Over the decades, the WWE has provided employment to many wrestlers across the world. While some have gone on to build a legendary career, like The Undertaker and John Cena, others just stayed there for a short time, before either switching to a different career or plying their trade elsewhere. But irrespective of the period of the stint, they are likely to regale their close ones with stories from the promotion. Well, there are exceptions.
A 44-year-old former WWE wrestler, who shares a bond with Roman Reigns via his connection with one of the latter’s cousins, decided to make the big revelation to his daughter on her 10th birthday.
Umaga’s manager comes clean to daughter on her special day
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The legendary Umaga is one among the many wrestlers from the Anoa’i family who have enthralled the WWE Universe. While he passed away in 2009 due to a heart attack, Roman Reigns’ cousin had two short stints in Vince McMahon’s promotion- from 2001 to 2003 and 2006–2009. During his second stint, Armando Alejandro Estrada managed Umaga between 2006 and 2007.
Estrada, who trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE’s then developmental territory, himself had several shorter stints with the promotion, but he chose to keep that hidden from his daughter all these years. But the former superstar decided to come clean on the girl’s 10th birthday.
In a heartfelt letter to her daughter, which he shared on Twitter, Estrada revealed the reason for holding it back for all these years. “The reason I didn’t tell you sooner, is because it’s important for you to understand that even though I was on TV and some people think that I was “famous”, I want you to know that I am a normal person who had a really cool job at one point in my life,” he said.
My daughter never knew about my time in #WWE until I finally told her on her 10th birthday! pic.twitter.com/wNtHfAOeQJ
— Armando Estrada (@RealArmandoHaHa) June 28, 2023
The proud father also advised his daughter to look beyond fame and focus on other “important things” in life. “There are a lot more important things in life than being on tv, being on YouTube, having followers etc. Things such as being respectful to people and spending time with family and friends are much more important to me,” he added.
Apart from that, Umaga’s manager also recalled his time in the promotion and opened up on the bond he shared with the deceased legend.
Armando Alejandro Estrada recalls Umaga’s fun nature
During his second stint with WWE, Umaga’s gimmick was that of a destructive wrestler who only paid heed to his manager, Estrada. He also raked in a series of wins in the aforementioned period, stamping his status as an authoritative figure. While his character was deadly serious, the 44-year-old was privy to another side of the wrestler.
Answering a Twitter user’s question about his experience of working with Umaga, Estrada replied, “He was beast mode every time! And fun to travel with!”
He was beast mode every time!
And fun to travel with!
— Armando Estrada (@RealArmandoHaHa) June 29, 2023
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Estrada also looked back at his time in WWE with fondness. “I got to travel all over the world and was on Monday Night Raw every week for over a year! I really enjoyed my time in WWE and it was a dream of mine since I was young,” he wrote.
It was also evident when he shared an image of himself and Umaga on December 4, 2021 to mark the latter’s 12th death anniversary. The picture sent fans into a frenzy.
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So, what’s your take on the former superstar hiding the information from his daughter all these years? Let us know in the comments.
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