10 WWE Superstars Vince McMahon Completely Lost Interest In

4. Umaga

Eddie Fatu would have to wait eleven years to find the gimmick that made him a real star in professional wrestling. He€™d first broken in with his cousin Matt Anoa€™i (Roman Reigns€™ older brother, better known as €˜Rosey€™ in WWE), and had achieved a little success as part of a heel tag team with him, working as the Island Boyz, the Samoan Gangstas and finally as 3-Minute Warning, the bodyguards and enforcers for Eric Bischoff€™s egotistical RAW General Manager character. It was when Vince McMahon brought him back in under the retrogressive gimmick Umaga that Eddie finally hit the big time for real in singles competition. Umaga shouldn€™t have worked. On paper, he was a throwback to a less enlightened time, when it was considered okay to portray an ethnic stereotype as a backward, mute or snarling savage. But Eddie took the dated, offensive character and ran with it. Time spent in All Japan Pro Wrestling had sharpened up his in-ring game, and he was ready. Umaga remained undefeated after his April 2006 debut for nine months, over thirty-four strong televised matches, including a pay-per-view debut victory over none other than Ric Flair. After being fed to John Cena (who, to his credit, went to some lengths to keep Umaga strong before beating him in two straight matches), he went on to win the Intercontinental Championship twice. More importantly, he ably represented McMahon against Donald Trump and Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 23€™s €˜Battle Of The Billionaires€™, a significant celebrity crossover success for the company. However, he€™d slip down the card after that notable high spot, spending the next two years playing a by now rather defeatable, worryingly racist monster heel character without a babyface hero to contextualise himself against. He was released in June 2009 after his second Wellness Policy violation: it wouldn€™t ordinarily occasion a firing, but Fatu refused to enter rehab. Six months later, he was dead: rushed to hospital after a heart attack, he was found to have died as a result of an overdose of painkillers. He was only thirty-six. Rest in power, Eddie.