Umaga Once Threatened With Fine For Odd Reason By WWE
Umaga was ordered to maintain his signature look even when the cameras were not rolling.
WWE fans will most likely remember The Samoan Bulldozer for his signature look that featured his terrifying tribal facepaint. In an age where cameraphones were not as prominent and the internet not being what it is today back in the mid-2000s, the former Intercontinental Champion felt that he was able to get away with not applying the facepaint for non-televised events. However, this was not allowed.
Former WWE referee Mike Chioda was asked about Umaga during a Monday Mailbag episode on Ad Free Shows. Chioda revealed that John Laurinaitis had heard that The Samoan Bulldozer would not apply the facepaint on house shows, so threatened him with disciplinary action if this was not changed at the next event:
“I remember me, Johnny Stamboli, Rey Mysterio, and Ekie in the car and we’re driving down. Ekie’s got a — he’s started this Umaga thing with the paint and all that stuff,” Chioda recalled. “So he’d go to TVs and have one of the guys paint his face all the time. We’re in the car on the way to a live event, I remember Johnny [Ace] calling him. He says, ‘Ek, you didn’t wear your face paint last night at the live event.’ Ek’s like, ‘Yeah, Johnny, I put it on the TVs.’ ‘You gotta start putting it on now or else you’re gonna get fined.’ He was like, ‘What?'”
Not having access to facepaint while travelling to the next show, Chioda revealed how the boys would improvise so that they could recreate the iconic look of the former champion:
“So we tried to stop at a couple places to get some markers real quick because we had about an hour before we get to the show, then we had to do this. So we got black markers and I had to f****** paint his face in the car. That s*** didn’t come off for like three days until he got to TV. He was so pissed at Johnny too because Johnny was serious he was gonna fine him. And every time Johnny wanted something done, ‘Vince wants the face paint on.’ Vince’s name comes out all the time.”
Umaga’s WWE Career
Repackaged from Jamal to The Samoan Bulldozer, Umaga was pushed to the main event almost instantly as one of his first feuds was against John Cena. Challenging for the World Title on multiple occasions, many cite the Last Man Standing match between the two at the Royal Rumble 2007 as one of the best matches of Umaga’s short career and one of the best Last Man Standing matches of all time.
The former Intercontinental Champion’s most high-profile match would take place later that year at WrestleMania 23, when Umaga would be named Mr. McMahon’s representative in the Battle of the Billionaires against Donald Trump’s representative Bobby Lashley. The match would see Lashley be victorious and McMahon get his head shaved.
Umaga passed away in December 2009 at just 36 years old.
H/t to Wrestling Inc.