Zilla Fatu wasn’t the only member of his family caught off guard by how emotional his WWE NXT debut turned out to be.
Fatu made his surprise arrival on the August 11 episode of NXT, interrupting the number-one contender’s match between Grayson Waller and Cruz Montana before setting his sights on NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo. The moment clearly caught his own mother by surprise as well, based on her emotional reaction shared afterward.
Speaking in a video reaction to the debut, Fatu’s mother said she genuinely had no idea it was coming, and admitted she was overjoyed specifically because he landed in NXT alongside Booker T, who trained Fatu and now works as a broadcaster for the brand.
She got emotional thinking about the creative possibilities that pairing could open up, saying she could already picture herself pitching story ideas to the writers.
Mama Zilla said:
I swear to God, I didn’t know. I’m so happy he came to NXT because there’s Booker T. They could run their little segment with him.
Man, we can do a whole bunch of sh… I’m gonna cry right now and tell the writers how to write a story about something over there. You m…. better be scared of him, y’all.
She didn’t stop there, either, sending a playful but pointed warning to the rest of the NXT roster that they’d better take her son seriously now that he’s officially arrived.
It’s a fitting reaction given Fatu’s family ties — as the son of the late Umaga and a member of the extended Anoa’i wrestling dynasty that includes Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa, his NXT arrival carries plenty of built-in history and expectation, made all the more meaningful by his mother’s very real, very public excitement.
