WWE's 'Umaga' dead of heart attack

STAMFORD, Conn., Dec. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. professional wrestler Edward Fatu, also known as "Umaga," has died, World Wrestling Entertainment said Saturday.

The WWE, in a brief statement posted on its Web site, sent condolences to the friends and family of Fatu, 36, whom, it said, has wrestled for the organization several times in recent years.

Fatu, also known as The Samoan Bulldozer, died of a heart attack Friday in a Texas hospital, a family friend told CNN.

The U.S. broadcaster said Fatu was a member of a Samoan wrestling family whose members included his cousin Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, his two uncles, who wrestled as The Wild Samoans in the 1980s, and brothers, Sam "Tonga Kid" and Solofa Jr., or "Rikishi."

Fatu, a two-time WWE Intercontinental champion, was dropped by the WWE in June, the organization said on its Web site. CNN reported the wrestler's contract was terminated for having violated the WWE's Wellness Program and refusing to enter rehab.

"He had his demons, but he found a lot of strength in his family," Dawn Marie Psaltis, family friend and founder of Wrestlers Rescue, told the broadcaster.