• Big Return Planned For This Friday’s SmackDown
WWE’s plans for Jacob Fatu’s next chapter are centered less on when he comes back and more on how he comes back. Internal discussions within WWE creative have focused on reshaping Fatu’s on-screen role ahead of his expected return to television, with a potential shift in alignment now on the table.
According to Self Made Pro, Fatu is scheduled to return on this Friday’s SmackDown in Berlin, Germany, but not in the same role fans last saw.
Jacob Fatu has been off television for several months following a storyline attack and time away for dental surgery. While his absence began with him positioned as a fan-favorite, sources say WWE has since explored directions that would move him away from a straight babyface presentation.
Those familiar with the discussions say pitches have been made for Fatu to return with a more aggressive edge, potentially placing him on the opposite side of the crowd reaction he previously commanded. The idea has been circulating internally even though Fatu’s exit was firmly babyface.
BodySlam previously reported that WWE views 2026 as a potential breakout period for Jacob Fatu, with that trajectory delayed only by medical issues that forced him out of action late in 2025.
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• Lawsuit Claims WWE Copied Bloodline Ritual From Indy Promotion
A lawsuit filed in federal court is attempting to turn one of WWE’s most recognizable on-screen rituals into a copyright dispute. The case centers on the presentation of The Bloodline, not the wrestlers themselves, but the structure and staging of the group’s signature acknowledgment moment.
According to court filings reviewed by PWInsider, an independent wrestling promoter is alleging that WWE replicated a protected audiovisual sequence that originated outside the company years earlier.
The plaintiff, Nathaniel Tatha-Nanandji, promoted WCWA Wrestling in Arkansas and claims he created a repeatable visual sequence for a WCWA faction known as Tier 1 beginning in 2019. The lawsuit does not assert ownership over a single hand gesture or pose. Instead, it argues that the full sequence – timing, camera orientation, formation, movement order, and held final image – constitutes a copyrightable audiovisual work.
Filed on December 30, 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (Fayetteville Division), the 30-page complaint names WWE, its parent company TKO Group Holdings, and 2K Games along with related entities. The lawsuit alleges that WWE had ample opportunity to encounter WCWA content through publicly available footage and internal scouting processes before debuting a visually similar presentation for The Bloodline in 2021.
The filing lays out the claimed similarities in detail, describing a deliberate pause, a camera-facing hierarchical alignment, staggered single-finger arm raises initiated by a lead figure, and a sustained tableau designed to signal authority. The complaint argues that this progression, taken as a whole, mirrors the Tier 1 sequence first used by WCWA.
Tatha-Nanandji states that he registered copyrights for two WCWA event videos in September 2025 – Monsters and Men: Xander Gold vs. Brian Cage (October 2019) and WCWA Rematch: Purge 1 Double D vs. Dusty Gold – and later notified the defendants that he was asserting both copyright and trade dress claims. He says he first noticed the alleged similarities in early 2024.
The lawsuit also extends beyond television. It claims the disputed sequence was later licensed and reproduced within the WWE 2K video game series, broadening the scope of the alleged infringement.
As relief, the plaintiff is seeking a jury trial, a declaration of infringement, injunctive orders removing the material from WWE programming and video games, financial damages, profit disgorgement, destruction of the allegedly infringing content, attorney’s fees, and corrective advertising to address potential consumer confusion.
Public records show WCWA was formed in Springdale, Arkansas in 2012 and remains listed as active, though its online presence has been dormant for several years. As of this writing, court records indicate the defendants have not yet been formally served.
