu to come out and give them a good performance. Umaga is a very entertaining wrestler and he's fun to watch, so its sort of in the methodology that fans will always pop when someone announces that a match will be a no-DQ or Hell in a Cell or something. Fun to watch, so yay. I don't think Umaga would work well as a face because what makes him entertaining is how he squashes people and is able to perform as a dominating type of guy, but what WWE tends to do with heel-face turns is bastardize the character. If they turn Umaga face and then do what they usually do, make him suddenly fall victim to the "good is dumb" writer's facade and have him incapable of demolishing his opponents, he won't be as fun and won't get over. I think the best thing for Umaga is to start a feud with the Undertaker after WrestleMania and work his way back onto being the top "monster heel", where he could maybe have a long career with the company and sort of follow the career path of someone like Vader, who was a very talented big guy who had a very solid career under his name.

 

[LayneStaleyLives]

Have talent, will wrestle... but it's well documented that Umaga really isn't the best wrestler around. I think they need to keep him as 'gimmicked' as possible... face or heel... Umaga in a cage?? Why, that's not a bad idea... they should really make people FEAR Umaga, not just say "holy shit, there's a huge samoan guy beating people up..." Why don't they bring him down to the ring in a cage? Give him a handler and play him out to be so uncontrollable that heels/faces and the fans alike get scared... That's what they need these days... the feeling of "HOLY SHIT I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS!" Actual reality... Not some soap opera, Jerry Springer - "You slept with my wife, Im gonna kill you!" kinda crap...

They need to find a way to make people feel the intensity of Umaga... not just see it, like they do with most big athletes... but feel it. The last star they came close to that with was Brock Lesnar. If you can have Umaga in there, make the audience almost feel like they're in danger and that this isn't just a show - like even if a heel got their ass kicked by Umaga, all the people would just think Holy Shit and hope that he's okay.

Umaga is one with real potential for a gimmick that people can feel, it's just a matter of seeing if WWE can pull something like that off.

 

[Chrisjeffers]

Maybe I wasn't as clear with what I was thinking!

Umaga becomes a Goldberg like wrestler.... Have him Walk into the ring and beat up whoever is in the ring.... Neither Face nor Heel! Just a big dumb guy.... hurting people!

Legacy was just a passing thought...
Hey isn't Umaga and Kane on the same brand again?

KK I can describe the look that Umaga was giving..... Its the same look that hogan gives when he's possing to the crowd!

 

[truk24]

I would enjoy Umaga more if he had more of a true to life character. You know just being himself. This gimmick that he has now is so 80's. If Umaga returned I would like to see him as a heel, and feud with a top tier face for a mid card title.

 

[Backlash1RKONick]

if wwe didn't release manu they could of put him on smackdown and him and umaga could of made the wild samoans v2

 

[Coco]

His match with Cena at the Rumble is one of the best of the decade in the WWE. Stunningly original and logically sound. He has great chemistry with Jeff and Cena in particular, but is good with most people. Personally, I wish he'd never run into Triple H. Their ring work is passable, like most Triple H feuds, but the results killed him.

He should be headlining today. Along with Big Show and Mark Henry, he's the best big man of our generation.

 

[The Palace of Wisdom]

Umaga is a fantastic big man, and I hope he gets a big push when he comes back to Smackdown. He is capable of being "THE" heel monster on that show. I wouldn't mind Jericho maybe getting into his ear, using Umaga as his own personal destroyer in a feud with The Undertaker. That sets up two fantastic feuds (Taker/Umaga, Taker/Jericho), and some good tag matches (Jericho/Umaga vs. Brothers of Destruction)

 

[TheTruNoLimit]

It looks like Umaga is going to be involved in a feud with CM Punk. Weird. Then again, I am expecting Punk to get victories, but he may or may not win a match against a returning Umaga.

If Umaga is finally back full time, and loses his first feud to Punk he'll look a little weak depending on how it goes down.

However, as I've said in the past, Punk doesn't have to necessarily win to be relevant because he has the briefcase.

