New Bloodline Member Arrives In WWE, Zilla Fatu Debuts On NXT (WWE News)

Zilla Fatu has arrived in WWE!

by Andrew Pollard
Zilla Fatu Cruz Montana Grayson Waller
WWE

Following plenty of rumours, Zilla Fatu has finally arrived in WWE, making his shock debut on last night's NXT show.

Zilla made his mark by interfering in the main event of Cruz Montana vs. Grayson Waller, where the winner would earn a shot at Tony D'Angelo's NXT Championship. The son of the late, great Umaga, Fatu hit a Samoan Drop on Montana, then hit his Superman Samoan Spike on Waller, before nailing each man with a frog splash and talking trash to the watching-on D'Angelo.

Beginning his in-ring career in 2023, Zilla Fatu trained under Booker T at Reality of Wrestling, and has since gone on to compete for the likes of GCW, 4th Rope Wrestling, and, most notably, House of Glory, where he lost the Crown Jewel Championship to Amazing Red at HOG High Intensity this past weekend. Given how Red gave Zilla quite the post-match send-off at High Intensity, many fans speculated that the 26-year-old could be on his way to somewhere else, and his obvious family ties certainly suggested WWE as a likely landing spot. On top of that, Fatu has been extremely open in interviews over the years that WWE was his aim.

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As mentioned, Zilla Fatu is the son of Umaga, which means he's the cousin of Roman Reigns, the Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Jacob Fatu, and the nephew of Rikishi and the Tonga Kid. Zilla also had a spell working as a tag team with Jacob back in early 2024, prior to the Samoan Werewolf signing with WWE later that year.

While some had speculated that Zilla would be fast-tracked straight to the main roster as part of the ongoing Bloodline storyline, the hugely promising prospect will instead take the NXT route first, seemingly being immediately interjected into the NXT Title picture. Interestingly, Zilla Fatu was referred to several times on commentary as Zilla Fatu, suggesting he'll be keeping his ring name. Previously, the likes of Mike Santana, Mariah May, and Ricky Starks weren't directly named upon making their NXT debuts, in turn leading to them being renamed as Cruz Montana, Blake Monroe, and Ricky Saints.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.