You may not have seen it if you only caught Netflix’s replay version of the Sept. 28 Raw, but right before the show closed with Jaida Parker revealing her allegiance with Royce Keys and The 946, she sent Jacob Fatu flying over the hood of her Italian luxury car.
Fatu wasn’t on this week’s Raw, and he’s not advertised for next Monday’s show or this weekend’s Money in the Bank PPV. So, as it should be, getting plowed over by a Maserati was a way to write the Samoan Werewolf off for a while. It clears
the deck for a couple weeks while his Tribal Chief defends the World Heavyweight title, and allows other players in WWE’s biggest current feud to step into the spotlight.
But it’s not the only reason Fatu is off television. We hope you enjoyed watching Fatu’s performance in vertical mode, because it seems likely he’s off filming a “microdrama” as part of WWE’s partnership with ReelShort.
The shows WWE is producing are also called “vertical dramas” because they’re shot for your phone. That’s also why the hours-long productions are packaged in 1-2 minute episodes. Oh, did we mention they also often feature a ton of product placement and double as commercials? That’s also a thing, although it’s not clear if or how much of that will be involved in WWE and ReelShort’s collaborations.
Anyway… on this week’s post-Raw edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, on the subject of Fatu’s write-off and absence, Dave Meltzer said:
“So the Jacob thing, I believe Jacob and Joe Hendry and Drew McIntyre are doing some WWE show … so that explains that angle with Jacob.”
Meltzer’s “some WWE show” could cover a lot of things, but those were the three people who were mentioned in the launch announcement for the ReelShort deal back in July. We also haven’t heard of any other WWE shows planned or in production that would have those three specific names attached.
So I’m pretty sure that if Dave is right, the show he’s talking about is Fatu’s first microdrama. But I’m really sure that his getting run over is a good way to serve the storyline he’s in right now.
