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) |
Relatives | Rikishi (uncle) Umaga (uncle) |
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, currently signed to WWE. He is best known for his time in Major League Wrestling, where he was a MLW National Openweight Champion and a one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion, the latter being the longest reign in the title's history at 819 days.[4]
Fatu is part of the Anoaʻi family of Samoan professional wrestlers. He is the son of Sam Fatu and the nephew of both Rikishi and Umaga.
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]
See also: Contra Unit and Samoan SWAT Team |
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 Josef would then make their televised debut in MLW at Intimidation Games 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 with Lawlor, Fatu defeated Lawlor at Kings of Colosseum on July 6 to capture the World Heavyweight Championship.[10] He would also 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.
After the feud, he was challenged by Alex Hammerstone for the belt, also putting the MLW National Openweight Championship on a winner takes all match. He lost the belt to Hammerstone. He then feuded with him, culminating in War Chamber, where Contra Unit lost the match, both ending the feud, and starting the feud with fellow Contra Unit member Madds Krügger and Ikuro Kwon. The feud stretched on, him repackaging with his vignette which cemented his face turn due to fan reaction, abandoning the Contra Unit character. The Samoan Werewolf traded victories against Krügger in several matches, including him winning against Krügger in a no disqualification match and the latter winning on a weapons match, culminating and settling the feud in Kings of Colosseum in a Weapons of Mass Destruction match. He also simultaneously feuded with Bestia 666.
On April 6, 2023, at MLW's War Chamber Jacob 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]
On Sunday, April 7, 2024, Fightful Select, PWInsider[15] and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Fatu signed with WWE.[16]
Fatu was arrested for robbery as an 18-year-old. He credits seeing his cousins Jonathan and Joshua on a jail TV as his inspiration for becoming a wrestler.[17]
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.[18] As of 2024, Fatu has seven children.[19]