Jacob Fatu Misses SmackDown As WWE Provides Injury Update
Jacob Fatu missed WWE SmackDown while questions arise about if he is really injured.
The main event of WWE SummerSlam saw the WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defeat Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules Match. It was a match that included a lot of interference including Jacob Fatu making his presence felt in the match.
Jacob Fatu helped his cousin Solo Sikoa by attacking Cody Rhodes during the match. Jacob did an impressive leap off the top turnbuckle leading to a splash on Cody Rhodes through the announcer’s table. After hitting the splash, Jacob was favoring his right foot as if he suffered an injury while delivering the splash. Cody would go on to win the match after Roman Reigns made his return and hit cousin Solo Sikoa with a Superman Punch as well as a Spear.
During the post-SummerSlam press conference, Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said that Jacob was “banged up” after the match without providing further details.
On WWE Smackdown in Tulsa, Solo Sikoa appeared with The Bloodline’s Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa, but there was no sign of Jacob Fatu on the show at all.
Also on Smackdown, Cody Rhodes did a promo saying that Solo “couldn’t get the job done on [his] own, and caused Jacob Fatu to get hurt.” Smackdown announcer Corey Graves also commented on the situation by saying Jacob was hurt.
Is WWE’s Jacob Fatu Really Injured?
While WWE is saying on television that Jacob Fatu has an injury, it might just be a storyline excuse to keep him from interacting with Roman Reigns. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer wrote about the situation in his newsletter this week.
“Fatu put Rhodes on the announcers table and came off the top rope and splashed Rhodes through the table. Fatu was selling the idea that he injured himself. The injury spot itself was planned as a way to keep Fatu out of the ring and not interact at all when Reigns came out. WWE to the public said he was hurt and there was a photo of him in a walking boot.”
“We never got clarification if he was actually hurt past storyline, as it was a question avoided by a few, a ‘we’ll see’ and being told past he was banged up but was good. But obviously he had to sell it big when it happened. Off camera he was helped to the back and was limping but that was also something you would do in that situation.”
Jacob Fatu is a WWE Tag Team Champion along with Tama Tonga after winning the titles on the August 2nd edition of Smackdown. It’s not known when Jacob will return to the ring.