Zilla Fatu On His Legendary Father Umaga, The Bloodline, TNA Debut, Wrestling Booker T, WWE Tryout

On memories of his father Umaga:

"Oh, man, just eating everything [laughs] and telling me, son, can you go grab that food right there? But yeah, I just remember him eating everything, and just him being a big teddy bear. Because I know everyone thinks that due to his character, he would be cocky, or arrogant, or just mean, but my dad was totally the opposite. My dad was very loving, caring, obviously he was very family-oriented. And, man, he was the glue."

On his favourite memory:

"It was for football. I used to play for a little league football team, and one day, I didn't know he was gonna pull up to the game, and he surprised me. I remember right before the football game, I was stretching, and he was like, 'Hey, son, I got a little proposal for you.' I was like, 'What's up, dad?' He was like, 'Look, every touchdown you get, I give you $20.' I said, really? He said, 'Yes, I got you.' I remember, after the game, scored five touchdowns the whole game. As soon as I saw him after the game, he already came with the money and gave it to me. But that wasn't the most surprising. After that, he brought his T-shirts, he brought eight by 10s for the team, and he just showed love, man. He was signing autographs, taking pictures with my friends. My friends knew who he was, but they never met him. They saw him on TV, and when they saw him there, they embraced it. And me as a kid, having my friends, go, 'That’s your dad?' So overwhelmed and overexcited. It hit home for me, and I was just so happy. And I remember after that, man, everyone at school was talking about it, and that made me feel good." 

On following in his father’s footsteps:

"I think obviously, when I came home from prison, from jail, I had my back against the wall. Growing up, our family always told us to do something else. Wrestling is always gonna be an option. Just try to do something else. And then, not only that, my dad used to tell us every Thursday, we had a family meeting, he always used to tell us, 'I don't want you guys doing this. I need you guys to be better than me. I don't want you guys going through what I went through. I don't want you guys putting your body on the line or whatever, I need you guys to do something more safe.' And at that time, I didn't really understand it. But now, obviously, since I'm in the business, I definitely understand why, and there's a lot that comes with this that I feel like people don't see, the media don't see. Just being able to kind of embrace it, and then not run from it. I'm happy that I chose to wrestle, because it brought me closer to him, and now I'm learning who my dad was through wrestling. So I'm so happy that I started wrestling."

Do you feel like he's still with you? 

"Oh, yes, talking about that debut, I was talking about those butterflies earlier, it went away as soon as I hit the curtain. Speaking of the debuts, when I went out there, there was a moment, if you guys go watch, there's a moment that I wasn't trying to be like The Rock, but I was smelling everything. I was embracing everything. And soon as I did that, everything just went away. And, like I said, I found my purpose that day and my debut."

On thinking wrestling would be easy at first:

"That's exactly what I thought it was. I was like, Well, my dad's Umaga, he makes it seem so easy, I can do it. But after the few months of training, man, it definitely gave my respect. I was like, Man, this is harder than I thought it was. But through the foundation of Reality of Wrestling, they have such a great core there. They were able to just help me with anything that I need. It's a good village to bring me up, and it still does."

On who he saw as a father figure after Umaga’s passing:

"To be honest, Shelton [Benjamin]. I used to look at Shelton as a father figure, obviously, because he was our neighbor, right next to this. But he was always on the road. So there are those times where I don't see him, I'm always, you know, going to chill with the wrong people. And then obviously, when we move away from him, it was a culture shock for me, because we then went from living in a nice area, to the hood, and I think that transition was a culture shock for me. Then that's when I fell into the streets, and that's when I started hanging around the wrong crowd. One thing led to another, and I started just doing bad stuff and skipping school, and just doing what all the juvenile delinquents do."

On connecting with Booker T:

"Oh, we definitely did. He shared his story. He told me, 'Hey, man, you're not alone. Even though we have a different story, we have a lot of similarities.' I think Booker T was also one of the ones that, obviously, I looked up to, but we were never that close growing up. But when I came home from prison and I got with him, when we connected, it's like I wish that I'd been connected with him when I was in the streets, because I think just having someone, the person that he is, and the stuff that he went through, I could connect to. So all I needed to hear was his story. I think that's what helped me too with being in prison, I was listening to all the OG story. I was listening to everybody's story, and I always used to take that one positive thing that I learned from each and every story, and I applied it to my story, and I applied it to my mind. I think that's what helped me with all the decisions I make today."

