To this day, I look back at WrestleMania 23 and think that they had some really good matches, but the pacing and match order felt unusual. Everyone talks about Undertaker–Batista and John Cena–Shawn Michaels, and rightfully so. Those are two all-time great championship matches. But I always felt like the “Battle of the Billionaires” between Bobby Lashley and Umaga deserved a little more love. Was the match itself as predictable as all get out? Sure. Absolutely.
There wasn’t a soul on the planet who actually thought Donald Trump was going to shave his head. But, it was a story set up to get two young stallions over. It was an attempt at getting ECW Champion Lashley and Intercontinental Champion Umaga up to the next level. And, all of the gaga they added to the feud was over-the-top wrasslin’ at its finest (I realize this may be a bit of a hot take, but I enjoyed it).
Most importantly, this feud gave us two incredible moments. First and foremost, this feud ultimately gave us ‘Durag Vince,’ as Vince McMahon pinned Lashley in a handicap match to win the ECW Championship. 13 years later, and Durag Vince is still an icon.
Also, the feud gave us this amazing feat of athleticism and underrated moment of the 2000s – Lashley diving THROUGH the cage:
This is still the craziest cage spot I’ve seen
— Tyler Edwards (@prince_petty_) March 28, 2020
Lashley and Umaga were wild for doing this pic.twitter.com/dRFa8SJ5D4
Man, this right here was hot ass fire back in 2007. Don’t ask me why, but at the time, I legitimately thought Lashley was about to try and jump OVER the cage. You know how brain does weird things in the heat of the moment? Like, I couldn’t process what was happening quickly enough, so my brain just told me, “this man’s about to try and jump over the cage.” Probably why I’m writing dick jokes on the internet and not an engineer somewhere.
Anyway, it certainly looked like they were trying to position Bobby Lashley as the next version of “the guy” back in 2007, but I always wondered why they never really pulled the trigger on Umaga as a bona fide main eventer. Lashley is solid enough in the ring, but he just doesn’t have the type of personality that oozes charisma through the screen. It makes it hard to connect with the guy.
I watched this program in 2007 and from where I was sitting, it sure as hell looked like the Samoan Bulldozer was the guy that deserved the push. His WWE Championship Last Man Standing match with Cena is one of my favorite wrestling matches of all time. Imagine what that year could’ve looked like had Umaga actually won the title and gone on a monstrous heel run as champ.
Umaga’s time with us was cut short, as he sadly passed in December of 2009. We have a smaller sample size of his work than some of the other great big men in wrestling history, but I hope his pure talent isn’t lost in time. He truly was one of the most underrated guys of that mid-to-late 2000s era of WWE.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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