Umaga’s Son To Make In-Ring Debut

Written by Craig Ballantyne • Published 20th June 2023
Umaga

The son of the late, great Umaga will make his in-ring debut this July.

It has been announced that Zilla Fatu will have his first bout in Humble, Texas on July 15th at Reality of Wrestling’s Summer of Champions event.

Zilla is the latest member of the famed Anoa’i family to join the world of pro wrestling, following in the footsteps of not only Umaga, but also the likes of Roman Reigns, The Usos, The Rock, and Rikishi.

Umaga’s son Zilla Fatu began training in 2022 after spending six years in prison

Fatu began training with Booker T‘s ROW promotion in December 2022, soon after completing a six-year jail sentence for aggravated assault.

During an interview with MuscleManMalcolm at the time of his signing, Zilla recalled not having much interest in wrestling due to his father being against his children getting involved in the business.

“To be honest, when I was in prison, I really didn’t have it (wrestling) on my mind, you know? But when I came home and I seen that my family was on top of the business, I’m thinking why not?

“And I don’t know if you know or anybody else knows, my dad didn’t want none of us to do wrestling, like at all. So that was kind of hard on going against what my dad’s wishes was. But right now, I’m like man, why not bro? So I gotta do it.”

The first person he spoke to about breaking into wrestling was WWE’s Shelton Benjamin, who suggested he talk to his mother about the idea first.

“Okay, so, I wanna say my second month when I was home, I was actually talking to Shelton Benjamin and I was asking him, I was like, ‘Hey uce, man, I’m really thinking about doing wrestling’ and he was like, ‘Well, did you talk to your mom about it?’… And I’m like, ‘Man, nah.’

“He was like, ‘Man, you need to get with your mom to see what’s her outlook’ and at the time bro, I’m like, why I need my mom’s approval? But, eventually when I end up talking to her, I’m like, ‘okay, yeah, this is what Shelton meant’

“Long story short, I did talk to my mom and she was up for it and she’s happy for me. She’s gonna support me through anything and everything that I go through.

“So just having her approval, it just made my job easier to go in there and handle business and when I went there [Reality of Wrestling], my first day, I actually did get on my channel. I was excited, but at the end of the day, I knew I had business to handle.

“Even if I’m related to The Usos or whoever, that does not matter if I don’t put the work in.”

H/T to POST Wrestling for the above transcription.