10 great deceased wrestlers not in the WWE Hall Of Fame (videos)

8. Umaga

"The Samoan Bulldozer"

A late success in wrestling, Edward Smith Fatu was a member of the Samoan Dynasty that had to try two totally different gimmicks in his two different WWE stints.

On his first WWE run (2002-2003) he was Jamal, forming a Tag Team with his cousin Rosey (he also died on April 17, 2017) named 3-Minute Warning. The two of them were the heel enforcers of Eric Bishoff, beating up whomever was "not entertaining enough" according to their boss. However, Fatu's temperamental character got him in a bar fight that cost him his job and brought his rather forgettable first run with the company to an end.

During the next 2 years he worked for TNA and AJPW with mediocre results, and in 2006 he returned to the WWE repackaged as "The Samoan Bulldozer" Umaga. That was it!

Umaga was a very believable threat, a monster of a man that squashed every opponent on his path and losing only 2 singles matches by disqualification in a 7 months period! From 2007 to 2009, Umaga feuded with the biggest WWE names (John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Triple H, CM Punk and more), he became a two-time Intercontinental Champion and wrestled 22 PPV matches overall.

Unfortunately, despite his realized potential and remarkable second run for the biggest company in the pro wrestling world, his demons overcame his will. After two Wellness Policy violations and his refusal to rehab, WWE felt like they had to let him go in June 2009. In December 4, 2009 he died from a hart attack, a result of heart and liver disease and a drugs cocktail.

With so many relatives still working with the WWE under great terms, Umaga seems like a certain WWE HOF entrant at some point in the future.

Information sources: Ten Bell Salute, Wikipedia