Tonight at WWE Hell in a Cell, Cody Rhodes and Goldust will defend the WWE Tag Team Championship against the team of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, as well as Jey and Jimmy Uso. Should the Usos capture the gold tonight, it will be in honor of their late uncle, Umaga, who they pay tribute to inside the ring through face paint.
“We owe our whole wrestling careers to my late uncle Umaga,” said Jimmy. “He was the one who grabbed us from a bad situation in a bar at 2:30 in the morning, and drove use from Houston, Texas, to Florida, where he lived. He told us we needed to change our lives because it wasn’t working out. That’s why our paint tribute is so cool. Every time we put it on, I still feel like he’s there with us. It makes us feel like part of The Samoan Bulldozer. We’re a bulldozer, we’re reckless. We can’t get hurt. Bulldozers are made to knock stuff down. And that’s how we feel when that paint is on us. It’s the coolest thing ever man. I love getting painted up because my uncle is here with us. It’s all because of him.”
Jey adds, “No one ever knows our struggle. We say, “Day 1,” every day. They don’t see behind what got us here, how we had to work to get here. And when we got here, we had to keep working, keep pushing. The day we do win the Tag Team Titles, that’s for my family. That’s for all the Usos around the world, especially Umaga. That’s No. 1 for him. My first title win is strictly for Umaga—he knows that, and my brother knows that.”
Jimmy also explained what the term “Uce” means—friends of Umaga would often refer to him by that name and it is often used around the Usos: “Uce means your friend. I even said that to Cameron’s boyfriend, whom I just met not long ago. He was like, “What do you keep calling me?” It means “brother” in Samoan. It means you’re my friend. It’s another slang word for “bro,” or something of that nature. My brother says it so much. When we hear some of the boys calling each other, they say that. It’s pretty cool. We heard Wade Barrett talking to Heath Slater once, and he said, “Yeah Uce!” That’s funny. I was like, what the…? It catches on like that. I introduced myself to my fiancée as “Uce” when we first started talking. That’s weird. And Umaga’s dog’s name was Uce. I want to name mine that when I get one.”
