Former WWE Writer Reveals That "Umaga" Debut Was His Best Ever Pitch

Court Bauer is the current MLW owner but he is also a former WWE writer, spending some time there pitching ideas and contributing to the creative process on WWE television. He recently appeared on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, and detailed the idea and pitch which stands out to him above all the others throughout his run, and that is the debut of the Umaga character.

Bauer went into Umaga’s introduction, telling Chris Jericho;

"We're getting ready to go to Chicago for WrestleMania 22. We had our last meeting going into there with Vince, he goes, 'We gotta get some new heels for Cena. We got to keep feeding this guy. We need monsters.’ So Eckie [Umaga] and I [are] on the phone, and at the hotel [we] just came up with Umaga, and it was as a callback, throwback to his uncles doing the Wild Samoans gimmick, but with a modern twist with the grill piece. I pitched him the face paint. Originally I wanted it to be a temp tattoo ... 72 hours later, he debuted on 'Raw.' That's how fast he went from sitting out. Concept, sign off, now he's making a big impact."

Umaga’s introduction to WWE was noteworthy, as he targeted legend Ric Flair on Monday Night Raw in a brutal assault, before a quick rise up the card where he challenged John Cena in a pair of thrilling matches for the WWE Championship, before finding a consistent spot in the midcard.

H/T Wrestling Inc.