Randy Orton took to Twitter this week to pay tribute to the late Eddie Fatu, known to WWE fans as Umaga.
A fan tweeted a photo he found from several years back, showing how he met Orton and Umaga at a WWE event. The photo was taken around 2005. Orton responded to the photo and remembered his friend, and also remembered Umaga’s cousin, Matt Anoa’i, known to WWE fans as Rosey, as the original Head of The Table.
“I’m very happy you posted this pic. I’ll save it. Anniversary is coming up where we lost the Samoan Bulldozer. I wish I was one of those dudes that took photos of everything. RIP to the OG head of the table, Matty Anoa’i too. So many memories. Too many brothers lost [face with cold sweat emoji,” Orton wrote.
Umaga passed away on December 4, 2009 from a heart attack. He was just 36. Rosey passed away on April 17, 2017 from congestive heart failure at the age of 47.
The Viper and The Samoan Bulldozer never worked each other in a singles match, but they did team up several times in 2006 and 2007, most notably with WWE Hall of Famer Edge for a loss to John Cena and WWE Hall of Famers DX on the December 18, 2006 RAW, then Orton and Umaga were defeated by Triple H via DQ on the October 8, 2007 RAW. They teamed back up for a DQ win over Triple H three weeks late, then teamed up for a loss to DX on the November 5, 2007 RAW. They would team with Edge again for a loss to Triple H, Batista and WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair on the December 10, 2007 RAW, then their final bout together was at the March 24, 2008 RAW, teaming with Big Show and WWE Hall of Famer JBL for a loss to DX, Flair, and Cena.
