The Story So Far: Jacob Fatu Vs. Solo Sikoa At WWE Night Of Champions

Jacob Fatu is due to defend the United States Championship against Solo Sikoa this weekend, the latest Bloodline family feud between the "Tribal Chief" who never was against the man brought in to be his enforcer. With the title draped over his neck, Fatu has outgrown the man who had spent much of last year proclaiming his love for Sikoa, doing his bidding whether it be in his pursuit of Roman Reigns' Tribal Chiefdom or pursuing Cody Rhodes' WWE Championship. Theirs has been a tension growing and layering over the months, interacting and evolving with several catalysts, and now looks primed to explode when they step into the ring at Night of Champions. With that in mind, let's take a stroll down memory lane and revisit the story so far.

Fatu made his WWE debut on the June 21 episode of "WWE SmackDown" last year, brought into Sikoa's Bloodline to attack the trio of Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens. Sikoa had, by this point, usurped Reigns' position in The Bloodline — ejecting Jimmy Uso in lieu of Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa — and was looking to cement his place by bringing the WWE Championship back to the family. Fatu was his new heater, as proven when The Bloodline beat Rhodes, Orton, and Owens at Money in the Bank and again in August when Fatu and Tonga won the WWE tag titles. But his first stint with gold was short-lived, with Loa elevated to his position instead just weeks later so Fatu could focus on being Sikoa's enforcer.

Sikoa ultimately failed in his bid to dethrone Rhodes, and alongside Fatu lost a Bad Blood tag bout against the team of Rhodes and Reigns. They pulled a victory in the saga back at the Crown Jewel, with the trio of Sikoa, Fatu, and Tonga defeating the trio of Reigns and The Usos. 

That set up the Survivor Series: WarGames clash between The New Bloodline and The Original Bloodline, which was won by the OGs. Sikoa would then ultimately fail to dethrone Reigns officially as the "Tribal Chief" on the Netflix premiere of "WWE Raw" in January, prompting him to walk out on Fatu and Tonga rather than addressing the defeat on "SmackDown."

It was during his absence that Fatu started to grow into his own WWE star, entering the United States title picture with a feud against Braun Strowman yielding several car-crash moments. Sikoa returned to accompany Fatu on his way to challenging for the title at WrestleMania, with Fatu making it clear he took issue to being left without warning and that he wanted to do things his way. When Fatu did dethrone LA Knight for the title, he did so without help as he'd promised he would, showing Sikoa that their dynamic had completely shifted; Fatu was no longer the enforcer for Sikoa's goals, but his own performer ready to take control. Sikoa pushed back on that idea, bringing in JC Mateo and getting involved in Fatu's defense at Backlash, explicitly without his knowledge of the plan. And this was the beginning of the end.

Fatu made it clear he didn't trust Mateo or Sikoa's intentions for bringing him in, General Manager Nick Aldis referred to a plot of Sikoa's to screw Fatu over, and there grew an increasing sense of power struggle between them. On the June 6 episode of "SmackDown," Fatu was shown overhearing Sikoa calling him stupid and mocking him as "All gas and no brains," and things would come to a head as Fatu cost Sikoa the Money in the Bank ladder match the next night.

Fatu spoke first on the matter during the following "SmackDown" before Sikoa appeared via satellite to say he would be there the next week, and he would be willing to accept his enforcer back into the fold if he apologized. But it turned out that he would be the one apologizing after all, not that Fatu accepted it, declining to fall for what he felt was a trap and calling him out for changing his attitude since Fatu had won the title. 

Since he felt that was all Sikoa cared about, Fatu outright put the title between them and challenge him to this weekend's match. Sikoa tried to blindside his now-rival only for Fatu to have it scouted, and Jimmy Uso provided an unlikely assist to run Sikoa and Mateo off. Time will tell how the newest Bloodline internal conflict unfolds heading into Night of Champions.