On September 3, at the WWE Clash at the Castle pay-per-view event, Solo Sikoa returned from injury, interfering in the main event match between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre, and helping The Tribal Chief retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against The Scottish Psychopath, turning heel in the process.
A week later, Sikoa made his main roster in-ring debut on SmackDown, losing to McIntyre by disqualification following Karrion Kross’ attack on the former Universal Champion.
While speaking to the New York Post, Sikoa reflected on his first year in WWE – from his humble start in NXT, his brief NXT North American Title reign, and his subsequent involvement in The Bloodline as the “Silent Enforcer.” He said,
“It’s been a roller coaster. When I got hurt in August (PCL sprain) I thought things were gonna change and the next thing you know, I got the call to come up for Clash at the Castle. Everything was just happening fast. Making the transition from NXT to the main roster I think personally for me was easy because I had my brothers up there. I had Sami (Zayn) up there and Roman and Paul (Heyman) up there to help me and guide me. It’s been fun. I’m having a blast.”
“It was actually from Roman and Hunter (Triple H). I just got the call saying my flight is getting booked for Clash at the Castle, but I was still hurt at the time. I got cleared just in time before flying out. I got cleared on a Monday and I flew out on a Friday. When I got there, nobody said anything to me. Everybody was just like quiet, even Roman and Paul. I knew what I was there for but I didn’t know because the mission wasn’t clear. When we were getting ready to open up doors for Clash at the Castle, Triple H walks in and this is my first time meeting him. Then he goes, ‘You know this is your call-up?’ I was like, ‘Nah I didn’t know.’ ‘Welcome to the main roster, you’ll be on SmackDown.’”
“I love the [silent enforcer] character. I’m starting to get more into it. It’s a big change coming from NXT. In NXT I was talking a lot. Moving up with The Bloodline, I’ve switched over to this character that’s just in the corner kind of like a security guard waiting for things to pop off. And when things pop off, I pop off. I’m that kind of guy.”
Sikoa also revealed his plans to use Umaga’s Samoan Spike as his signature move going forward, and how Triple H was the one to come up with the idea. Sikoa said,
“It will definitely be one of my finishers now moving forward. The idea came from Hunter. Hunter pulled me aside. I think it was Paul Heyman’s idea, too, so Hunter wanted to run it by me. He goes, ‘I know your uncle was a big part of your guys’ family. I know what he meant to you guys. I wanted to ask you if you would be OK using the spike?’ I was like, I don’t know. I kind of want to stay away from it because that’s his thing. And he was like, ‘I know he passed away and yesterday was his anniversary,’ which was a Sunday and the next day was Raw. He goes, ‘I think it will be cool if you pay a tribute to him on TV by using the spike.’ I was like, ‘You know what man? Yeah, let’s do it.’ Once he said that I kind of got emotional. I was like, wow. For those who don’t remember who Umaga was, now I’m about to refresh their memory. It was a pretty cool moment for me to pay tribute to him.”
Sikoa named Rey Mysterio as his dream opponent and praised the masked legend before signing off. The former NXT North American champion said,
“I always thought Rey Mysterio would be cool. He is a very, very close family friend of ours, especially to my uncle Umaga. I think would be cool. Rey Mysterio is one of those guys I’d like to get in the ring with. He’s a GOAT man.”
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