Jacob Fatu says addiction nearly cost him his WWE contract on Stephanie McMahon’s podcast

Jacob Fatu told Stephanie McMahon on her What’s Your Story podcast, in comments reported on August 15, 2026, that his struggle with addiction almost caused WWE to pull out of his contract around this past WrestleMania. He said the episode threatened to end his WWE dream before it began and recalled senior officials being alerted to the problem.

After a run on the independent scene, MLW and NJPW, Fatu signed with WWE in 2024 and made his main roster debut in June 2024. He joined Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline on SmackDown and served as the faction’s enforcer. Fatu has held the WWE Tag Team titles alongside Tama Tonga and the United States title in his career so far.

On the podcast, Fatu described the moment candidly: “This past WrestleMania, your husband [Triple H], I don’t mean to get deep but before I actually got hired — I almost got fired before I got hired because of my addiction and stuff. Your husband, they passed me, they did pass me. It was cause of me. Bruce called, it was all bad.” He said the confrontation around his signing was caused by his own behaviour.

Fatu recounted the uncertainty that followed, saying it left him and his family in limbo for nearly three weeks. “19 days, I didn’t know if I had a job. Our kids are asking me, ‘Dad, when we moving to Florida?’ I couldn’t even answer them for 19 days because I thought it was done,” he said, describing the stress of not knowing whether the deal would proceed.

He said Triple H ultimately wanted to offer him another opportunity but set clear conditions. “They brought me up again and your husband said, ‘We’ll give him a second chance, everybody deserves a second chance. But, when he get here, all that gotta stop.’” Fatu said he accepted that mandate and committed to change.

Fatu credited his wife’s support for his decision to stop drinking and work on his physique before joining WWE, and he said friends inside the company aided his recovery. Fatu also revealed how Jimmy Uso called him daily and helped him stay on the right path.

Since his debut, Fatu has become one of the top names in the promotion; he is currently part of the Raw roster and a member of the Bloodline faction headlined by World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns.