WWE expects Zilla Fatu on the main roster before long, and Monday’s Raw vignette was part of getting him there.
WrestleVotes, reporting on Fightful Select, says the internal expectation is that Fatu moves up sooner rather than later, and that people in the company believe pairing him with his cousins early in his run gives the act a longer runway.
The vignette that aired on Raw was doing two things. It promoted Sunday’s NXT Heatwave, where Fatu challenges for the NXT Championship, and it introduced him to a main roster audience that may not know who he is. The thinking is to establish the family connection now rather than waiting until the call-up.
Fatu is the son of Umaga and part of the Anoa’i family. His cousins on the WWE roster include Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and Solo Sikoa.
He debuted on NXT on August 11, interrupting a number one contender’s match between Grayson Waller and Cruz Montana and laying out both men, which left the match without a winner. Robert Stone then added him to the title match. Fatu has not wrestled for WWE yet, so Sunday is his in-ring debut.
Heatwave takes place at the Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg, Texas. Tony D’Angelo defends the NXT Championship against Fatu, Waller, and Montana in a fatal four-way. The show airs at 3 p.m. Eastern on The CW and ESPN Unlimited, and on Netflix internationally, opposite AEW All In.
The Rock posted about Fatu ahead of the match.
