Backstage Details On Jacob Fatu's WWE Debut, Why It Came So Long After His Signing
On Friday's "WWE SmackDown," Jacob Fatu — son of former WWE star Samuel Fatu (aka The Tonga Kid & Tama), nephew of WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, and cousin of Roman Reigns, Jimmy and Jey Uso, and Solo Sikoa — made his on-camera WWE debut, decimating WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens before standing tall alongside Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Tanga Loa as he newest member of The Bloodline 2.0. It's a moment that's been expected by WWE fans for some time now; Fatu let slip back in April that he'd signed with the promotion and was backstage at WrestleMania 40, provoking the question of why his debut had been postponed so far. Shortly after the blue brand faded to black, a new report from Fightful Select provided some details on Fatu's signing and the possible reasons for his delayed on-screen arrival.
According to Fightful, one potential reason WWE waited to debut Fatu involves his criminal record. Fatu was arrested for robbery at 18 years old and incarcerated in Sacramento County Jail — where, as it happens, he saw his cousins the Usos on TV and first got the itch for wrestling. While the arrest happened at a different time in Fatu's life, his record still prevents him from wrestling in countries outside the United States, and with WWE's last three premium live events taking place overseas (Backlash in France, King & Queen of the Ring in Saudi Arabia, and Clash at the Castle in Scotland) WWE may have wanted to wait until these shows were in the past before introducing Fatu. Considering he debuted the Friday after Clash at the Castle, this hypothesis certainly fits with the timing.
Completing The Bloodline
Fightful's report was careful to note that it's not known whether Fatu will continue to be restricted from international appearances in his WWE career going forward; his cousins the Usos were once thought to be barred from international WWE shows due to their own criminal histories, but have appeared at several such shows over the last year or so. Fightful also claimed Fatu's criminal record was the main reason he hadn't been hired previously, but that the Paul Levesque/TKO Group Holdings regime was more open to employing him and had been interested for some time. Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp was told Fatu has been immensely respectful backstage since joining WWE and "made immediate good impressions."
Fatu's integration into The Bloodline follows the recent arrivals of Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, known in New Japan Pro-Wrestling as The Guerrillas of Destiny and the first Tongans to be introduced to the otherwise Samoan faction. The connection between the Tongans and the Anoa'i family lies in Haku, Loa's father and Tonga's adopted father, who teamed with Fatu's father, Samuel, as The Islanders from 1986 to 1988 in WWE. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who is connected to the Anoa'i family by blood brotherhood through his adopted grandfather, Peter Maivia, and who was prominently involved in the Bloodline storyline leading up to and during WrestleMania 40, has said he considers Haku an uncle.
Fatu, Tonga, and Loa might not be the only new members of The Bloodline coming down the pike. A June report indicated that Tonga and Loa's brother, fellow NJPW star Hikuleo, may also be on his way to WWE to join The Bloodline, and Zilla Fatu, son of Samuel and Rikishi's late brother, Umaga, teased his own WWE arrival in the wake of Jacob's debut.