A clear example was Backlash where he lost clean to Kane. A few nights later, that match wasn't even mentioned, and Punk cleanly beat Edge in a non title match. Looking strong or weak is all about the here and now.

Heck, if R-Truth picked up a victory over Edge in a Smackdown! main event, it'd look even like his stock was rising and the announcers would totally ignore his past few months of jobbing and hardly ever appearing on TV.

 

[weird86]

Umaga is a fantastic big man, and I hope he gets a big push when he comes back to Smackdown. He is capable of being "THE" heel monster on that show. I wouldn't mind Jericho maybe getting into his ear, using Umaga as his own personal destroyer in a feud with The Undertaker. That sets up two fantastic feuds (Taker/Umaga, Taker/Jericho), and some good tag matches (Jericho/Umaga vs. Brothers of Destruction)

VERY good idea. Taker Umaga would be great and I'd LOVE to see them in a HIAC or last man standing match! Jericho Taker all the above and just Jericho Taker is nuff said.

 

[golden miz]

i would love to see Umanga in a nice fued but question if he can move in the ring without getting injured. Hes okay for a big man but I would love to hearhim speak english since the savage thng hardly works without a mouth peice

 

[truk24]

I think Umaga would be a lot better off if he was a regular character who talked. Talk about his heritage to wrestling, and his blood line to past greats. This whole crazy beast thing is so 90's. I'm sure he would do more with something more down to earth.

 

[Chill]

I think Umaga is a great big man, he's very agile and seems to be a good worker...he's even perfected his craft in Japan. My only concern is how long will he last if WWE don't find some way of allowing him to speak? And if not then they need some other way of expanding the personna. Today, he's essentially still doing the exact same thing he did when he debuted (granted he has been upset by injury during that time but still), so in say 5 years will he still be doing the same thing? Don't get me wrong I like the character but I just think its's very one dimensional especially without a mouth piece like Estrada who was a great sidekick for Umaga imo. To draw a comparison with Kane for example, there was a character that many thought was one dimensional when he first debuted but WWE managed to find ways to allow him to interact with the audience etc and the character underwent numerous changes but Umaga who is of a similar monster heel personna, I just wonder how WWE will be able to have him communicate with the audience...if he suddenly speaks then that would come across quite unbelievable considering he's been portrayed as this savage for a few years now. So while I think Umaga is great, I worry a bit for his future in terms of longevity but hopefully he and WWE will prove me wrong.

 

[S prince]

No no no no. the last thing you want is for him to talk.It would ruin his character. Biggest mistake WWE made was splitting him and Armando Estrada up.Estrada was his mouth piece, made for a good television. He was a great manager for Umaga. He knew when to calm him down or when to unleash him. WWE needs to bring back more valets like the 90's. Bobby Heenan, Mr. Fuji, The Coach with the whistle, Ms. Elzabeth, Sensational Sherry...they were all awesome because you either loved them or loved to hate them. Estrada would boost Umaga's star status.

 

[Coco]

Honestly, if he turned face I would sort of have him do the same blank stares into the audience he does now, only this time in hopes of getting cheered. He definately doesn't need to speak though as he's a savage fromthe wilderness who screams in his native tongue. English would be a stupid thing to have him start speaking.

Too bad about Estrado, though. I agree on that one.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Umaga has been absolutely nothing without Estrada, and we can thank Vince and all his loyalist fans who have it out for managers in this day and age.

Umaga, as a Face, would never work, in my opinion. Rarely are Faces that don't speak English, or Large guys who were Heels turned Face, successful.

See:

Giant Gonzalez
Kamala
Yokozuna
Hakushi
Great Khali


It never seemed to work in the past, and nor do I see anything different about Umaga that would alter the track record of this experiment.

He was fine as a Heel, until McMahon took Estrada away. Now, Umaga is considered a joke.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

what on EARTH are all of you on about?

Umaga is absolutely fucking AMAZING. People need to get over mouthpeice managers. Estrada wasnt that cool. He really wasnt.

