Ken Anderson Talks About Working With Umaga As His Final Opponent In Wrestling
Almost 16 years ago, WWE legend Umaga passed away.
Umaga was one of the scariest wrestlers to share a ring with. He was incredibly talented, yet underrated for his time.
Speaking on Elite Wrestle Talk on 99.9 Punk World Radio FM, Ken Anderson talked about wrestling Umaga on Hulk Hogan’s Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin Tour in 2009.
Anderson said Umaga and Rikishi got him booked on the show:
“It was actually Umaga and Rikishi who got me booked on that tour, because Umaga had just parted ways with the company as well, with WWE, and we ere pretty good friends, and he just saw a great opportunity. Hogan was putting together a really good list, it was a really solid line up, and it turns out to be one of the most fun tours I’ve ever been apart of.”
Charlie Haas first broke the news of Umaga’s passing to him, six days after the latter had his final match:
“It happened to be I wrestled Umaga on the very last show of the tour, then I got back to the US and three days later I got a call from Charlie Haas. I was at Dick’s Sporting Goods, just pulled up, and Charlie called me and said if you’re not sitting down you need to sit down, and he told me that Umaga had passed away.”
Ken Anderson says Umaga wanted to prove himself to WWE with their match:
“We worked each other a ton in WWE, whether it be house shows, Raw, pay-per-views, and Umaga was always, it wasn’t a lazy thing, he was very lets be smart about what we do in the ring, not take a bunch of risks. This particular night, he knew I had a chip on my shoulder the way I left, and he also had a chip on his shoulder, he wasn’t happy with the way he left the company, and he said ‘you know they’re going to be watching this, the office is going to get their eyes on this, so lets go out there and kill it and fuckin’ prove to them what they’re missing out on.”
Mr. Kennedy has opened up on facing Umaga in his last wrestling match on the 'Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin' Tour just days before his passing:
"It was actually Umaga and Rikishi who got me booked on that tour, because Umaga had just parted ways with the company as well, with… pic.twitter.com/7uGQAcQeT1
— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) November 10, 2025
Fans can check out the full interview on YouTube below:
Elsewhere in the same interview, Ken Anderson also shared a story about WWE’s tour in Italy, where JBL was booed by everyone in the arena during his entrance.
