9 Wrestlers Who Fell Off HARD In 2025

2. Jacob Fatu

WWE Money in the Bank 2025 Jacob Fatu
WWE

WWE in almost every way is better than it was under Vince McMahon’s rule. It is almost entirely devoid of baffling weirdness. Triple H isn’t stupid enough to conceive of something like Erick Rowan befriending a giant spider - but he isn’t interesting enough to do that, either. A lot has changed. WWE’s TV is a lot better, but a lot less fascinating to discuss.

Not everything has changed. Triple H is mostly different to Vince McMahon, but he has inherited his infuriating habit of doing things the WWE way, even if that way fails to harness the best attributes of certain wrestlers.

Jacob Fatu - and it’s irritating that this word has been overused to a point of meaninglessness, because it’s accurate - has aura. He has aura coming out of his ass 24/7. He looks dangerous, his best stuff is dangerous, and he’s an actually aggressive badass dude in a landscape of people with conflicted feelings as wrestling continues to overthink itself.

Or at least, he was.

Fatu was a revelation when he debuted as a throwback savage pro wrestler. This year, because it’s apparently the law, he started to act. Solo Sikoa tormented him and called him stupid. You were meant to feel sad for Jacob Fatu - WWE might as well have piped in the “Awww” sitcom sound effect - and the monster eventually realised that Solo was manipulating him. Instead of saying “I love you, Solo!”, when Jacob turned his back on Sikoa at Money In The Bank, he said “I hate you, Solo!”

This made mere exposition look like subtext.

A diabolical, shenanigans-littered cage match with Solo Sikoa at SummerSlam did nothing for him either. If you can’t let the best ass-kicker on your roster kick ass, what are we doing here?

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!