Umaga... talks

[Joker ' Ferreira]

Well, last night on Friday Night Smackdown!, CM Punk won a match by DQ against Chris Jericho "thanks" to Umaga...

After that he was "brutally" attacked by Umaga that used a strap, and knocked-out Punk on the corner after a Samoan Spike.

He then... talked. Ok, almost anyone knows that Umaga was Jamal back in the day, but he talking as Umaga as never been done, at least not in english, he usually shouts: "Fa'a Samoa" (For Samoa), and other stuff but this is different.

So, what will this do to Umaga? I think nothing good is coming to Umaga, right now, remember Kane? Remember how great he was before talking? And now? He doesn't even appear on SmackDown!, so that tells you something...

I hope not, I honestly hope not, I love the character and the way Umaga can move inside the ring and being over 300 pounds, as far as I can tell he is the top super-heavyweight on WWE as far as ring-skills are concerned.

 

[Blade]

Really, I don't think anyone should care that much. So he started talking, we all knew he could and would eventualy.
From what I saw on SD, his mic skills are nothing to crap your pants about, but then again perhaps it's too early to judge. I think he'll still be the kind of guy who lets his wrestling do the talking for him.
If anything, this could only be good for Umaga if they're planning to let him into the main event in the future. In the main event, you need to be able to talk for your feuds. Doesn't matter how bad you are at it (*cough* Jeff Hardy *cough*) you still need to be able to speak to further your feuds or just give a recap of your feuds. And since he's lost his manager, he needs to be able to speak himself. Personally I think he'll have an Undertaker style approach to using the mic. He'll never speak apart from crucial moments, e.g. Before feud blow-offs, before Royal Rumble + Wrestlemania etc.
As I said, it's much too early to judge how good he is or what effect it'll have on him, but I guess we'll have to see in the weeks to come.

 

[nickbwfc]

I think this is a great move for the Samaon bulldozer. He now has a human element to him which could possibly move him up the card.

I didn't think he was that bad, i thought he was ok on the mic. Expecting him to be Jericho is stupid, but he stuck to saying 4 or 5 words then stopping to think (breathe loudly) then saying another few words which suits his character perfectly imo.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

He's been on the main roster for over three years now. Armando must've discovered him several months before his debut, in the jungles of Samoa. Is Samoa jungly? Is jungly a word? That means he's been around English speaking people, specifically Cubans, for around and about 4 years now. It's only natural he'd pick it up. That is, after all, how children learn to speak.

The next step is him developing a hip hop persona. But first he'll have to get used to wearing boots, he only needs to ask the Headshrinkes for how hard it was for them to adapt to boots.

 

[varney]

when he started talking i honestly started laughing, the whole crowd got really confused

the last thing his character needs is a microphone, the only thing that made him good was he was the only true monster left....everyone else talks

the human element will work against him

i like how the guy above me diagramed how umaga is talking right now, you think the 10 year olds care that his character "could of" picked it up

 

[Spunky]

I think its a good move to allow him some mic time, It will add another aspect to the character. No longer will we get him coming down and destroying someone for no reason, As he can explain why hes fucking up certain people.

Umaga is the best super-heavyweight in the WWE at the minute, And him speaking will only help him in his quest to be the main event,.

 

[Razor]

Umaga will be fine. You can't honestly expect him to speak savage jibberish with a bit of Samoan sprinkled in for the rest of his WWE tenure. If anything, this will make him more accessible. You can hate Edge because he tells you he doesn't care. As of now, you can only hate Umaga because you're afraid of him. Umaga can tell you that he doesn't care about you anymore, that he's only here to beat someone up. Now you can be both afraid of Umaga and hate Umaga.

Not that Umaga will be cutting any "I hate the fans" promos, but I fully expect him to start cutting the "No one can withstand my power!" promos. Setting he and Koslov up for a potential heel/heel feud of the Unstoppable Powers. Though I assume Umaga will be getting all the pops for that feud, so creative could use it to turn Umaga face.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

What I thought was amusing was how the announcers didn't even put it over on commentary that for the first time ever, for the several years he's been on the roster, he actually spoke English. It was a complete no-sell on the mic.

