Rikishi...Overpushed? Underpushed?

[Steamboat Ricky]

Ok, so as I was watching the 2000 RR, I started reflecting on Rikishis time in the WWF around the 2000-2001 time period. He was a pretty major player, but he never quite got over the hump to being a LEGIT guy.

Do you think he was overpushed? Underpushed? Just right?


I think he could have been made pretty huge (haha, no pun) if they would have not made Rikishi the guy who "ran over Austin." He always drew a lot of face reaction, and if they would have let him compete legitimately without doing stuff like "The Stinkface" after a certain point, he could have been big. But he wasn't an over enough face to make that kind of heel turn, and that is what really led to his demise.

Discuss.

 

[RKO Orton]

I really think Rikishi was very, very overpushed. He just seemed to have a stupid gimmick with Too Cool and after that it seemed like a joke. I never really liked him, he seemed like he was never good. I thought he got pushed to the moon and Umaga is a way better wrestler then Rikishi ever was.

 

[Colamania]

Oh man, the 2000 royal rumble! Rikishi and Too Cool stopping the rumble to dance! That was a great moment. Then Big Kish throws out both of Too Cool, and starts dancing again! Kick ass moment. I loved Rikishi, but they didn't handle him properly. For a big guy, he could work. He could move around the ring, he had a fair amount of speed for his size, and he could dance! Plus, that damned Rikishi Driver looked lethal. Off the shoulder down onto the head like that... ouch. So, I say underpushed, but what I really mean is underutilized. If they'd handled him differently, and not had him as a slightly goofy dancer, he would have been good. His heel turn was too much, too soon. A much better heel turn would have been him attacking Too Cool during one of their dances or something. He could destroy Too Cool, get rid of that gimmick, and then be a mid-card heel for a while, beore becoming a low level main eventer. He could have been great, but he was turned to quickly, in too big a way.

EDIT: On second thoughts, as there's no option for "Under-utilized", I'm gonna have to go with "I DID IT... FOR DA ROCK!"

Classic stuff.

 

[klunderbunker]

I think he was pushed too much as well. The turn he made was just so random. One night he's hanging out with Too Cool, the next he's the lead heel in the company. His turn could've worked, but never to the extent that WWE had in mind. Rikishi's character only had so far that it could go, and another major factor was his ring attire. I'm sorry but I can't take a heel seriously when he's in a thong that used to be one of the biggest jokes in the organization. His style was actually good in the ring, but he was just pushed too fast and it was almost as if they were trying to jsut turn the same character into a heel without making any changes at all. Verdict: Overpushed.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

I think he was pushed too much as well. The turn he made was just so random. One night he's hanging out with Too Cool, the next he's the lead heel in the company. His turn could've worked, but never to the extent that WWE had in mind. Rikishi's character only had so far that it could go, and another major factor was his ring attire. I'm sorry but I can't take a heel seriously when he's in a thong that used to be one of the biggest jokes in the organization. His style was actually good in the ring, but he was just pushed too fast and it was almost as if they were trying to jsut turn the same character into a heel without making any changes at all. Verdict: Overpushed.

WAY WRONG VOTE. The correct answer is: "I DID IT...FOR DA ROCK."


The ring attire was fine. Like I said, the only thing that went wrong was the push that he got. And the stinkface. The Rikishi Driver should have been his finisher. It was BALLLLER and way better than the Banzai Drop.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I really honestly feel they under-pushed him. The guy, for a bigger wrestler, had a ton of talent. He wasn't your typical Mark Henry, or Big Daddy V type wrestler. He had great potential.

In 2000 they truly pushed him as a possible Main Event, World Champion class wrestler. Somewhere within that time, they drown him out to Too Cool in 6 Man Tag Team matches, then they threw him to Steve Austin, which he had no chance of coming out on top. And if you truly look at that, he was nothing more than a pawn that Triple H. used.. the ultimate storyline showed Triple H. being the mastermind behind the entire thing, with Rikishi only being the "wheel-man."

Then they had him cut the world's most infamous promo in how he did everything he did, because of race?! Because apparently the world of Professional Wrestling hasn't pushed all their Samoan Superstars.. all.. 7 of them?! The stupidity of the entire thing is, he supposedly did it, for The Rock, who was the biggest name in the business, without Austin's injury. So more or less, he did everything he did, for someone other than himself. Which basically means, he took himself out of the entire picture, with exception of making him look like a complete idiot.

