Jacob Fatu | |
---|---|
Birth name | Jacob Samuel Fatu [1] |
Born | [2] San Francisco, California, U.S. | April 18, 1992
Children | 7 |
Parent(s) | Sam Fatu (father) |
Family | Anoaʻi |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Fatu [3] Jacob Fatu [3] |
Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) [4] |
Billed weight | 279 lb (127 kg) [3] |
Billed from | The Mist of Samoa |
Trained by | Rikishi [3] Black Pearl Sinn Bodhi |
Debut | September 22, 2012 [5] |
Jacob Samuel Fatu (born April 18, 1992) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand as a member of The Bloodline stable. He is also known for his time in Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he was a one-time MLW National Openweight Champion and a one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion, holding the record for the longest reign in the latter title's history at 819 days. [4]
Fatu is part of the Anoaʻi family of professional wrestlers. He is the son of Sam Fatu and the nephew of both Rikishi and Umaga. Fatu was trained by his uncle Rikishi and wrestled for various promotions on the independent circuit between 2012 and 2019 before signing with MLW. He left MLW in early 2024 and signed with WWE that April, making his official debut in June as part of The Bloodline, a faction of wrestlers from the Anoaʻi family.
Jacob Fatu was trained by his uncle, Solofa Jr., and debuted in 2012 in a winning effort teaming with his relative, Black Pearl. [3] He spent most of 2013 through 2015 competing in California for independent promotions, often teaming with fellow Anoaʻi family members. In 2018, he made his first trip to Mexico for The Crash in a trios match, losing to Octagón and Blue Demon Jr. [6]
In 2019, Fatu signed with Major League Wrestling, joining his relatives Samu and Samu's son, Lance Anoaʻi in the company. [7] Fatu debuted for MLW at their February event SuperFight, alongside his frequent tag team partner Josef Samael in a non-televised match. The duo of Fatu and Samael would then make their televised debut for MLW at the Intimidation Games event on March 2 by attacking the World Heavyweight Champion Tom Lawlor following his cage match against Low Ki, thus forming the heel stable Contra Unit with Simon Gotch. [8] The following week, Contra Unit attacked Ace Romero during his match with Gotch. [9] After months of feuding, Fatu defeated Lawlor at Kings of Colosseum on July 6 to capture the World Heavyweight Championship. [10] He would then retain the title against Lawlor in a rematch. [11] He then headlined MLW's first-ever pay-per-view event Saturday Night SuperFight, where Fatu successfully defended the title against LA Park.
Fatu would eventually be challenged by Alex Hammerstone for the championship, with Hammerstone also putting the MLW National Openweight Championship on the line in a winner takes all match. He lost the match to Hammerstone, thus ending Fatu’s historic 819 day reign as champion. Fatu continued his feud with Hammerstone, culminating in War Chamber, where Contra Unit lost the match, both ending the feud with Hammerstone, and starting a new one with fellow Contra Unit members Madds Krügger and Ikuro Kwon. The feud stretched on, with Fatu repackaging himself with multiple vignettes which cemented his face turn due to fan reaction, this abandoning the Contra Unit character. Known as the Samoan Werewolf, Fatu traded victories with Krugger in several matches, including earning a victory against Krügger in a no disqualification match and the latter winning in a weapons match, culminating in a final showdown between the two men at Kings of Colosseum in a Weapons of Mass Destruction match. Fatu also simultaneously feuded with Bestia 666.
On April 6, 2023, at MLW's War Chamber, Fatu defeated John Hennigan for the MLW National Openweight Championship. [12]
On February 1, 2024, Rikishi announced that Fatu was now a free agent, ending his five-year tenure with the company with reports linking him to WWE, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). On February 3, 2024, Fatu defeated Yuji Nagata. After the match, Fatu would be attacked by Mads Krule Krügger. On February 17, 2024, Fatu was defeated by Krügger in a Baleki Brawl match. This marked Fatu's final appearance for the company.
On January 13, 2024, at Battle in the Valley, Fatu made his New Japan Pro-Wrestling debut, teaming with Shota Umino and Fred Rosser in a winning effort against Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor and West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs). [13] [14]
Prior to signing with the WWE, Fatu was planned to appear on Raw is XXX for Roman Reigns' Acknowledgement Ceremony segment, but legal problems with MLW and WWE prevented his appearance. [15]
On April 7, 2024, PWInsider, Fightful Select [16] and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Fatu had signed with WWE. [17] Fatu made his debut on the June 21 episode of SmackDown , attacking Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, thus establishing himself as a heel and becoming the newest member of The Bloodline led by his real life cousin Solo Sikoa. [18] At Money in the Bank, Fatu made his in-ring debut in a six-man tag team match alongside Sikoa and Tama Tonga defeating Rhodes, Orton and Owens. [19] In the main event of the August 2 episode of SmackDown, the night before SummerSlam, Fatu and Tama Tonga defeated DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship, [20] but three weeks later he relinquish one half of the Tag Team Titles to Tonga Loa so that Fatu could be Sikoa's personal enforcer.
Fatu was arrested for robbery at eighteen years old. He credits seeing his cousins Jonathan and Joshua (The Usos) on a jail TV as his inspiration for becoming a wrestler. [21]
Fatu is of Samoan descent and is a member of the Anoaʻi family wrestling dynasty, being the son of professional wrestler Sam Fatu, who is best known as The Tonga Kid, and brother of Journey Fatu. [22] In an interview with Denise Salcedo on November 17, 2023, Fatu said he has seven children. [23]
In professional wrestling, the Samoan SWAT Team is a tag team comprising Juicy Finau and Lance Anoa'i, who work in Major League Wrestling (MLW), where they are former MLW World Tag Team Champions.
The Anoaʻi family is a family of professional wrestlers originating from the Samoan Islands. Family members have comprised several tag teams and stables within a variety of promotions, most notably WWE. Famous members of the family include Roman Reigns and WWE Hall of Famers Rikishi, Yokozuna, and the Wild Samoans. Other notable members include The Usos, Umaga, Rosey, Jacob Fatu, and Solo Sikoa, among others.
Joseph Cabibbo is an American professional wrestler currently wrestling under the ring names Josef and Josef Samael on the independent circuit and in Major League Wrestling (MLW) as a member of Contra Unit with Jacob Fatu, Simon Gotch, and Ikuro Kwon. He is a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and (Zero1) World Heavyweight Champion.
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