So, we'll now simply play Make Believe and pretend that Umaga has never been a savage from the jungles.

However at the same time, since Vince is so Hell-Bent against using managers, this was probably the best thing they could have done with him ... since there was no way he was able to get feuds over by not talking.

 

[kurtisraw07]

After he stopped talking and went up the ramp, he immediately started speaking jibberish again. They could've at least had him speak in broken english. But I agree, anyone with a brain knows him from 3 Minute Warning ( the greatest tag team concept ever). ("You've got about.....3 minutes!) I just miss Arrrrrmanddooo Allejandrooooo Essssssstttrrrr(rolls r)dddaaaa. Vince only seperated him from Umaga because he was getting way over as a face despite being heel. Whatever happened to letting the fans choose who they want to cheer for. The current fanbase eats whatever Vince feeds them.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

After he stopped talking and went up the ramp, he immediately started speaking jibberish again. They could've at least had him speak in broken english. But I agree, anyone with a brain knows him from 3 Minute Warning ( the greatest tag team concept ever). ("You've got about.....3 minutes!) I just miss Arrrrrmanddooo Allejandrooooo Essssssstttrrrr(rolls r)dddaaaa. Vince only seperated him from Umaga because he was getting way over as a face despite being heel. Whatever happened to letting the fans choose who they want to cheer for. The current fanbase eats whatever Vince feeds them.

Well, that is another case and point that I point to when people question me about Vince writing for himself.

If Vince wrote purely, 100% for the fans, then he would do what he did during the Attitude Era, and do exactly what he used to say during the interviews, about allowing the fans cheer for whoever they want to cheer for, and the fans boo for whoever they want to boo for.

Obviously, that wasn't the case with Estrada, as Vince saw that his gimmick was catching on with the crowd, and he didn't like it. So he put a stop to it and punished Armando for it.

Again, not that I consider Estrada anywhere near the Best managers of all time list, but he certainly was the best ringside manager WWE had in a decade, since Vince did away with them.

Incidentally, I didn't watch Smackdown, but rather only saw part of the segment on YouTube with Umaga speaking English. I didn't know when he went up the ramp, he started speaking Samoan again. That is pretty funny.

 

[sTyLnK]

Some mic time can't hurt. He can't go around shouting Samoan forever. I was honestly expecting him to start shouting like usual, but he actually spoke English and that was different. It was cool to see. I'm all for it.

 

[Jason]

Well it was different to finally hear the bulldozer speak after a few years of being in the company, I actually thought it was pretty cool and I don't think it will mess up his character in any way.

I enjoy the Umaga character and I just enjoy watching him demolish people.

 

[HansChristianFrankenstein]

No longer will we get him coming down and destroying someone for no reason, As he can explain why hes fucking up certain people.

Except...he's not. He didn't give any reason for his hatred of Punk, he simply challenged the man he just beat to another match for no apparent reason. Except this time he had a strap...because you know how those Samoans love their straps...I guess?

Cutting bad promos in English with no accent is certainly not a good move for his character. He really needs a manager again.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

I always knew that he could speak english and that it was only a mater of time. Even when he was Jamal in 3 Minute warning, he rarely talked. Seeing SD! and seeing him talked just made him more interesting

 

[kurtisraw07]

That's the problem with WWE now. Armando getting canned because he was awesome as hell. He had a catchy catch phrase and everything. WWE used to allow fans to invest in who they wanted and this created a rabid diehard fanbase which brutally killed WCW. Now it's back to the ******ed fans just cheering for a guy because he's the good guy and booing a guy because he's the bad guy.

The fans today don't give a shit. They don't have minds of their own. Hell why in the fans in their right mind boo Jericho? Sure he calls them names, but they deserve it. They should be like " Yea I am a ******, you're right Jericho", then cheer him anyway. Why is it that most of the heel gimmicks tell the truth about the faces being douches yet the fans still boo them. Armando Estrada was a rare thing in wrestling. He was a perfect character, like that of Rock or Austin. He may not have been a wrestler, but he could have been Heenan like in the sense of overness.

