Booker T could feel the presence of Umaga as he watched the late superstar make his wrestling debut.
The Hall of Famer was proud to deliver in front of a live crowd on July 15, having trained him at his Reality of Wrestling promotion in Houston, Texas and see his growth first hand.
‘You could feel his dad in the arena,’ Booker admitted. ‘I swear to god, you could feel his dad in the arena. I could see his dad sitting right there next to me.
‘I could feel his presence in that arena on Saturday night, and I think Zilla felt a little bit of it as well.’
Giving his thoughts on Fatu’s performance, the former world champion praised him for remaining ‘very composed’ and working at a steady pace without losing any of his fire.
‘That was Zilla Fatu’s first match in front of a crowd, and you could tell he was very, very composed,’ Booker said on his own.
‘He had that thing where we say in wrestling, if you feel like you’re going slow, move a little bit slower. He has that effect going on. His quickness and explosiveness was definitely there.’
The rookie was full of nerves heading into the match, but he was glad to get through it and while there weren’t ‘any hiccups’, he wants to keep improving.
“Before going into it, I was really nervous. Really nervous, and I just wanted everything to be protected and not have any hiccups. God blessed me, and we didn’t have any hiccups today, but I still feel I could have done way better,’ he told .
He is in great company as he follows in the footsteps of his father Umaga, who was also known as Jamal when he teamed with his own cousin Rosey as 3-Minute Warning in WWE.
The former Intercontinental Champion, who died in December 2009 aged 36, became a real force for the company and the so-called Samoan Bulldozer enjoyed an undefeated streak from April 2006 until January 2007 when he lost to then-WWE Champion .
Another career highlight saw him represented Mr. McMahon against ’s pick Bobby Lashley in the Battle of the Billionaires at WrestleMania 23.
Umaga’s older brothers are The Tonga Kid and WWE legend Rikishi, while his nephews are wrestling today as The Usos and Solo Sikoa, while Roman Reigns is his cousin.
This means his son has genuine tied to The Bloodline and its continuing saga on screen, while is also a potential name for the future.
And of course Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – who is also part of the Anoa’i legacy – is enjoying seeing his daughter Simone learning the family business under the name Ava.
