Rikishi Gives His Assessment On Zilla Fatu’s WWE Readiness

On the latest episode of Off The Top, Rikishi was asked about the future of his nephew, Zilla Fatu (the son of the late Umaga), and if he is ready to make his WWE debut. Rikishi confirmed that he believes Zilla is ready but that a run in NXT would be the best path for him. You can check out some highlights below:

On Zilla’s progress: “Well, it’s probably been about eight months to nine months since we even talked about Zilla. And you see him out there — you know, I have a lot of friends in the business, the promoters that are different parts of the country. And so my talks, or our talks together — it’s always to where I would like to know, what’s his strong points and what’s his weak points that we can continue to mentor him on. Because he’s definitely an athlete. His story is another story. That story as well, [is] similar to what Jacob went through. So in case he comes out with a song, or we put him on a remix of ‘Hello,’ I don’t want everybody just, ‘Oh, what’s happening here? What’s going on here?’ Check yourself, because when you listen to the story of this kid here, I mean, we understand it. We we’ve been there. We’ve seen it go and see what he walked through. And family’s been there.”

On timing: “Timing is everything. And I think that with his family there? With guys that used to be around his father that are there and truly love his dad — I’m sure that they’re going to want to take him underneath his wing once he comes through that locker room.”

On whether he’s ready: “Zilla is ready. I feel he’s ready. I feel like his father in some way still talks to him and to be able to give him that knowledge.”

On whether Zilla should go to NXT or the main roster: “I would think that probably the best thing for him, to help him see this in a different light, not like in an independent light. How the company operates, the rules and regulations of certain things. Solo went through [NXT], but I really knew that Solo was already ready if in case, he needed to go to the next level. And I feel the same way for Zilla. I think it’s not a bad thing if he goes to NXT, I think it’s a good thing. You know, it’s a good thing for those that are down there, that are not up into the the big show yet to get to know who Zilla Fatu is.”

On management getting to know him: “It’s good for Shawn Michaels and Matt Bloom, those guys, Steven Regal… those that are not around my nephew, I think it’s good for them, for him to be down there. And they can help prep him too as well. Because obviously NXT, they know what the deal is up there with Smackdown and Raw. And timing is everything. I feel when the time is right, the report will go back to the main guys, Triple H and everybody that’s in charge up there. And then it’s up to them to greenlight it or not.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Off The Top with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.