A good analogy of the fan's mind sets when they get rightfully insulted is Batista and Orton. Batista got pissed that Orton kicked him in the head and wanted revenge. Well think about it this way, the right thing to do would have been for Batista to sit back and say " Well I did attack Orton for no reason and kicked him out of Evolution." But no, it's all about being hypocritical and wanting to do shit to people and get pissed when they do it back. This is very off topic I know . Sorry for that. Just pisses me off that Estrada got canned just because he was awesome and Vince wanted him to be hated. Vince should know that heels actually = faces. When you got faces that are vanilla and generic goody two shoes, fans hate them. The only true heels are those with no personality, are dumbasses and say and do shit that's actually out of line. Antiheros = good, Nice Guys who "fight for the rights of every man" = bad

 

[Mr. TM]

Jake said it best. I would question Umaga not talking soon enough. Just a few weeks ago I was talking to some peeps (Not the Christian like peeps, though they might like Christian, and perhaps Christianity, though one was Muslim, so I am not sure there) and I had mentioned that Umaga by now should have picked up some English by now. Isn't Samoa part of the USA? I thought it was a territory. I am sure he has been hearing it for a while, and you know, hanging around the heel locker room listening to Randy Orton's slow voice. Learning a language requires people to talk slowly, so Orton would have been a great teacher.

So Umaga learning to finally speak is a great thing, and if he ever loses his job, he will be more adapt to finding work from immigrants who cannot speak the language.

 

[HansChristianFrankenstein]

There's nothing wrong with Umaga being able to speak from a character standpoint, it's just that the man playing the character has no mic skills.

 

[Tenta]

I think one thing that got lost amongst this is that the announcers didn't put any emphasis on the fact that he's speaking. When Umaga started speaking, neither Jim Ross nor the other guy placed any importance on the matter. Normally, I'd think JR would at least reference that it's the first time he's spoken english, and would try to play it up.

This is simply a natural progression for his character. Simply put, without Umaga's ability to speak English, he's dead in the water. The WWE no longer has effective mouthpieces, so Umaga has to fend for himself in his promos.

But what really struck me in his promo was his heavy breathing. Did Umaga really exert all that much effort on Punk? I mean, it's understandable to have him breath a bit, but in this case, it was just an excessive amount, that hints to me that Umaga is probably not in shape to be in the ring yet. Either that, or Umaga really needs to work on his conditioning. Badly.

 

[BreakTheWalls]

Talking had nothing to do with Kane's downfall; it was the horrible booking he got over the years. As long as Umaga's character stays the same, then it can only help him to start talking. He didn't sound bad at all. Think about it. Now he won't need a manager to help him reach main event level, which is what I think he deserves a solid opportunity at. So far, they've used him to build up bonafide main eventers, but I'd like to see him stay in the main event as opposed to being a stepping stone.

Bottom line is, I think it was a good move.

 

[HansChristianFrankenstein]

The WWE no longer has effective mouthpieces, so Umaga has to fend for himself in his promos.

They have plenty of effective mouthpieces.

Have Striker manager again since he's kinda boring as an announcer and nobody cares about ECW anyway.

Turn Teddy Long heel and have him manage again since his GM role got old about 3 years ago.

Use Helms as a manager while he's not wrestling instead of a backstage interviewer serving no purpose.

Bring Adamle back to TV. Sure, he had mic problems but they were no worse than lots of guys in WWE and he had tons of heat.

Bring Sim Sunka (I think he's still under contract) back to TV in a managerial role, he's decent on the stick and he has the Samoan connection with Umaga.

etc...

 

[varney]

WWE needs Larry Sweeney to bring back the art of being a good manager, Armando was the best thing Umaga had going

 

[pyrusane]

They have plenty of effective mouthpieces.

Have Striker manager again since he's kinda boring as an announcer and nobody cares about ECW anyway.

Except that right now Striker is the best announcer on TV. He actually does his homework, and a lot of the background information he provides is very interesting to a lot of people.

Turn Teddy Long heel and have him manage again since his GM role got old about 3 years ago.

I think its somewhat refreshing to have a face GM. The heel GM is done so much, that it works for one of the shows to have a GM that constantly serves as a foil for the heels.

