The tag team 3 Minute Warning was WWE’s early 2000s answer to the Wild Samoans and the Headshrinkers. Known as the Samoan Gangsta Party in ECW, the team consisted of Rosey—who would become Superhero in Training or “SHiT”–and Jamal, better known as Umaga.
We’ll get into Umaga later this month but let’s see if there was any more juice left in the tank for 3 Minute Warning or if their short run before repacking was it for the tandem.
WWE Run for the Team
I won’t lie, I really liked the concept of 3MW as it was just a Samoan version of the Dudley Boyz without the charm. They were Samoan gangstas and Eric Bischoff‘s goons who spanked anyone failing to entertain Bisch in three minutes.
Often times, wrestlers failed to wow Bischoff who was more entertained by 3MW beating the wrestlers’ asses and putting them through a table. Maybe it was just me but this was one of the more entertaining parts of early 2000s RAW.
It didn’t take up a ton of time, it was violent, tables were present, and there was an ongoing theme. It was a gimmick that worked. Honestly, I’m surprised that this wasn’t revisited with a modern heavyweight tag team.
A great way to explain the team is that they were the person on Showtime at the Apollo who dragged a performer off stage when they were bombing in front of the crowd.
That was their gimmick: they saved the show from dying a dog’s death by a bad match. Unprovoked violence and table spots always popped the WWE crowd in the early 2000s.
The two were only in the company between 2002-2003 as a team and didn’t pick up tag team gold although they did have a short feud with the Dudley Boyz. After Jamal was released, Rosey went into his better-known single’s role.
Salvaging 3 Minute Warning
While I do believe that this team could’ve been salvaged as a regular force in the tag team division, it was for the best that WWE eventually split them up and moved them into solo roles. For some reason, Rosey took to his role sooner than Jamal as The Hurricane’s sidekick Superhero in Training.
However, once Jamal donned the face paint and tights as Umaga, the guy really found his role in WWE. Sure, he had to go back to the Samoan savage gimmick that Rikishi, Samu, Black Pearl, Tonga Kid, L.A Smooth, and Yokozuna had long gotten away from but this time it was done at a higher card position.
This wasn’t midcard Samoan savage sh**, this was a super-destructive, real threat Samoan savage. John Cena would have his hands full with Umaga whereas Fatu and Samu would’ve been lighter work.
As far as keeping Rosey and Jamal together as 3 Minute Warning, I’d say just copy the path the Dudley Boyz took.
When these two came into the WWE, the company was moving closer to breaking up long-established tag teams via the Brand Splits. It’s how we got Bradshaw back in his cowboy gear as Hardcore champion and Reverand D-Von.
So, building a new, dominant tag team was important but there weren’t many teams formed that looked dominant while being dominant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1j4ssYVOxw
The Road Warriors, Demolition, APA, the Outsiders, the Faces of Fear, the Steiner Brothers, and the Dudley Boyz were all dominant-looking tag team combinations. The Wild Samoans and the Headshrinkers both looked as if they could be dangerously dominant teams but weren’t exactly depicted as dominant.
Oh, they were definitely dangerous but they never really had runs where they just appeared unbeatable or very hard to beat. WWE always had a balanced counter to the Samoan teams.
Even today, the Uso’s primary threat will always be the New Day—and I love that in a Midnight Express vs. Rock n Roll Express sense.
While 3 Minute Warning was in WWE, that balance probably would’ve gone to a babyface Dudley Boyz but depending on when these teams were split up and the Tag Team Trifecta of Hardys, Dudleys, and E&C went their singles career ways, 3MW would’ve run the tag team divisions for a while.
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