Rikishi is one of the most underrated WWE stars after many reinventions throughout his career. A stint in tag team action with the Samoan Swat Team and Headshrinkers helped him get started. WWE tried to reinvent him as The Sultan with failed results in the New Generation Era.

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The renaming as Rikishi allowed him to experiment with new character traits when thriving with Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty in Too Cool. Rikishi got over huge in the Attitude Era which helped him eventually get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Find out more about what down behind the scenes for the legend, throughout each chapter of his run. The following stories will provide more info about Rikishi’s career.

10 Gear Was Inspired By Vince's Yokozuna Regrets

Rikishi

The start of the Rikishi character featured him wearing the gear that exposed his behind. Bruce Prichard revealed that Vince McMahon had strong regrets about not having Yokozuna wear something to showcase the size of his backside.

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The similar finisher of the Banzai Drop would add more importance when seeing the larger size of Rikishi. Even the stink face move was something Vince felt Yokozuna could have hugely benefited from when looking at the flaws as a performer back then.

9 'Make A Difference' Gimmick Was Based On His Real Life

Fatu

WWE tried a few failed gimmicks with Rikishi earlier in his career. One of them included a real-life backstory that resulted in him trying to make a difference. The gimmick featured Rikishi wanting to connect with kids that had tough upbringings.

Rikishi grew up in a tough environment that once featured him getting shot in a drive-by shooting. The world of wrestling helped turn his life around and find a passion. Vince McMahon was touched by the story and tried to make it part of television, but it felt a bit too much like a hokey PSA to connect.

8 WWE Doctors Stopped Him From The Doing Stink Face At Reunion

John Cena, The Usos and Rikishi

WWE brought Rikishi back at the 2019 Raw Reunion special with other top names from the past. Rikishi got to appear in a segment with his sons, The Usos for a fun moment. Fans were surprised though, as Rikishi didn’t get physical at all.

The reason for these limitations was WWE doctors not clearing the big man, despite him wanting to do more. Rikishi was planned to deliver a stink face for a funny moment, but WWE held off due to fears of health risks.

7 Had A Falling Out With TNA Management

Rikishi in TNA

The end of Rikishi’s run with WWE made him a top name on the free agent market. Few wrestlers with as much name value were out there for TNA to sign, and they took a flyer on bringing in Rikishi under the name of Junior Fatu.

Both sides were unhappy with the trial run due to miscommunications. Rikishi made a huge mistake referring to Bobby Roode as Rick Rude during a promo and lacked motivation. TNA didn’t offer him as much as they initially discussed, once seeing him perform to end the relationship quickly.

6 Vince Thought Two Former Champs Managing Him Would Make Sultan Work

The Sultan

WWE tried to create a new character known as The Sultan for Rikishi in the mid-90s. The gimmick seemed a bit outdated and completely tanked. WrestleMania 13 featured Sultan having zero credibility when facing The Rock.

Vince McMahon believed the idea would work when having both The Iron Sheik and Bob Backlund as the managers. The Sultan didn’t connect at all, and many of the fans at the time had little nostalgia for the legends to have it overshadow the failed idea.

5 Heel Turn Vs. Austin Came Due To Too Many Top Faces At The Time

Rikishi and Mick Foley

The biggest storyline of Rikishi’s career came in 2000 when he was revealed as the person who ran over Steve Austin with a car. WWE booked the angle a year in advance to write Austin off television due to his neck surgery.

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The choice of Rikishi was strange, but WWE wanted someone to provide a real surprise. Rikishi couldn’t move up the card as a thriving face due to the bigger names in that role. Steve Austin, The Rock and The Undertaker were always going to be slotted above Rikishi meaning he needed a heel turn to make it work. The interest in Rikishi vs. Austin never panned out to raise his profile.

4 Flopping As A Heel Forced Triple H To Turn

Triple H vs Steve Austin

Fans didn’t take to Rikishi as a heel to make the big reveal work the way WWE intended. Rikishi did not come off as a credible threat to Steve Austin or The Rock when having the biggest singles matches of his career.

WWE pivoted with a new twist of Triple H hiring Rikishi to take out Austin with the car. Triple H was playing a face for a few weeks before the reveal. WWE changed course and badly needed to fix the angle by having Triple H go back to his sadistic heel character, to feud with Austin.

3 WWE Believed He Was Lying About Getting Cleared Before Release

Rikishi

The end of Rikishi’s WWE run came in 2004 after an impressive twelve consecutive years under the contract. Rikishi was off television for months following his tag team run with Scotty 2 Hotty ending after WrestleMania XX.

The time requested off by Rikishi lasted longer than expected with him claiming he was waiting to be cleared by his personal doctor. WWE believed that the timetable was long expired and released him due to the miscommunication.

2 Received Heat For Not Mentioning Too Cool In HOF Speech

Too Cool

 

The Hall of Fame induction of Rikishi cemented his status in WWE as a legend. Rikishi was beloved by many people in management, who didn’t want to waste time before they finally called him to inform him about his induction.

One negative about his Hall of Fame speech was the lack of references to Too Cool. Neither Brian Christopher nor Scotty 2 Hotty were thanked by Rikishi even though Too Cool helped him get over the hump to find such popularity in WWE. Bruce Prichard revealed he and many others were disappointed in the big man for snubbing them on his big night.

1 Was Afraid For His Life With The Hell In A Cell Bump

Rikishi vs The Undertaker

The Armageddon 2000 Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship featured six top stars battling inside of the structure. Kurt Angle retained the title over The Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H, The Undertaker and Rikishi in a match with all future Hall of Famers.

Rikishi took the biggest bump of the match when getting shoved off the cage by Undertaker on a truck with some cushioning for his fall. The spot was scary enough for Rikishi to tell Undertaker “tell my family I love them” before going through with it. Rikishi was thankfully okay and didn’t even miss any time, with everything going according to plan.

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