WWE star Jacob Fatu was a guest on the What’s Your Story? podcast with Stephanie McMahon, where he talked about various topics, including the advice WWE Hall of Famer Michael Hayes gave him before his WWE debut.
Fatu said, “In the words of Michael Hayes, the most famous words ever, which humbled me: ‘Jacob, you need to go out there and wrestle like nobody knows you, because what you did before you got here don’t mean anything. And before you walk out, let me let you know — if you think you’re over, you’re not over.’”
On the ski mask:
“When I came in and made my debut, I remember seeing your husband at the debut. I had on a ski mask, protecting kayfabe. Michael Hayes had me in the ski mask during rehearsals, and your husband was like, ‘Jacob, you can take that off.’ I’ve got the ski mask on. I’m on the top rope, I’m talking. And I’m like, ‘Sorry, H, Michael Hayes said keep it on.’”
On Triple H settling it live:
“He goes, ‘Hey, watch this. Watch this.’ You know Hunter has the earphones on. So he’s like, ‘Why is Jacob wearing the ski mask, Michael?’ ‘Well, we’ve got a con —’ ‘Hey, they don’t know. Michael, look at Jacob. Do you think that — you even told me they don’t know who this is. Jacob, take the goddamn ski mask off.’ So I took it off, and I’m still standing on the rope like this. ‘Yes, sir.’ So shout out to Michael Hayes, man.”
On whether the lesson stuck:
“Trust me, I’m still humble, Hayes. Still humble.”
You can check out the complete podcast below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