Umaga can move and sell like none other, at his size. Have you seen a bad Umaga match? fuck no you havent. I dont understand were everyone is getting this turning face buisness from. Eeerrrrr, he assaulted CM Punk two weeks in a row now. Pretty sure a face wouldnt do that.

People's lust for mouth peice managers is astounding.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

what on EARTH are all of you on about?

Umaga is absolutely fucking AMAZING. People need to get over mouthpeice managers. Estrada wasnt that cool. He really wasnt.

Umaga can move and sell like none other, at his size. Have you seen a bad Umaga match? fuck no you havent. I dont understand were everyone is getting this turning face buisness from. Eeerrrrr, he assaulted CM Punk two weeks in a row now. Pretty sure a face wouldnt do that.

People's lust for mouth peice managers is astounding.

Estrada certainly wasn't the best manager, and I would rank him nowhere near the All Time Great Managers, but since WWE has essentially done away with managers (which you seem to be in favor of that move), he was the best manager that had come along in years. Still not great, though.

I like managers because they add another element of entertainment that is greatly missing from today's wrestling. They can make the feuds even more intense, add comedy and drama to the storylines, distract opponents at ringside to piss off the fans, take bumps at the end of the matches to the delight of the crowd ... I obviously don't need to go over all that stuff. Put it this way ... they made for a more entertaining product, which is what this is supposed to be all about. The "E" in WWE.

As far as Umaga, he is extremely restricted in getting over with the crowd. He is barely over at all, because he essentially can not speak. Therefore, it only makes sense that he have a manager. How is he any different in terms of character from the Great Khali? Khali can't speak and has a "translator". Why not Umaga?

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

I absolutely cannot stand Umaga, I just don't like "monster" type wrestlers especially ones that can't speak and I think he's a boring character. I will agree that Estrada was the best part of Umaga. I'm not saying he's a bad wrestler, I'm just saying I don't care for his style.

Now, even though I don't like him...tons of people online seem to love him and he seems to get a decent pop from fans so he's here to stay for now.

And let's get of the Samoa Joe vs. Umaga argument here. They are both ethnic fat wrestlers. End of comparison.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Estrada certainly wasn't the best manager, and I would rank him nowhere near the All Time Great Managers, but since WWE has essentially done away with managers (which you seem to be in favor of that move), he was the best manager that had come along in years. Still not great, though.

I like managers because they add another element of entertainment that is greatly missing from today's wrestling. They can make the feuds even more intense, add comedy and drama to the storylines, distract opponents at ringside to piss off the fans, take bumps at the end of the matches to the delight of the crowd ... I obviously don't need to go over all that stuff. Put it this way ... they made for a more entertaining product, which is what this is supposed to be all about. The "E" in WWE.

As far as Umaga, he is extremely restricted in getting over with the crowd. He is barely over at all, because he essentially can not speak. Therefore, it only makes sense that he have a manager. How is he any different in terms of character from the Great Khali? Khali can't speak and has a "translator". Why not Umaga?

Its not necessarily that I favor doing away with managers, I just simply get really annoyed with so many people crying out for them all the time, as if excellent manager grow on trees or something. To me, if the talent is good enough, its absolutely not necessary, and Umaga is definately in that catergory. Im as big a fan of pesky managers as anyone, as im a child of The Hulkamania era (hence my great tolerance of monster heels) but EVERY damn wrestler doesnt need them.

If he is a savage monster, why then does he need to speak? Savages communicate their wants and needs through smashing things. Thats what Umaga does. Even if they DID want to turn him face, so what? Some of the most successfull faces ever barely spoke. Goldberg, Undertaker, guys like that. Monster faces. if the guy works the right kind of style, not a whole lot of speaking is necessary. Although I do agree, the best course of action is definately keeping him heel.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Its not necessarily that I favor doing away with managers, I just simply get really annoyed with so many people crying out for them all the time, as if excellent manager grow on trees or something. To me, if the talent is good enough, its absolutely not necessary, and Umaga is definately in that catergory. Im as big a fan of pesky managers as anyone, as im a child of The Hulkamania era (hence my great tolerance of monster heels) but EVERY damn wrestler doesnt need them.