On what it means to have the surname Fatu:

"It means everything. And to be honest, I don't know if you know Fatu means heart in English, so it's all love, and our culture is just built off love and respect. I think, you know, obviously me growing up, I didn't see that, but I felt it. And now that I'm grown up, everything now just makes sense. All the questions I had growing up that was unanswered, it's answered now, because now I'm grown. Now I understand, I'm wise now. So it just hit different for me. Because obviously I've been in and out of jail, and then now it's like, okay, this is who I am, and it's just love, man, that's it."

On pressure from the famous last name:

"Oh, yeah, even leading up to the debuts. I knew that there was going to be an expectation so high, not just because of my family, but of my dad. He set the bar so high. In my mind, man, I want to be able to excel at that. I want to be able to take whatever my dad did to the next level. And I think that's a challenge for me now. I think it's a challenge for me to kind of separate Zilla Fatu from the Samoan dynasty. I was just talking with my team this morning. Maybe that's not in my plan. Maybe it's not to separate the Fatu from the Samoan dynasty. Maybe it's time to embrace it and put on for it." 

On possibly joining WWE:

"Yes, that's so obvious. Yes, I would love to."

On whether he has had a try-out:

"I literally have just been training, man. Just being patient. I'm not in a rush to get anywhere, like I said previously, I have a long way to go, and I'm still growing. I'm still trying to figure out as far as within this business, I'm trying to figure out who I am, and I think that's just going to take time. It's just going to take repetition, but yeah, I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be right now."

On wearing face paint for his TNA debut:

"I do this for my mom and dad. But Jeff Hardy plays a big role in my character, and he inspires me. And I think I was just doing that because I want to have fun. I want to have fun. And that's what it was. It was literally me and Jeff backstage, chopping it up about my dad. And not only that, us figuring out our next step, our next move. And I think it was just more of us bonding together, but I want to do this. I'm still figuring it out. I'm still trying to figure everything out, and I just want to be able to do it my way on my time. I don't want to have anyone else try to write it out for me, because after they do, then it wouldn't be considered my story if I didn't write it. So I just want to be able to write my own story and be my own artist."

On having a match with Booker T:

"I love this story. So obviously, we have a breakout show at Reality of Wrestling, and that's where the students, people that are in the beginners class or the intermediate class. They go to this specific show, and they showcase why they should be on the platinum show, which is the show I'm on right now. And they have to prove to the people and to Booker T on why they need to be on the main card. I go to all of the student shows, I want to be able to help in any way that I can. I'm always helping the students out, if they need help constructing a match, producing a match, or also help with the producers, anything they need. I just always put my two cents in. I remember, on this specific day, I was just there and I was sitting in gorilla watching the monitors with Booker. And then Booker was like, 'Hey, you ready? You want to go do something?' I'm like, 'Yeah, why not?' He was like, 'We have no script, okay, so I need you to go out there and fill it.' I said, 'Fill it? Alright, let's go.' Then he went out there, he cut his promo. Have in mind none of this is the plan, not even previous days leading up to this show. I was just there, right? And Booker T went out there, cut his promo, and then as soon as my music hits, I go out there, and I basically was just going off, we were just going off each other. And soon as I think that the promo and the segment was gonna be over, I forgot what date it was. And then he was like, January 11, be ready. I look at the fans, they all go crazy. I'm like, I should cut something. I'm like, 'I'm there.' Then we get backstage, then he pulls me to the side and said, 'Man, I don't know the idea, I don't know what I did, but we're gonna rock with it. We're gonna rock with it.'"

On whether he thinks he is ready for WWE:

"No. I thought I was. No, I think I still have more time to grow. I'm still green. I still have a long way to go, man. So I think when the timing is right, and not only that, when I feel right, just like the same feeling I had in prison, that I was tired, that I didn't change my life, I'm just waiting for that feeling, and once that feeling pops up, that's when I'm gonna start pushing for it. But for right now, I'm just being patient and just waiting, just grinding, enjoying the process, enjoying the journey, and just learning as I go and always be the student in the game. And I think, time will tell, and I think the fans will play a big role in that. So I'm just working like WWE never had their eyes on me. I think having that mindset, I think I'm gonna get there. I know I'm gonna be there. I think it just takes repetition, and it takes time, and I think where I'm at today, my brand is only going to excel. It's only going to excel because, like I said earlier, we're still figuring it out every day and brainstorming every day."

What is Zilla Fatu grateful for?

My mom, the support I have received and my team.

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