Jacob Fatu is one of those rare talents that come along and make you rethink everything you thought you knew about what a big man could do in a wrestling ring.
At over 300 pounds, he’s executing double-jump moonsaults with the kind of ease that lighter workers spend careers chasing. If you caught his run in MLW (Major League Wrestling), you saw him doing all of that years before WWE came calling.
That combination of size, athleticism, and instinct doesn’t come around often — and WWE knows exactly what it has.
What separates the good ones from the great ones isn’t just physical ability. It’s the willingness to listen, to evolve, and to let the right people shape you into something even better.
For Fatu, that guidance came from one of the most respected names in the business, and the results speak for themselves every time his music hits.
AJ Styles Gave Jacob Fatu a Simple Piece of Advice
In a recent appearance on the Busted Open Podcast, Fatu opened up about a conversation he had with AJ Styles that led to one of the more noticeable changes in his presentation. The advice starts right around the 7:57 mark, and it’s worth every second of your time.
Styles spotted Fatu backstage at Saturday Night’s Main Event, noticed the transformation, and didn’t mince words. Fatu shared the story with Dave LaGreca, Bully Ray, and Mark Henry on Busted Open:
“I want to shout out AJ Styles. He seen me at Saturday Night’s Main Event and he seen the transformation and he was just like, ‘Dude, are you freaking finna wear a shirt out there?’ I was just like, ‘Yeah.’ He was like, ‘Dude, you freaking got abs. I’d go out there with no shirt. What are you doing?’ So shout out to AJ, baby. But it was cause of him, man, why I took it. I was ashamed to take it off. And, man, when the Phenomenal One says, ‘Hey man, I would do this,’ then okay, I’m gonna listen.”
When a Hall of Fame-caliber performer tells you something that directly, you listen. Fatu did exactly that, and the advice has paid off in a big way.
Fatu’s New Look Has Made a Real Difference
Since returning from a three-month absence — one that included having 11 teeth pulled — Fatu hasn’t just gone shirtless. He’s overhauled his gear entirely, and the overall package is sharper for it.
The change puts his physicality front and center, which is exactly where it should be for someone being positioned as a top-tier threat in WWE. His shocking return on the Jan. 9 SmackDown made clear that WWE is done slow-playing this guy.
Fatu’s Personality Is Just as Impressive as His In-Ring Work
Here’s what really stands out about the Busted Open interview: Fatu is impossible not to like.
His personality jumps through the screen in a way that his in-ring persona — still menacing, still commanding — doesn’t always allow for on weekly television. His career-best promo opposite Cody Rhodes on the Jan. 23 SmackDown was a glimpse of just how far his character work has come.
In an era where body image conversations are everywhere, there’s something genuinely refreshing about seeing a performer built like Fatu own his look with that kind of confidence. That’s exactly what Styles saw in him — the abs were there, the physicality was there — and Fatu was smart enough to take the advice and run with it. It makes him more relatable, and relatability is the engine that drives babyface reactions.
Dave LaGreca, Bully Ray, and Mark Henry picked up on it immediately over on Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM, and if you watch the full interview, you’ll come away feeling the same way.
Is a Jacob Fatu Babyface Turn on the Horizon?
The blueprint for creating the biggest babyfaces in wrestling history has almost always run through a monster heel run first. Steve Austin. Randy Orton. Hulk Hogan. Batista.
The formula works because it gives the crowd something to push against before they’re given a reason to cheer. What we may be watching with Jacob Fatu right now is the early stages of that exact process — and if WWE plays it right, the payoff could be enormous.
Take a little over 12 minutes, watch the full Busted Open interview, and see for yourself. You won’t come away a Jacob Fatu doubter. That much is guaranteed.