The dust has barely settled on WrestleMania 42, and while CM Punk and AJ Lee are taking some much-needed time off, the landscape of WWE has shifted violently. We saw CM Punk show up on the Raw after Mania, but his absence last night signaled the start of a new, grittier chapter: Roman Reigns vs. Jacob Fatu.
For those who have been following the journey, this move makes perfect sense. Jacob Fatu has been working tirelessly to be seen as a legitimate main-event player. We’ve seen him putting in the work, taking massive spots in the Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre saga, and holding his own within the Bloodline alongside Solo Sikoa.
Fatu is a beast in every sense of the word. He’s a big man who can pull off high-flying spots that defy physics, and his ability to recover from injury is almost superhuman. But what really anchors this character is the “recovered” storyline WWE is pushing—leaning into his real-life history, his time spent in prison at the age of 18, along with the motivation of providing for his family and seven kids. He’s a man who took the long road to get here, and that makes him dangerous.
The Grip of Death. On Monday Night Raw, we saw exactly how dangerous. Fatu used the Tongan Death Grip, made famous by Haku/Meng—not just a standard choke, but a brutal upward claw—to effectively paralyze and choke out the Tribal Chief.
It was a visual that changed the math for Backlash. Usually, we’d assume Roman Reigns wouldn’t drop the title only a month after winning it, but WWE has been playing by “weird” rules lately. To make Fatu believable as a World Champion, you have to actually treat him like one. They did it with Jey Uso, and it worked; doing it with a powerhouse like Jacob Fatu might just be the spark the Bloodline story needs to stay fresh.
I’m not saying Fatu is a lock to win at Backlash, but after seeing that grip and the fire in his eyes, I’m no longer betting against the Samoan Werewolf.