One of the coolest things in professional wrestling is how we get to see so many homages to past talents in various ways from using their finishers to recreating moments in matches.
Often, it’s so subtle we don’t notice it unless we’re really looking, and then we do the customary facepalm for not noticing it when it’s pointed out.
The WWE is loaded with great talent and moments through their history, and many left us way too soon.
One of those was Umaga as he was still in his prime when tragedy struck, but his legacy lives on thanks in part to Solo Sikoa and a suggestion made backstage by Triple H and Paul Heyman.
Not on @FightOwensFight's watch! 😮#WWERaw @WWESoloSikoa @SamiZayn @IAmEliasWWE pic.twitter.com/dx4QGC0Vua
— WWE (@WWE) December 13, 2022
Paying homage to Ugama
Recently, we’ve seen Solo use the Samoan Spike to great effect, and now it’s moved up in his move set as one of his finisher going forward.
Solo talked with the New York Post about his WWE career this far and how him adopting the Samoan Spike came about when he was asked if it’s meant to put an opponent out of commission or as a finisher.
“Both. Put him out of commission and as a finisher. It will definitely be one of my finishers now moving forward. The idea came from Hunter. Hunter pulled me aside. I think it was Paul Heyman’s idea, too, so Hunter wanted to run it by me. He goes, “I know your uncle was a big part of your guys’ family. I know what he meant to you guys. I wanted to ask you if you would be OK using the spike?” I was like, I don’t know. I kind of want to stay away from it because that’s his thing. And he was like, “I know he passed away and yesterday was his anniversary,” which was a Sunday and the next day was Raw. He goes, “I think it will be cool if you pay a tribute to him on TV by using the spike.” I was like, “You know what man? Yeah, let’s do it.” Once he said that I kind of got emotional. I was like, wow. For those who don’t remember who Umaga was, now I’m about to refresh their memory. It was a pretty cool moment for me to pay tribute to him.”
We can’t think of anyone that would do a better job representing and paying homage to Ugama than Solo, and it’s helped to spike (pun unintended) our interest in Ugama’s career.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see too much of Ugama’s work, but since we’ve been going back to watch what we’ve missed, we’re glad that he’s being remembered and honored by Solo.
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