On this day in 2009, the wrestling world lost WWE Veteran Umaga (Real name: Edward Fatu) at the young age of 36.
Umaga’s toxicology reports indicated the presence of hydrocodone (a painkiller), carisoprodol (Soma, a muscle relaxant), and diazepam (Valium) in his system. Medical examiners in Houston discovered that he suffered from heart and liver disease.
The cause of Umaga’s death was determined to be a heart attack resulting from a combination of his ongoing drug use and the pre-existing heart condition, officially attributed to acute toxicity from multiple substances.
Before he adapted the character of Umaga in 2006, he was known as Jamal, one half of the Ruthless Aggression Era Tag Team ‘3-Minute Warning’.
Umaga was the brother of Rikishi aka Headshrinker Fatu, and Tama (The Islanders) aka Tonga Kid.
During an episode of Talk Is Jericho back in the day, Chris Jericho revealed that Vince McMahon was torn apart by Umaga’s death. Below is what Y2J said about Vince’s reaction to this sad news back in 2009:
“I vividly remember when he passed away. We were in Saudi Arabia. Not Saudi Arabia, sorry, Iraq, doing the Tribute To The Troops.
And I remember how legit sad Vince was about it because, at the time, I think they had let him go because he wouldn’t go to rehab and I remember Vince really saying, like, ‘I tried. I did not want this to happen. I couldn’t do anything. Like, if you’re not going to do it on your own, there’s nothing we can do.’
But, he was, like, legit torn up about it because I think Ekkie, in (McMahon’s) mind, had so much more he could have done if he hadn’t fallen into those traps that happen to so many of the brothers over the years.”
REST IN PEACE UMAGA
March 28, 1973 – December 4, 2009
