Jacob Fatu’s brutally honest response to people saying he won’t beat Roman Reigns at WWE Backlash 2026

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On the Rich Eisen Show, Jacob Fatu surprisingly admitted that he understood why people felt he wasn’t going to dethrone Reigns. However, he sent a brutally honest message:

“I can understand why people think I’m not going to win. First PLE, first title defense out of WrestleMania, there’s no way, right? Well, check this out – there was no way Jacob was supposed to be here. There was no way Jacob was supposed to be the main event, PLE, Roman Reigns, right out of WrestleMania. But we’re here. And keep it 100. Like I said before, they ain’t never run into nobody like me.”

Jacob Fatu has one massive statistical advantage against Roman Reigns heading into Backlash 2026

Jacob Fatu is not the favorite heading into Backlash 2026, as he is the first title contender since Roman Reigns became the World Heavyweight Champion. Usually, the first contender after WrestleMania is an exciting name and a dream feud, but they are normally never the ones to dethrone the Champion. Only Jinder Mahal was an exception in 2017, although one could argue that his match against Randy Orton was far from a “dream” feud. Plus, there was the external circumstance, where Vince McMahon was keen to go all-in on the Indian market.

The previous year, AJ Styles challenged Roman Reigns in back-to-back PLEs after WrestleMania 32, and although they were incredible matches, he wouldn’t win the WWE Title until September that year. Jacob Fatu is coming off two extremely successful years on the main roster, and he has been presented as a legitimate threat to The OTC. However, one insane statistic is that Fatu has only been pinned once since joining WWE in 2024. Solo Sikoa was the man to do that.

In order for Reigns to beat Fatu at Backlash, he is going to have to pin The Samoan Werewolf or submit him. Since the latter seems unlikely, a pinfall victory could be where it’s at. Either way, it’s a huge hurdle to overcome. Reigns, for the longest time, was never pinned. Between December 2019 and June 2023, Reigns hadn’t been pinned.

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