Jacob Fatu has become one of the most dominant forces in WWE over the last few years, but his run with the company almost hit a brick wall before it got started.
During a recent appearance on What’s Your Story with Stephanie McMahon, Jacob Fatu recalled his journey to WWE, and he noted that he almost got fired due to his issues with addiction.
“Man, I was just sharing with Joe (Roman Reigns). Man, it was this past WrestleMania, your husband (Triple H), I don’t mean to get too deep, but before I actually got hired, I almost got fired before I got hired because of my addiction and stuff. It was just, it wasn’t really there. I know we’re gonna start it off, but I just gotta tell the truth when it comes to this. Your husband, they passed me.They did pass me. It was ’cause of me.”
“It just was all bad. 19 days, I didn’t know if I had a job. Our kids were asking me, ‘Dad, when we moved in to Florida’. I couldn’t even answer that for 19 days, cause I thought it was done. It was done. Your husband, they brought me up again, and your husband said, ‘We’ll give him a second chance. Everybody deserves a second chance. But when you get here, all that gotta stop.’ He came up to me after WrestleMania 42, and if y’all don’t realize, 42 means Fatu. That’s why we’re always wearing 42. Me and the Usos, it means Fatu in our culture. And WrestleMania 40, I went on Twitter and I put WM42. I didn’t know if I was gonna be here. I knew but I didn’t know how. So man, after WrestleMania 42, I had 41 one night, very blessed. And then, especially after this one, it meant something different.”
“Your husband came and found me after, and so you gotta walk back through Gorilla. Knowing me, I be jumping in the crowd. So I jumped in the crowd, and then I came the other way ‘Hunter wants to see you’. As soon as I’m walking up. Your husband’s coming down, just gave me a hug, and I remember telling him, crying, telling him, ‘Thank you, thank you, man. Just you’re the one that gave me that second chance. I remember, man.’ He looked at me, grabbed my face.”
“He just grabbed my face like, ‘You did it. Don’t thank me. You did it. The only person that could mess this up is you, Jacob.’ I mean, it was a real good moment and a special moment.”