Maria Kanellis Looks Back On Match She Had Against Umaga On WWE Raw

Maria Kanellis spoke about how Fatu took care of her.

Maria Kanellis spoke about her career memories and highlights during her appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet.

One of those memories was from a November 2006 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw when she had a one-on-one match against the late Edward Smith Fatu, a.k.a. Umaga.

“I remember working myself up backstage so that when I came out, I was shaking so that it would look more real and more believable. Because Umaga is one of the nicest, sweetest people in the world, and I didn’t feel that bump at all. He held me so tight, I didn’t feel hitting the mat.” It was brought up that Kanellis took a ‘vicious’ Samoan Drop, and she replied, “Yes, but taking his booty to my face, that hurt. He had warned me to put my head back, and I thought I had my head back far enough, but he hit and it went all the way down my spine. I was like, oh, good, I’m paralyzed after someone hit me with their butt! What a weird (world). Yeah, it was good, good times.”

Fatu passed away in 2009. His son, Zilla Fatu, is signed to WWE and is part of the NXT brand.