Jacob Fatu praises Jelly Roll’s WWE work ethic
Jacob Fatu had high praise for Jelly Roll’s backstage enthusiasm and work ethic when training for his WWE in-ring debut.
Speaking in an interview with Bootleg Kev, Fatu reflected on the musician’s eagerness and passion for the industry while training. He detailed an instance when Jelly Roll cleaned the ring after practice wrapped up.
“You see cats come in all the time and just get it in. You seen the transformation in him. But it was more than that,” Fatu said.
“When I got out the ring with this guy from training, and it wasn’t just me, shout out to [NXT wrestler] Stacks and the other homie. But it was what he did after. It’s what he did afterward. I already knew, bro. I knew the background. It’s the sh*t that he did afterwards. When you get done training, you gotta clean the ring, sweep it, spray it down. We all sweaty up in there.
“And I seen this man, he went up to the homie and said, ‘Nah, nah, nah, nah, let me clean it. Tell me what I gotta do.’ And he’s not making a scene about it. I’m tucked off with the other homies. But I’m watching. Bro just cleaned up the whole ring. Did what he had to do, wiped his feet, but also seen the love and the passion.”
Fatu added that his own fondness for the industry doesn’t stem from his family’s legacy but because it unites people from different backgrounds and walks of life.
“Professional wrestling, that’s what I love about this, not only ‘cause my family’s in it. Not only ‘cause we are one of the dopest families up in it,” Fatu said. “But what I’ve seen, what I love about it is professional wrestling brings different colors, different cultures, different background. Professional wrestling brings us all together.”
Last year, Jelly Roll teamed up with Randy Orton against Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul at SummerSlam, taking part in his first-ever pro wrestling match. The musician was trained by The Undertaker, Kevin Owens, Michelle McCool, and Fatu.
On the March 13 edition of SmackDown this year, Jelly Roll returned to feature as a special guest on Miz TV. Kit Wilson interrupted the segment to mock the musician. A week later, Wilson had another showdown with Jelly Roll in slam poetry which backfired. A match between Jelly Roll and Wilson is now set to take place on SmackDown this Friday.
Meanwhile, Fatu has been locked into his own rivalry with Drew McIntyre that looks set to culminate at WrestleMania 42.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.