I think Rikishi truly had the potential to be a World Heavyweight Champion, for at least a good 6 month run. He worked well in almost every feud he ever had. Hes had tremendous matches with Chris Benoit, Steve Austin, Undertaker, The Rock, and Triple H.

Rikishi reminded me a lot of a thinner Yokozuna, and I LOVED Yokozuna as World Champion. He was a truly unstoppable force. Rikishi would've never been seen as that, but he could've been seen as dominate, had they given him more of a chance.. rather than merely tossing him to Austin, to chew up and spit out.

 

[cline00]

I think Rikishi was way over with the fans and it seems like WWE forgot about him around Spring 2001, then he disappeared from WWE TV. When he finally did return to TV he was never was used as one of the top guys anymore, but was more of a mid carder to help the younger talent such as Lesnar and Cena get over. Was he overpushed?...I don't think so because the fans were really behind him at one point. Despite his size and not being able to move well in the ring, i think WWE just pushed him based on his reaction, which most of the time isn't a bad thing if you want to make some money off a superstar.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Despite his size and not being able to move well in the ring

Yeah freaking right. Rikishi is probably the most agile, mobile fat guy EVER in wrestling. The stuff that guy could do was phenomenal. Can you envision Viscera taking an Angle-Slam from the top rope? That's why Rikishi could have been the best heavy guy ever.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It depends. As Rikishi he was overpushed. I really don't know how he got the Austin angle, or at least a part of it. Kids liked him, but he wasn't getting monster reactions or having great matches. People cheered for the Stink Face and the dancing. Maybe if they'd put him in tights instead, he could have been a more credible wrestler.

But he was talented. As a Headshrinker I thought he was pretty solid. Obviously he wasn't pushed really hard so I doubt we'll ever know how good he was.

It's ironic though that he didn't get a huge push when he was slimmer and more agile. But he got pushed after he'd been shot and had gained considerable weight.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

It depends. As Rikishi he was overpushed. I really don't know how he got the Austin angle, or at least a part of it. Kids liked him, but he wasn't getting monster reactions or having great matches. People cheered for the Stink Face and the dancing. Maybe if they'd put him in tights instead, he could have been a more credible wrestler.

The dancing and Stink Face were what basically killed him as a legit Main Event Championship contender. When they turned him heel, during the Austin angle.. it was his best shot at getting away from the childish outlook, but it was too late.. because people never forget something that lastful.

The Stink Face was the worst, and dumbest thing they had him do. Seriously, I want you to picture what could've happened, had they told Yokozuna to do that shit. Yoko was a great big man, however had he attempted dancing once.. or even worse, that Stink Face bullshit.. he would've NEVER been anything.

But he was talented. As a Headshrinker I thought he was pretty solid. Obviously he wasn't pushed really hard so I doubt we'll ever know how good he was.

He was only ever a Tag Team specialist as a Headshrinker though. Talented, yes. Solid, absolutely. But without the "it" factor of a single's Superstar. And if you think about it, they tried. Fatu (in the Rikishi type/hip hop gear) during 1996.. they gave him a sorta "say no to drugs" gimmick, that basically flopped.

It's ironic though that he didn't get a huge push when he was slimmer and more agile. But he got pushed after he'd been shot and had gained considerable weight.

I think they pushed him upon him gaining weight, because he had a better overall appearance as a big man. He wasn't made to be the stereo-typical slimmer/agile type wrestler.. but as Rikishi, as the big man wrestler, who could have cruiserweight moments.. it worked greatly for him.

The thing I'm surprised at, is the Sultan (spelling) never got a bigger push. That was truly one of the biggest single's gimmicks he ever got, and he could've been a monsterous, somewhat unstoppable, heel then. But they didn't do anything with the gimmick.. which made it nothing more than a waste.

 

[laya_4life]

I think they underused Rikishi big time. When he 1st came out, you didnt know if he was a heel or babyface. I think he was gonna be a heel, but the fans reaction to him made him a face, and then putting him with two cool was perfect. and if you remember he was over pretty big,they were the highest mid card faces they had, behind the rock and jericho and mankind. Where i think wwe really messed up, whether it was just stupid booking or politics(more than likely the latter) is when they had the episode of smackdown where rikishi challeneged hhh for the title, and no matter what HHH did he couldnt beat him. so he got dis qualified by using a chair on rikishi, and even that couldnt stop him. At the end of that episode...the fans were chanting RIKISHI..LOUD...and it looked like the making of a new maineventer and foe for HHH. however nothin came of that, afterwards. I never understood why not. Botom line Rikishi was so over then, why they didnt push him more I'll never understand.