AJ Styles had a front-row seat for Zilla Fatu’s WWE NXT debut, and also played a role behind the scenes.
Fatu, the son of late WWE star Umaga, made his NXT debut on August 12 when he interfered in the match between Grayson Waller and Cruz Montana. Speaking on The AJ Styles Show (see video below), Styles revealed that he served as the producer for the bout.
“I’ll give you one guess which match I got to produce at NXT. Cruz Montana and Grayson Waller. I was lucky enough to be able to produce their match. Listen, there’s not a lot you have to do with this match, because you’ve got two pros who’ve been on television. They know what they’re doing. I had no worries they’d get it done in the time they needed to. Total pros,” Styles said.
Styles praised both Waller and Montana for their work, noting how physical the match became.
“These guys, I don’t know if you saw them both at the end of the match, but there were bruises on their chests. There was a boot mark on Cruz’s face. They got after it. There was some very real stuff going on, and I liked it. These guys were hitting each other hard. I was impressed by how they wrestled, and I didn’t have to worry about how it was going to go.
“Again, I’m there to help produce. It’s not like I’m putting together this match for them. They can do this, too. But to give ideas and stuff like that, because I know them both, it’s a little bit easier. Like when I have a producer like Abyss or Petey Williams who know my stuff, they know what I do and they can suggest these things. It’s a little bit easier to help produce a match. But again, it’s not like I had to do a lot. All I had to do was let them loose,” he added.
The match ultimately served as the backdrop for Fatu’s arrival, with the 26-year-old coming through the crowd and attacking both Waller and Montana.
Styles came away impressed by what he saw from Fatu, particularly the presence he displayed during his first NXT appearance.
“Then, lo and behold, we get Zilla Fatu come out from the people and take it to both Grayson Waller and Cruz Montana, and it was freaking awesome. He looks like a star. Just his presence, it’s a very intimidating presence. Zilla Fatu looks so intimidating. If you don’t know how scary he is, he did those splashes without knee pads. It was really cool. The fans went crazy in NXT, so yeah, it was a really cool moment,” Styles added.
