{"id":242119,"date":"2026-05-07T00:53:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T00:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/roman-reigns-upcoming-match-was-unexpected-says-wwe-star\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T00:53:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T00:53:56","slug":"roman-reigns-upcoming-match-was-unexpected-says-wwe-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/roman-reigns-upcoming-match-was-unexpected-says-wwe-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman Reigns&#8217; upcoming match was unexpected, says WWE star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5164106\" data-slug-id=\"2778553\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>WWE star Roman Reigns is going to put his newly-won World Heavyweight title on the line at Backlash, but the match itself was a piece of unexpected booking according to a star.<\/p>\n<p>The Tribal Chief regained gold at WrestleMania 42, taking down CM Punk in a heated fight. Afterwards, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/jacob-fatu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Jacob Fatu<\/a> revealed himself to be his next challenge. The rivalry between the two has heated up, despite the relatively short period before Backlash. While Fatu is seeking to prove himself as the dominant force in the Samoan family, Reigns is adamant that he is still the top dog.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Speaking about the upcoming match at Backlash, Jacob Fatu noted that he did not expect to be going toe-to-toe with Reigns in a main event bout so soon. He also stated on <em>ESPN&#8217;s First Take<\/em> that he was waiting for this match.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;No, absolutely I didn&#8217;t, but we&#8217;re here now. This is something that I&#8217;ve been waiting for.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>You can check out his comments below:<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/embed\">\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What would it mean IF Jacob Fatu BEATS Roman Reigns in WWE Backlash?! \ud83d\udc40 | First Take\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7b-gr6j7JWc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube\" data-embed=\"7b-gr6j7JWc\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/7b-gr6j7JWc\/sddefault.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/7b-gr6j7JWc\/sddefault.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Jacob Fatu was influenced by WWE star Roman Reigns<\/h2>\n<p>Despite Roman Reigns being his opponent, Jacob Fatu did not hesitate to praise The Tribal Chief.<\/p>\n<p>In the same appearance on <em>First Take<\/em>, Fatu <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/news-jacob-fatu-reveals-true-feelings-roman-reigns-ahead-backlash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">outlined<\/a> the influence of Reigns on his own career. He also admitted his reverence for Reigns, although it would not stop him from fighting his family in the ring.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Prior to WWE, it was somebody that I was influenced by, something that I needed,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Seeing his lifestyle, seeing everything, not saying he don&#8217;t deserve it. No, there&#8217;s a reason why he has 12 WrestleManias underneath his belt main eventing &#8230; come on, man, you&#8217;re not real family if y&#8217;all don&#8217;t fight. You know what I mean? So to bring it to a national stage to where we&#8217;re here now, man, there ain&#8217;t no other way.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While Roman Reigns is an established name in the pro wrestling business, Jacob Fatu is also no slouch. It will be interesting to see which of these two stars will emerge victorious at WWE Backlash.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>If you use any quotes from the first half of the article, please credit the source and give an H\/T to Sportskeeda for the transcription.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline bottom\" data-tab=\"bottom\">\n<p>Get all the hottest wrestling news FIRST by clicking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=sportskeeda.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"bottom\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Shubhajit Deb<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/news-roman-reigns-upcoming-match-unexpected-says-wwe-star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WWE star Roman Reigns is going to put his newly-won World Heavyweight title on the line at Backlash, but the match itself was a piece of unexpected booking according to a star. The Tribal Chief regained gold at WrestleMania 42, taking down CM Punk in a heated fight. Afterwards, Jacob Fatu revealed himself to be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":242121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-242119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}