Rumble He Drew '14': 2008 How Was He Cursed?: At one point, people were looking at Umaga to become the next big main event heel in the company. He had a taste in late-2006 and early-2007, feuding with John Cena for the WWE Title, but that was more a vehicle to give Cena a "monster" to conquer than it was a vehicle to get Umaga over as a main event talent. They had one of the best matches in Royal Rumble history at the 2007 event, battling in a Last Man Standing Match. The following year, Umaga was the #14 entrant in the Rumble. He was in the match for nearly 30 minutes, and was in it right up until the end, basically. That's great and all, but he's on this list for a reason. In August 2008, Umaga tore a knee ligament that would put him on the shelf for about six months. Upon his return, he floundered around a bit in "nothing" feuds, but within four months, he was released from the company. He suffered his second Wellness Policy violation, and he refused to check himself into rehab, so the company let him go. On December 4th, 2009... six months after his WWE release... he was dead. At the age of 36, he suffered two heart attacks, with the official cause of death being acute toxicity after a combination of hydrocodone (painkiller), carisoprodol (Soma, a very potent muscle relaxer) and diazepam (Valium, an anti-anxiety medication). Three years after being viewed as a possible main event player, and two years after his appearance at #14 in the Royal Rumble, he had lost his life, making him the fifth name to pass away at an early age after that dreaded Rumble appearance.
Columnist/Podcaster/Director at LordsOfPain.net for nearly seven years, with nearly 2000 total columns written. Interviewed and/or involved in interviewing the likes of Tyler Black/Seth Rollins (twice), Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Uhaa Nation and more.
