WWE SmackDown: Jacob Fatu Out with Non-Wrestling Injury

Per the exclusive report, the former WWE United States Champion is expected to be out of action “well into 2026,” due to a “non-wrestling-related injury.” It’s unclear exactly what happened, and as of this writing, WWE has yet to announce anything regarding the issue.

It was only recently that Fatu made his return to WWE television. So, before the September 26 episode of SmackDown, when Fatu returned and confronted Drew McIntyre, his last televised episode was on the August 15 episode of SmackDown. There, he had Fatu teamed with Jimmy Uso and Sami Zayn to defeat MFT (JC Mateo, Solo Sikoa, and Tonga Loa).

Though while he’s been off television, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been wrestling. He had a Dark Street Fight match against Rusev during the September 12 episode of SmackDown. The week before that, he had teamed with AJ Styles to defeat Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in a Dark Match on September 5. His last WWE PLE that he wrestled was SummerSlam. He had lost to the then United States Champion Solo Sikoa in a Steel Cage match. Now the champion is Sami Zayn, who has held the title since August 29.

Jacob Fatu’s Former Stablemate Made His Return Earlier This Month

Fatu’s former stablemate, Tama Tonga, made his WWE return on the October 10 episode of SmackDown. He returned at the same time as Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura had returned for WWE U.S. Champion Sami Zayn’s open challenge. When Nakamura was about to hit Zayn with a Kinhasa, Tama came out and attacked Nakamura. Post-match, Tama was joined by his Family Tree stablemates, and they attacked both Nakamura and Zayn.

Tama was out due to an undisclosed injury. Before October 10, the last match he had was on April 1, 2025, where he and Sikoa were defeated by LA Knight and Randy Orton.

Fatu had been part of the Bloodline from 2024 until he turned on Sikoa at the Money in the Bank 2025 PLE. Weeks before, there were some issues between the two, and then Fatu attacked him in the Money in the Bank match, making sure he wouldn’t win the briefcase. The last time Fatu and Tama Tonga were tag team partners was in March. So hopefully, Fatu will be back sooner than expected. He’s a fan favorite for WWE fans, and SmackDown needs him on the show.