Jacob Fatu was almost not Jacob Fatu when he debuted in WWE. The Samoan Werewolf, ahead of his World Heavyweight Championship match with Roman Reigns at Backlash on Saturday, told Peter Rosenberg on Cheap Heat that creative had a different name lined up before Triple H stepped in at the company's Madison Square Garden debut.

"My original name was supposed to be Caesar Sikoa. Planet of the Apes, where my ass was about to be like this," Fatu said. "They didn't go with it. They kept Jacob Fatu."


WWE protected Fatu as a silent monster for over a year. He didn't speak on television, and he admitted on the show that he was actually nervous to start cutting promos. The moment he finally opened up, on the Raw After WrestleMania, became one of the most replayed segments of the build.

"I don't want that title. I need that title," Fatu said on Raw, a line Rosenberg compared on the podcast to a "Hard Times" moment in WWE's main event scene.

The character work to get there came from someone Fatu credits with making the entire Backlash story possible. Drew McIntyre's promos heading into WrestleMania 42 were so personal that Fatu's own children started asking him questions.

"Drew was so good at what he was saying, my kids start to question me. 'Damn, dad, is he telling the truth about you?'" Fatu said. "That's how good and how over it was going."

The interview's lightest stretch came when Fatu walked through meeting The Rock as a kid in the Nation of Domination era. He asked The Rock for three autographs in a row, and got something more memorable than the third 8x10.

"They had 8x10s back in the day. I asked him for one, asked him for two, asked him for a third one. When he grabbed the third one, 'Hey man, can I get a third one for my fridge?' I think that's when I first seen the people's eyebrow," Fatu said.

The kid then asked for lunch money. The Rock did not flinch.

"He was the first person that got me $100. Pulled out a hundred, gave me my brother and I $100. We thought we was balling. Next thing you know, my dad take the money and take us out to eat at Denny's. Put the rest of the $100 in the gas."

Fatu challenges Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash 2026 Saturday night from Amalie Arena in Tampa.