WWE star Jacob Fatu recently appeared on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast to discuss various topics, including his decision to pursue World Heavyweight Champion “The OTC” Roman Reigns following WrestleMania 42.
Fatu said, “Okay, let’s keep it 100. Before I got to WWE, man, brother, I’m really cut from another cloth, and I had to do what I had to do to take care of me and my family. Okay. Yeah. It took me years, years to get here to WW. But that’s okay. I’m here now. It ain’t how you start. It’s how you finish. So, in my head, it’s like, okay, we done seen the Jacob who had love. We done seen the ‘Thank you,’ Jacob. That’s just happy to be here. But man, two years passed by, and I still feel like I’m just in this bubble, man. I had to step up. I had to be a man. Hey, and if we going to go all the way in, then go all the way in. Then why not start? Why not start with the cat that’s on top? Why not start from the from, you know, from the head of the table? Why not start from the top? Let’s keep it 100, man. Y’all talk about y’all hear me talk about my family, my wife, so much to where if I don’t deserve if if anybody deserves it, they deserve it, man. Even if I got to go through my own blood, and hey, this isn’t no a match. This isn’t no buildup. Oh, Jacob versus Roman. Okay. Yeah. Whoever thought this was going to happen, nobody. Nobody until I had to make the decision. You got my cousins, the Usos, tapping in, you know, on the side. You trying to lace me up. Let’s keep it 100.”
He continued, “I’ve been watching Roman Reigns on PLE’s since day one. So, I already know what it comes with, you know? But if I really want to, if I really want to survive in here, man, then man, you got to go straight to the top. I’m tired of waiting in line. I’m not saying I’ve been waiting, but yeah, my time didn’t start till I got here to WWE. I understand everything that I’ve done before WWE does not matter, but it matters to me because, man, that’s what got me. That’s that that’s the hard times within those past 12 years before I got here to WWE. It’s what made me the man today. It’s what brought me here, and it got me standing right here, main event on Backlash this Saturday against the greatest of all time, Roman Reigns.”
On seeing his cousins in WWE when he was in Juvenile Hall:
“I was 18 man you know I went to juvenile hall everybody’s story different man 18 right there damn you know and if anybody know man California ain’t no joke you know y’all really got to tap in with us you know when y’all tap in with us but on another note it’s it’s when I was locked down when I was going through my troubles as a youth right man sat down on on you know you in that dorm there’s only one TV I just so happened to be right there My bunk was right there. And man, they flipping through the channels. Who do we see? I see the Usos. I see Tamina [Snuka]. I see Natalya. I see Tyson Kid. I see, man, Harry [Smith], man on there and they’re going against each other, right? And I’m just like, ‘Oh.’ And mind you, I didn’t know my cousins. I knew they were wrestling. I didn’t know they were on Raw. This when the Usos very first started, you know, they was doing the college gimmick out here with buttons up, button-ups and stuff. Man, I was 18 and I just seen him. I was more happy for them when I seen them. I didn’t make up my mind right then and there. But man, you know, time came by. I was getting closer to getting out, trying to figure out what you what are you going to do? You know, my mom and them was asked, ‘What are you going to do?’ You know, trying to figure it out. ‘You can’t keep doing this, man. You got all these kids. What are you going to do, man?’ Just kind of figured it out. And my wife’s from LA. So, you know, got out of Sacramento, man. Without a doubt. You know, ‘You really love me and my kids, man. We going to make a difference.’”
He continued, “And man, moved down to LA. Uncle Rikishi had a school, man. That’s where everything took off. And shout out to Gang Girl and my uncle and my father, you know, Tonga Kid Sam Fatu, who trained me. But you know, it was more than that cuz I seen the sacrifices. I seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. What this business can do. So, you know, I’ve met all my family members who were here before me; it’s a learning experience for me. Okay, I know what to do. I know what not to do. Okay, this work for them. This work for them. Pay your taxes and save your money. You know what I mean? I mean, so but overall, man, you know, it’s I’m glad it happened like this. I mean, brother, let’s keep it 100. I tried to be a rapper, that ain’t work. I mean, I tried to be on the street. I mean, I tried to be a thug, that didn’t work. It got too real for me. I mean, but I found God found my calling. I found my calling when I was good at Trust me, I didn’t think about this at all. At all. And I have thought about it. If Jacob Fatu would have started a little earlier, what would I have been, you know? But at the end of the day, we’re here now. And if it’s anybody’s timing, it’s God’s timing right now.”
On learning the Tongan Death Grip to use against Reigns:
“It’s a sacred move. It’s a legendary move. It’s a move to where you cannot change the name. I mean, this move, yeah. Listen, we’re all Polynesian. They know about Samoans, the Hawaiians. But when it comes to our Tongan brothers, yeah, our Tongan Island, you know, it’s different. You know, we’re talking about a man who is so loving, but take him the wrong way. The great Haku will put this thing, this Tongan Death Grip, on you. And in my head, it’s like Roman has been through everything. Roman has been through everything. F5 through 10, man, he’s been through it all. And we’re the same blood. We’re the same. So we’re we’re I mean what what can I use to take him out? It can’t be just the power. It can’t be just a drop on his head. It needs to be something that’s within the family, you know. Something that’s within the family that could take all of us out. Not just him, not it could take all of us out, you know. So you had to do you had to bring something so sacred back. I had to. And it was the plan. It was the plan cuz look how it got look how it has them. You, I mean, look at the end of the day, the look on his face. Look how it looked every time he’s dropping down to his knees. Imagine everybody else that the great Haku had put this on to where they are no longer here no more. You know, so at the end of the day, it’s working. At the end of the day, it’s tapped in. And at the end of the day, it don’t look like Roman can stop it.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