I would disagree that Umaga is good enough on his own, without a manager, as he seems to barely get any crowd reaction at all, on his own. Reason being that he can not speak for himself. If you can't speak on the mic, or don't have anyone that can speak for you on the mic, then you need to find other ways to get over with the crowd, and Umaga just isn't that good to do that, as evidenced by the crowd's lack of response to him.

I noticed you are a child of the Hogan Era, as am I, when managers were at their best, but many of the guys back then who did not need managers, still had them anyway. I have absolutely no problem with that, because it provided that much more entertainment to the product.

Your frustration seems to be with you not understanding why so many fans on here are screaming for managers to be in the corners of a majority of the heels. I guess I could identify with that, as I personally feel that managers should be in the corners of 75% of the heels on the total roster. That was just the way it was done back then. Rude, who was a great talker on his own, still had Heenan. And together, they were incredible. Same with Perfect and Heenan. Honky Tonk Man had Jimmy Hart, even though he didn't need Hart to get over. But together, they worked extremely well together, and the complete package worked. Randy Savage was made even better with having a "Queen" by his side, even though he certainly didn't need Sherri. My gripe with Sherri is that she may have interfered too much during the matches, but I respect the Hell out of her, because she always took nice bumps from the guys, as a response to her frequent interference.

The mentality I don't get from many of fans of today's wrestling is "Why do so many fans who like today's product, feel that managers should only go to guys who have trouble getting over on the mic? Around what time frame did this mentality develop and what changed from the Hogan Era, that got us to this point, where Vince doesn't even seem to want the term "Manager" used anymore? Instead today, we have translators, stylists, advisors ... anything but "managers", apparently.

But I have this need to understand why so many of today's fans feel that managers "should only go to guys that need them". Once I understand the reasoning behind that, I think I'll be better off, but it is going to take a lot of convincing on my end to get me to concede.

I think I've explained, my reasons for wanting the managers at ringside. I think it allows for more possibilities during the matches. They add to the promos even more. They take bumps at ringside. There are more storyline possibilities with interactions between them, and the opponents of those that they manage. Different segments altogether, as opposed to your basic "Face comes out and challenges Heel in a promo" on TV, which has made the product extremely dull and boring. More characters with different personalities (we don't have enough cowardly characters on the roster, which managers portrayed extremely well). It also allows for more comedy in the product, which is also something missing from today's shows.

There are just so many more possibilities for managers in wrestling, and I just have a lot of difficulty in understanding what the objection is to having things like they used to be with them, in the Hogan Era ... with about 70% of Heels on the Rosters having them.


I'm going to give you a heart-attack here probably, but these are the guys I would be assigning managers to:


Big Show
Brian Kendrick
Chavo Guerrero
Charlie Haas
Cody Rhodes
Curt Hawkins
Edge
Ezekiel Jackson
Great Khali
Jack Swagger
Jamie Noble
Kane
Mark Henry
Matt Hardy
Mike Knox
Paul Burchill
Shelton Benjamin
Ted Dibiase
The Miz
Tyson Kidd
Umaga
Vladimir Kozlov
Zack Ryder



Definitely a big transformation, and something that would be a throwback to the Hogan Era. But I feel like managers would only enhance these guys even more, and thus, the audience would care about them, even more.

If he is a savage monster, why then does he need to speak?

Because what is the likelihood that a savage monster is just going to be roaming around on his own? How does he get from city to city, without there being a handler, of sorts? It isn't realistic. It all depends on how close to reality that we want to get, but the fact that someone like Umaga would be wandering around on his own without a handler is pretty far-fetched.

Plus, with Umaga having someone to do his talking for him (since he is unable to do so on his own), I guarantee that more people would care about him then they do now. Umaga was ten times more over as a Heel with Armando by his side, as compared to today.