15 New Directions For WWE After WrestleMania 42

11. Jacob Fatu In SmackDown Main Events

WWE WrestleMania 42 Jacob Fatu
WWE.com

Beating Drew McIntyre as decisively as he did in that "Unsanctioned Match" on Saturday night was a real feather in Jacob Fatu's cap. It's a sure sign that WWE's power brokers view him as a major player, so much so that they were willing to put him over a former multi-time World Champ and give the 'Samoan Werewolf' a helping hand up the ladder towards main events.

Permanent main events, that is.

Incoming 'Tiffy Time' mention for the second entry in a row: Stratton's de-emphasised status on the roster (at least for now) means Jacob is free to make that springboard moonsault his own. "Mighty Moonsault", he calls it. Or...Michael Cole calls it. It's a spectacular finisher considering the sheer size of Fatu.

SmackDown's creative team clearly believes it can squeeze at least one more match out of Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton (Backlash ahoy), but they'll need big time challengers for Cody after that. Jacob fits in neatly due to his recent history with Rhodes, and fans will be all in on cheering for Fatu if Cody goes heel too.

WWE should learn their lesson from Jacob's last stalled push. They didn't go all the way with him as United States Champ, but there's no good reason why Fatu will fail this time. He cut a swish promo on Friday's SmackDown that showed how ready he is to have a proper stab at the main event scene.

Writers will be pushing more of those skits Jacob's way between now and his inevitable WWE Title challenge.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.