Eric Andre getting wrecked by Jacob Fatu on RAW was not just some random celebrity beatdown. It was done as a promotional tie-in for Little Brother, the new Netflix comedy starring Andre and John Cena, which starts streaming on June 26.
That is the real reason Andre was sitting front row on the June 15 episode of Monday Night RAW. WWE had him there to help get attention on the movie, then they used the moment to put even more heat on Jacob Fatu.
The angle happened during a major Bloodline segment with Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, and Fatu. Roman kicked off the show by hyping Jey Uso’s King of the Ring run before making Baltimore acknowledge him. Then things got tense fast. Jey wanted Fatu to acknowledge him and Jimmy, but Fatu shut that down right away.
“I don’t listen to Jimmy and Jey. The only person that I acknowledge is the OTC.”
Roman then brought out a new Ula Fala and made Fatu’s spot in the Bloodline official.
“Welcome to the Family Business, welcome to the Bloodline.”
That could have been the end of it, but WWE had Eric Andre waiting at ringside for the real stunt. As The Bloodline started leaving, Andre was shown in the front row. Fatu suddenly grabbed him, yanked him over the barricade, and threw him into the ring. Security tried to stop it, but Roman gave Fatu the order to finish the job. Fatu climbed to the top rope and crushed Andre with a diving headbutt. Then he went back up and hit him with another one while Roman laughed.
The whole thing served two purposes. WWE got a celebrity moment tied to Andre and Cena’s Netflix movie, and Fatu got to look like an absolute monster right after Roman welcomed him into the Bloodline.
Andre also co-stars with Roman Reigns in the upcoming Street Fighter movie, so WWE had another connection there too. But the main reason behind the RAW angle was Little Brother, with the Netflix comedy dropping June 26.
What do you think about WWE using Eric Andre’s RAW beatdown to promote Little Brother? Was it a smart crossover, or should they have kept the focus only on The Bloodline? Let us know what you think in the comments below.