Zilla Fatu, son of the late WWE legend Eddie “Umaga” Fatu, recently opened up about his father in a candid and emotional conversation with Chris Van Vliet on the Insight podcast.
While fans remember Umaga as the fearsome “Samoan Bulldozer” of WWE’s Ruthless Aggression era, Zilla described him as a gentle, loving family man, “a big teddy bear” in real life.
Zilla recalled one of his favorite memories, when his father surprised him at a little league football game with an offer: “He was like, ‘Look, every touchdown you get, I give you $20.’ I scored five touchdowns that game, and right after, he came with the money and gave it to me. But what surprised me even more — he brought shirts, 8x10s for the whole team, and just showed love.”
Despite his own success, Umaga discouraged his children from entering professional wrestling. “My dad used to tell us, ‘I need you guys to be better than me. I don’t want you guys putting your body on the line. I want you to do something safer.’ At the time I didn’t understand, but now that I’m in the business, I definitely do.”
Ironically, by stepping into the ring — the one path his father warned him against — Zilla has found a new connection to his dad. “I’m happy that I chose to wrestle, because it brought me closer to him. Now I’m learning who my dad was through wrestling.”
Umaga tragically passed away in 2009 at the age of 36, but his legacy lives on not only through his iconic WWE run, but now through Zilla’s journey in the squared circle.
The full interview is available below:
