The landscape of and The Bloodline has changed dramatically with the arrival of Jacob Fatu on SmackDown.
The fearsome and supremely talented superstar is the and made his presence felt on Friday night as he left Randy Orton, Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes lying with a series of brutal attacks.
He debuted at the end of the night after Rhodes and Solo Sikoa’s main event match descended into chaos, taking out all three veterans with an incredible display.
Viewers were in awe of Fatu, who has long been touted as a major prospect for WWE if and when they decided to sign him.
X user @Cody_Hays407 wrote: ‘Jacob Fatu can work with everyone on the WWE roster. If you have never seen him work, please go and watch some of his matches on YouTube. He was a beast at his size. Now it looks like he’s slimmer and that makes him even more scarier.’
‘Jacob Fatu has been unleashed on the WWE product. Gonna be a lot of fun to watch this brother run wild on national television,’ tweeted @Jordan_patu, while @Bobbyswordl74 added: ‘Jacob Fatu is probably the most dangerous of the Samoans and most unhinged.’
Fans were delighted to see Fatu’s presentation, with commentary really selling the idea of him as a vicious monster, which plays into his real life past when he went to jail aged 18.
A couple of years ago, he revealed how seeing his on TV in prison, which changed the course of his life and made him want to be a wrestler.
‘I really didn’t grow up wanting to wrestle. I didn’t want to wrestle at all until the day I caught my case for the 211 when I was 18. I was locked down, went to jail for some crazy reason,’ he told the MLW YouTube channel in 2022.
‘Every dorm has a TV. It’s just so happened to be flipping through the channels right? Who comes on my brothers, The Usos, man Jimmy and Jey coming on and I will never forget it.’
He added: ‘Man, when I was 18, locked down in Sacramento County Jail. I was flipping through the channels and I seen my brothers and them. I think that’s kind of like where I made my mind up.’
Fans have been desperate to see him in WWE for a long time now, and they were delighted with the way the company leant into his reputation.
‘I like this introduction for Jacob Fatu. “This is the family member the sane ones want nothing to do with”, beautiful. Unhinged Bloodline moving forward,’ said @BlockBuster_Guy, with @UserUnderReview adding: ‘What a #Smackdown ! Jacob Fatu is absolutely unhinged 😂’
‘Jacob Fatu is an absolute monster who is great in the ring. He’s slimmed down a bunch and still looks terrifying. This is gonna be good,’ raved @ReallyDanWeiner, and @VladimirWWE96 wrote: ‘This Jacob Fatu is one scary looking mf #Smackdown’
And KamitronPTW said: ‘They sold Jacob Fatu’s debut like an invading criminal on the loose AND let him keep his insane moveset. This is gonna be FUN.’
WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on TNT Sports 1.