Use Helms as a manager while he's not wrestling instead of a backstage interviewer serving no purpose.

I can't help but wonder if this is a temporary gimmick leading up to the return of the Hurricane. Helms used this gimmick before as his "alter ego," and it made sense (sort of) at that time. But Helms isn't exactly great on the mic, so using him as a mouthpiece for someone else would be rather pointless. Kind of like the blind leading the blind.

Bring Adamle back to TV. Sure, he had mic problems but they were no worse than lots of guys in WWE and he had tons of heat.

Ok, now I get it, this whole post is just a big joke, right? Because there is no other way that you could possibly be suggesting using Adamle as a mouthpiece for anyone. The man has absolutely no concept of what wrestling is about, says some of the dumbest things you could imagine... actually, the only way I could ever see this working is as a complete comedy act, and any wrestler that could pull off that big of a comedy role could probably do it without Adamle.

Bring Sim Sunka (I think he's still under contract) back to TV in a managerial role, he's decent on the stick and he has the Samoan connection with Umaga.
etc...

Who the heck is Sim Sunka? Sim Snuka is still under contract the last time I checked, matter of fact he was the camera man that Undertaker jumped on at WM25. Can he talk well enough to be a mouthpiece for someone else? I don't know, never paid enough attention to him.

Here's the thing...being a successful manager requires more than not having anything else to do at the moment. You have to have some skill with the mic, you have to have charisma, and you have to be believable in the role. Throwing someone into that role just because you're not using them for anything else is just dumb, and a recipe for disaster. Or even worse, a recipe for indifference.

 

[Chill]

I've always thought that sooner or later Umaga was going to have to talk, it's the only way to keep the gimmick alive or in the least keeping it from going stale. It was weird seeing him talk and then after cutting the promo he went on screaming again like a madman but still, it's made me interested in Umaga again. On a sidenote, his voice isn't exactly intimidating, I was expecting something a bit gruffer from the so called "savage"...

 

[HansChristianFrankenstein]

Except that right now Striker is the best announcer on TV. He actually does his homework, and a lot of the background information he provides is very interesting to a lot of people.

I think its somewhat refreshing to have a face GM. The heel GM is done so much, that it works for one of the shows to have a GM that constantly serves as a foil for the heels.

I can't help but wonder if this is a temporary gimmick leading up to the return of the Hurricane. Helms used this gimmick before as his "alter ego," and it made sense (sort of) at that time. But Helms isn't exactly great on the mic, so using him as a mouthpiece for someone else would be rather pointless. Kind of like the blind leading the blind.

Ok, now I get it, this whole post is just a big joke, right? Because there is no other way that you could possibly be suggesting using Adamle as a mouthpiece for anyone. The man has absolutely no concept of what wrestling is about, says some of the dumbest things you could imagine... actually, the only way I could ever see this working is as a complete comedy act, and any wrestler that could pull off that big of a comedy role could probably do it without Adamle.

Who the heck is Sim Sunka? Sim Snuka is still under contract the last time I checked, matter of fact he was the camera man that Undertaker jumped on at WM25. Can he talk well enough to be a mouthpiece for someone else? I don't know, never paid enough attention to him.

Here's the thing...being a successful manager requires more than not having anything else to do at the moment. You have to have some skill with the mic, you have to have charisma, and you have to be believable in the role. Throwing someone into that role just because you're not using them for anything else is just dumb, and a recipe for disaster. Or even worse, a recipe for indifference.

Well, I think your standards are a bit too high for Pro Wrestling mic skills. All of the people I mentioned can handle the stick just as well if not better than guys like Jeff Hardy, Shelton Benjimen (I may have spelled his name wrong, hope you can figure out who I'm talking about), Jack Swagger, Rey Mysterio, etc...and all those guys get plenty of mic time. Sure would it be better to hire Robert De Niro to manage Umaga? Of course, but that's not gonna happen. By PRO WRESTLING standards, all of those guys are quality.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I don't think Umaga is going to start talking all the time unless he is elevated in the main event where you will have to talk on the mic a little bit. It did ruin Kane a little bit but Umaga is not going to be affected by it as much as Kane did.