The WWE Forgotten Files - Rikishi

[Dave]

Hey, guys! Welcome to a series of new threads that I am personally writing that will examine some of the forgotten superstars of yesteryear. In this edition, I will be looking Solofa Fatu, otherwise known as Rikishi. Rikishi wrestled with the WWE for approximately 12 years and transitioned through many different gimmicks and angles that should have cemented his place in the WWE Hall Of Fame. However, Rikishi seems to be have forgotten in the eyes of many WWE fans and this thread will examine his career and establish if this is just or not.

Solofa joined the WWE in 1992 after wrestling for WCW and many independent companies as the Samoan Swat Team. After joining the WWE, Solofa was repackaged into the Headshrinkers with his cousin Samu. After capturing the WWE tag team Championships, The Headshrinkers seemed to go their own ways until The New Headshrinkers was formed. However, it wasn’t until later in his career that Solofa would finally make it to the big leagues and gain some notoriety. After a spell of being known as a hood-savvy gangster, Solofa finally stumbled upon the gimmick that would shape the remaing years with the WWE. He was repackaged as Rikishi Phatu and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, with all the facts about his career out of the way, this discussion gets a little personal. I recall the first WWE television program I ever viewed as a child on my own free will. That was an edition of Sunday Night Heat and I ill never forget that night. It was generally on art around 1AM here and I would always sit up to watch it. As we all know now, Sunday Night Heat was the “Superstars” of today with not much really happening. However, as a child of 10 years old, it meant everything to me. The first main event I ever saw was Gangrel vs Rikishi and it caught my imagination.

I don’t mind telling you that Solofa was one of my favourite superstars during his run as Rikishi Phatu. As a meber of Two Cool, I always remember seeing the big man dance and knowing that wrestling would be major part of my life. When he donned those shades, my eyes lit up and I knew that I was going to be entertained. Grand Master Sexay and Scotty Too Hotty just seems like wingmen to the phenomenon that was Rikishi Phatu. For a big man, he moved like a featherweight and was very exciting to watch. One of the best (and most frightening) things about the big man was the stink face. Now, a 350 pound man winning around in a thong is not usually my idea of good television but it was enthralling. For me, Rikishi had perfected the art of being entertaining and dominating in way that the Big Show only wishes he could do.

However, his defining moment, for me, was running over Austin at Survivor Series. I will always remember watching that event at 4 in the morning with all of my friends. We had made a promise to watch the show and then not go to school the day after. However, I was the only one still awake as the finale of the show rolled around. It was and still is, the best piece of television I have ever witnessed. When Austin was hit with the car, I marked out and for it to be revealed that it was Rikishi only served to make me happier. Of course, when Triple H admitted that he had masterminded the full thing, I couldn’t help but feel that the opportunity to get Rikishi over as a heel had been lost.

There it was, the most important act of Rikishi career and in one attack with a sledgehammer, all of that was gone. Rikishi was relegated to being the muscle of the operation and Triple H was given the credit for one of the best things I have ever seen from the WWE. After that, Rikishi never really recovered and the rest of his career never really came close to match those dizzying heights again. However, Rikishi stuck around in the main event scene for a little longer and feuded with The Rock. His next big moment, for me, was the 6-man Hell In A Cell match at Armageddon. Again, this match set the heather alight. By this point, I was a full-blown Triple H mark and was rooting for him to take the win. However, I often reminisce about my favourite part of that match and the moment that always springs to mind is Rikishi being chokeslammed onto the haystacks from the top of the cell.

I may watch wrestling for the rest of my life and never come across a moment that made me freak out more. This was another in a long line of Rikishi moments that really made me appreciate the job that Rikishi did for the WWE. He was thrown in at the deep end and tried his best to keep up with a great roster that was competing with each other to be the main star. He competed with the best in the business and held his own. From Austin to The Rock. From Triple H to Kurt Angle, Rikishi held his own. Was he ever special enough to win the Championship amongst these people? Probably not but he gave it his all and I respect that.

After a rough couple of years after this, Rikishi was finally cut from the WWE. This was supposedly because of numerous requests to lose weight being turned down. After 12 years of service, Solofa was released and his career never recovered form that.

