Jacob Fatu’s Win At “FatuMania” Was Emotional For WWE Hall Of Famer
Jacob Fatu became a singles champion at WrestleMania 41, and it was an emotional moment for one of his family members.
The legendary Samoan wrestling family, featuring Anoai’a and Fatu, has been competing in professional wrestling for many decades, and many of its members have achieved success at WrestleMania shows.
Afa & Sika were a legendary tag team known as the Wild Samoans, while Yokozuna became a WWE Champion. The Rock carried on the family legacy by becoming a WWE Champion as well. Rikishi didn’t win a WWE Title, but he was a long-time WWE veteran who did it all.
In the current generation of the family, Roman Reigns leads the way as the “Tribal Chief” who has headlined more WrestleManias than anybody in the history of WWE. Reigns didn’t have a title match at WrestleMania 41, but his cousin Jey Uso (the son of Rikishi) became a World Champion for the first time, while Jacob Fatu also won his first singles title – the US Title.
Naomi is also part of the family because she’s married to Jimmy Uso, who is also Rikishi’s son. Naomi faced Jade Cargill in a grudge match that saw Cargill pick up the big win.
Based on the number of family members in WWE right now, they could be the best era of the legendary Samoan wrestling family, and they may just be getting started, as seen with Jacob Fatu.
While speaking on his Rikishi Fatu Off The Top podcast, WWE Hall of Famer talked about “FatuMania” while taking a moment to single out the new WWE US Champion, Jacob Fatu.
“I’m just so proud of Jacob. I was thinking about this driving down like what really happened in WrestleMania in Vegas this weekend. They should have called it FatuMania. It’s a YeetMania, and then after I saw both finishes, that’s like FatuMania.”
“I had a tear going down my eyes when I watched this kid walk down, sold out, his first WrestleMania, less than a year in the business up there in WWE, and here he is. His face is all over Las Vegas. Allegiant Stadium. His face is right there. He didn’t even have the opponent next to his face. It was just WrestleMania, and then there you go see Jacob.”
Jacob Fatu Has Overcome A Lot To Succeed In WWE
As mentioned by Rikishi, his nephew Jacob Fatu has been on the WWE roster for less than a year, yet he has already headlined multiple PLEs and is now holding the US Championship.
“Here’s a kid from the Bay Area. Here’s a kid that did some time. Here’s a kid from the streets of the bay, eight years on the independents struggling to make things happen for his family.
I always knew that he was a beast and just a talented kid in the square circle, and then when all that came to fruition, and to see him in the biggest show on earth, being one of the main matches advertised, oh my goodness.”
If you listen to crowds at WWE shows, the fans are also getting behind Jacob Fatu a lot, even though he’s been a heel during his WWE career so far. It sounds like he could be poised to break out as a babyface in the future, as well.