Early career (1995–2001) Fatu trained with his cousin
Matt Anoaʻi at the Wild Samoan
professional wrestling school operated by members of their family. In 1995, with his training complete, Fatu debuted in his uncle
Afa's
World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. From 1999 to 2000, he worked for
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in Japan. They were hired as enforcers of
Eric Bischoff, attacking random wrestlers each week, after Bischoff either gave people three minutes to entertain him before they were attacked or decided that three minutes of a segment was enough before the team appeared to end it. 3-Minute Warning then began a
feud with
Billy and Chuck, interfering in their
storyline commitment ceremony, and defeating them on September 22 at the
Unforgiven pay-per-view event. After this loss, Jamal spent the rest of 2004 primarily focused on the tag division, and on December 1, 2004, he and frequent partner Taiyō Kea won the
World's Strongest Tag Determination League tournament, beating
Kaz Hayashi and
Satoshi Kojima in the final. He then defeated Flair at
Backlash on April 30. In mid–2006, Umaga started a winning streak against the majority of the Raw roster, including going over top stars
John Cena,
Shawn Michaels, and
Triple H. His next feud started on August 20 at
SummerSlam, where he was supposed to be an
enforcer on behalf of
Vince McMahon and
Shane McMahon during their match against
D-Generation X (
Shawn Michaels and
Triple H), only to be attacked by
Kane as he made his entrance. Umaga feuded with Kane for the next two months (including a double countout at
Unforgiven on September 17) until Umaga won a
Loser Leaves Raw match on the October 9 episode of
Raw, sending Kane off of the brand. After being separated by different brands, Umaga and Kane had one final match at
Cyber Sunday on November 5, where Umaga again defeated Kane. Umaga, having still not been pinned, was then deemed the number one contender for the
WWE Championship and placed into a feud with then-champion John Cena over the title. Cena retained his belt at the
New Year's Revolution pay-per-view on January 7, 2007 by pinning Umaga with a
roll-up, officially ending his undefeated streak. In that time, Umaga was never pinned or made to submit on television, but he suffered two losses by disqualification and another in a double
countout. On an episode of
Raw between the two pay-per-views, Umaga attacked Cena causing a
worked injury to his
spleen and putting the match in jeopardy. Cena (
kayfabe) refused a medical exam, the results of which could cause him to forfeit his title, and then defeated Umaga at the Royal Rumble after wrapping a loosened ring rope around his neck during an
STFU.
Intercontinental Champion (2007–2008) On the February 19 episode of
Raw, Umaga was named Vince McMahon's representative for "Battle of the Billionaires" with
Donald Trump at
WrestleMania 23. Immediately after choosing Umaga, McMahon granted him a match against the
Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy, which he won to win the Intercontinental Championship. After
Bobby Lashley was named Trump's representative, the two began a feud which lasted even beyond WrestleMania. At WrestleMania on April 1, Umaga lost the Battle of the Billionaires'
hair versus hair match and caused McMahon to get his head shaved. On the April 16 episode of
Raw, Lashley interfered in a match and helped a
planted fan,
Santino Marella, defeat Umaga for the Intercontinental Championship. On April 29 at
Backlash, Umaga, Vince, and
Shane McMahon wrestled Lashley for his
ECW World Championship in a
handicap match, winning the title for Vince. Umaga would continue to be involved with that feud, competing at
Judgment Day on May 20 in a rematch for the ECW World Championship, which was once again a handicap match with the McMahons and Umaga taking on Lashley, which Lashley won. However, Lashley did not win the ECW World Championship because he pinned Shane and not the champion, Vince. The feud culminated on June 3 at
One Night Stand, with Umaga aiding Vince in defending the ECW World Championship against Lashley in a Street Fight, which Vince lost. in November 2007 In June, Umaga was re-entered into a feud with Marella. When they met at the
Vengeance pay-per-view on June 24, Umaga was solidly in control of the match, but lost by disqualification when he disregarded the referee's instructions and continued to punch Marella. In a rematch on the July 2 episode of
Raw, Umaga defeated Marella to win the Intercontinental Championship for the second time. On the August 6 episode of
Raw, Umaga turned
face by joining forces with John Cena to face
Carlito and
Randy Orton in a tag team match on August 13, which they won. He defeated both Carlito and
Mr. Kennedy in a
triple threat match at
SummerSlam on August 26 to retain the Intercontinental Championship. He then interrupted a match between Kennedy and the returning Jeff Hardy the following night on
Raw, assaulting Hardy and leaving him lying in the ring, thus turning heel once again. One week later, on the September 3 episode of
Raw, Umaga lost the Intercontinental Championship to Hardy. He was given a match against Triple H on October 7 at
No Mercy, which was changed to a title match for the WWE Championship during the event when Triple H won the title earlier that night. Umaga was defeated by Triple H in their match. At
Survivor Series on November 18, his team lost to Triple H's team in a
Survivor Series match. On March 30, 2008, at
WrestleMania XXIV, Umaga was defeated by
Batista. Umaga suffered a torn
PCL at a live event in
Johnson City, Tennessee, on August 2. After two promos hyping his return to the brand, on the January 30, 2009, episode of
SmackDown, Umaga returned with a new entrance theme, defeating
Jimmy Wang Yang. Umaga then suffered his first defeat since his return against Triple H by disqualification on the March 6 episode of
SmackDown, after
The Legacy attacked Triple H. On the May 1 episode of
SmackDown, Umaga returned from a two-month hiatus, attacking
CM Punk on multiple occasions, repeatedly interrupting Punk's attempts to cash in his
Money in the Bank briefcase. On May 17 at
Judgment Day, Umaga defeated Punk, but lost to Punk at
Extreme Rules on June 7 in a Samoan Strap match, ending their feud in what was Umaga's last appearance in WWE. On June 8, 2009, WWE announced that Fatu was released from his WWE contract. It was later revealed that his termination was due to violation of the
Wellness Policy; even though this was only his second failure, his refusal to enter rehabilitation led to his dismissal. In November, Umaga appeared on
Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania Tour of Australia under the ring name Uso Fatu. On November 24, Fatu defeated
Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, and two days later, he and
Orlando Jordan lost to Beefcake and Mr. Anderson. ==Personal life==