On a recent edition of his “Something to Wrestle” podcast, WWE executive Bruce Prichard reflected on the career of the late Umaga.
Umaga had two tenures with WWE, the first from 2001 to 2003 as Jamal and the second from 2006 to 2009 under the persona for which he is best known.
Prichard discussed the late Anoaʻi family member, commending him as a performer who prioritized safety in the ring and possessed the intangible qualities that define a star.
He said, “Umaga was just that kind of athlete that you were comfortable with. You’d go out and you knew that he could do anything, and you also knew that by giving your body to him that you were in the safest hands you could possibly be. Umaga was one of those generational talents that only comes along every once in a while. It was a charisma, an unspoken charisma, and everyone believed in him and… you still had that little bit of fear of Umaga because as sweet as he could be, he was also one of those guys that made you believe he had a switch that when flipped, he was an uncontrollable maniac.”
Umaga was released from his WWE contract in mid-2009 and there were rumors about his potential return to the company. However, he tragically passed away in December of that year.
Prichard also shared his perspective on the Brain Busters, the WWF duo comprising Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. He expressed his admiration for the skills of the two wrestlers but conveyed his view that their collaborative performance lacked in excitement.
He said, “I think that Tully was an excellent wrestler, I think that Arn was an excellent wrestler. I think that when they got together as a tag team that they became very bland. When the Horsemen had all the individual titles, I thought that was cool, because you had guys that had individual programs. Arn could stand on his own, Tully could stand on his own. I think when Tully and Arn were together as a tag team that they were out there to get beat. Big fan of them, working-wise, in the ring. Individually. Look, they were a great a tag team, I just thought they were boring at times… individually, either one of them could’ve headlined. As a tag team, they couldn’t.”
