Zilla Fatu: Why Umaga Wrestled in Half Face Paint

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Zilla Fatu reveals a cool hidden fact about Umaga’s face paint

“If you double back and watch some of my dad’s matches and you see him with half the face paint, it’s because the man was running late and he didn’t get to the venue on time”
— WrestlingWorldCC (@WrestlingWCC) November 12, 2026

Remember the nights Umaga came out with only half his face painted? It was not a look. He was late. His son, Zilla Fatu, revealed the secret on Busted Open Radio, Fightful reported, and one of Umaga’s old road partners has now backed it up with an even better detail.

The featured image shows Zilla Fatu at a Game Changer Wrestling event in September 2024.

The Lowdown

This is the kind of backstage trivia wrestling fans live for. A half-painted Umaga looked like a deliberate, extra-menacing choice. The real answer is traffic, and apparently a very large travel buddy with a paint kit.

Key Takeaways

Zilla Fatu says if his father Umaga ever wrestled in half face paint, “it’s because the man was running late.”
Umaga would start his paint on the way to the venue and not finish in time, Fatu said on Busted Open Radio.
Former WWE manager Armando Estrada says Viscera, also known as Mabel and Big Daddy V, sometimes did Umaga’s paint in the car.

The Full Story

“Because He Was Late”

“It’s something small, but I don’t think the world knows,” Fatu said, according to Fightful’s transcription. “If you see Umaga anywhere on a loop show with half the face paint, that means he got in late and he tried to get to the venue early, so guess what he did? On the way to the venue, he was doing the paint.”

“If you double back and watch some of my dad’s matches and you see him with half the face paint, it’s because the man was running late and he didn’t get to the venue on time,” he said.

The Backseat Makeup Artist

Then came the receipt. Armando Estrada, who managed Umaga in WWE, quote-posted the clip on Thursday night: he confirmed the story and added a detail nobody saw coming.

I can attest. Sometimes, if we were running behind, Viscera/Mabel/Big Daddy V would do Umagas paint while we were driving to the arena. @Zillafatu
— Armando Estrada (@RealArmandoHaHa) November 12, 2026

Viscera, Mabel and Big Daddy V were all the same man, Nelson Frazier Jr., so in other words one 6-foot-9 teammate was doing a face-paint job in a moving car. Frazier died in 2014.

Zilla’s Moment

Umaga worked in WWE from 2001 to 2003 as part of 3-Minute Warning and returned as Umaga from 2005 to 2009, including a main-event feud with John Cena. He died in December 2009.

His son is having a big run of his own. Cena invited Zilla Fatu to the John Cena Classic on the Nov. 4 episode of NXT. More on our Wrestling page.