Jacob Fatu’s SmackDown Injury Leaves WWE Universe Reeling

WWE just hit pause on Jacob Fatu, and they did it with a brutal little swerve. On SmackDown, the Samoan Werewolf never made it to the ring because someone turned the backstage area into a crime scene. The twist? That was the storyline cover for a real injury that is going to keep him out for a while.

Jacob Fatu is out, and SmackDown wrote him off the hard way

Before his entrance Friday, cameras found 33-year-old Jacob Fatu buried under a pile of production gear, bleeding from the mouth with busted teeth. That beatdown was WWE’s way of explaining why he’s disappearing from TV.

Behind the scenes, Fatu is dealing with an undisclosed, non-wrestling injury. According to Bodyslam (via Patreon), he’s expected to be out for a very long time — potentially into 2026. Tough break for a guy fans have rallied behind since his WWE debut in June 2024. He caught fire with The New Bloodline and even snagged a short United States Title run. Now he joins a growing injury list that already includes names like Seth Rollins and Liv Morgan, and yeah, that momentum is going to cool.

WWE kept fans guessing all night

Even with the injury chatter floating around this week, WWE still promoted Fatu for SmackDown. They didn’t just tease him — they built the main event around him, then pulled the rug at the last second. If that sounds like a calculated move, it absolutely was.

• Early in the show, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis raised the stakes: Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre would be a No. 1 contender match for the Undisputed Championship.
• Fatu cut a backstage promo with Cody Rhodes about beating Drew and coming for the title. If you looked closely, Drew lurked in the background of the segment.
• When it was time for the main event, Fatu’s music hit… and the camera cut to him laid out backstage under equipment, mouth bloodied, teeth broken. No attacker revealed.
• Drew mocked the situation and asked the ref to just declare him the No. 1 contender on the spot.
• Aldis confronted him, and Drew denied having anything to do with it, reminding Aldis they’ve known each other for 20 years and taking a shot at Rhodes in the process.
• Cody stormed out, blamed Drew for blowing up the main event, and promised not to let the crowd go home unhappy — so he put the Undisputed title on the line right then and there.
• It ended ugly: Cody drilled Drew with the championship belt, handing McIntyre a DQ win but keeping the title. The post-match brawl spilled over, and Cody even wiped out a group of officials with a dive.

Cody’s edge shows

"Bleeding gums Fatu."

"Corporate Cody."

Drew’s digs were loud enough to hear in the cheap seats, but Cody’s actions did most of the talking. Between the weapon shot, the DQ escape, and plowing through officials, the Undisputed Champ is flirting hard with a full-on heel turn. WWE also left the who-did-it angle open by not naming Fatu’s attacker, so there’s a ready-made reveal waiting whenever Fatu is cleared — which, if Bodyslam’s timeline holds, won’t be any time soon.

Bottom line: WWE turned an unfortunate real-world injury into a mystery angle and used the chaos to crank up Cody vs. Drew. It makes for good TV. It’s just a shame it comes at the cost of Fatu’s run right when he had the crowd behind him.