So, I ask you, people of WrestleZone Forums, why is Rikishi Phatu so often the forgotten man of the Attitude Era? Did he not have what it takes or was it a case of being drowned out by some of the personalities that he worked with? Did Rikishi have what it takes to be considered for the Hall OF Fame down the line or was he just a case of another Samoan in the WWE?

Personally, I loved Solofa. He will always be my first main event and I will never forget the moments he had.

But what do you all think?

 

[Spidey Revivey]

What do I think? I think he could've "Backed That Ass Up" a little bit more in his career. The man is underrated quite frankly. He could have carried the torch when Attitude Era was making its way out the door. He was involved with perhaps the most compelling "Who Dunnit?" since DALLAS by running over Stone Cold. He should have recieved more than what he did in his time, and he was a gimmick that got over well with the crowd.

Shame he left on those accounts. I always wondered why they didn't capitalized on his character.

 

[klunderbunker]

No to all counts.

The problem here was simple: he was a fat comedy act that was turned into a heel which BOMBED. At the end of the day, Austin was a crazed man looking for revenge against a 400lb dancing Samoan wearing a thong. Does that sound like a good angle or the start to a VERY bad joke? Rikishi was a guy that was supposed to be in the midcard/upper midcard and for whatever reason they threw him into the top heel spot. It bombed so they had to give it to HHH instead. Other than that, he's never done much of anything other than one of the biggest bumps ever on Val Venis. There just isn't much to him and he's never been much at all other than a bizarre turn that made no sense at all. No he's not forgotten. He's not wanted.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

personally i liked him more with the SST and as part of the headshrinkers... when they were with Afa and Capt Lou it was awesome! I hated the phat man rikishi though. I just couldn't stand his character, the cheesy dancing, hanging with two losers i mean too cool, and the stink face was the dumbest move ever. I'll admit at times i laughed but for the most part it was just disgusting and made wrestling look stupid. As part of the SST he was a killer, a savage with a doesn't give a fuck attitude and it was awesome. It's too bad he let his weight balloon out of control. Seeing the headshrinkers jump off the top rope was always one of my fav moves, i'll take that over a stink face any day.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

I love Rikishi! I too remember him as one of the first wrestlers i have ever seen. I was immediatly enthralled with this huge man running around in the ring, dancing, and acting like a fool. The only complaint i would have is that his backstage attitude isnt the best and his gimmick kinda got old and sucked after a while (not even his fault) Others disagree but I always thought that he was a damn good worker and (if given a more...... proper gimmick) could have been pushed longer, and harder. I miss him, but I think he had a decent run, he prolly isnt in wrestling shape anyway. BTW keep a look out for his twin boys, the Uso twins, they are like a smaller, quicker, better working/bumping version of Rikishi, i expect big things from these guys.

 

[Tougie]

Was he better than some of his family? Mainly The Rock and Yokozuna, no. Was he a decent in ring worker? Yes. Is he better than Cena with a better gimmick? Yes. Fact is he is better than most current WWE wrestlers and he had a long tenure in WWE. In a way his presence is still felt with his kids, The Usos, on the Raw brand.

His time with Too Cool was always entertaining and he was a part of some very memorable moments, all revolving around the stink face. From Vince McMahon to Pete Ross they all felt the wrath of the stink face. I think his heel turn in WWF was a mistake but it didnt ruin is legacy, if I can say that, within the company.

Good Wrestler? Eh Decent but good for a man his size. Good Entertainer? By far yes. Best wrestler of the Samoan Wrestling Family? Nope. But he was a solid lower mid card guy throughout his WWE career and it sucks his ability has been overshadowed by the stink face.

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

Solofa Fatu was a great wrestler, he could do what most big men could do. I will always remember that big man because he was the funniest guy i have ever seen. I will never forget when the rock shoved mr. mcmachon head up his ass. But sadly though this great wrestler will always be remember for nothing but the stink face. He held numous titles but that won't be in his legecy expect the stink face.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

I'll admit that I didn't see much of Rikishi, but what I did see I found both funny and entertaining. He was a helluva wrestler and a helluva worker. He could work the stick, but he was much scarier when he was silent. Also, the stinkface maneuver had the benefit of being both disrespectful and disgusting. You can't go wrong there.

His real difficulty is that just the time he was getting to be a major player, just at the point that McMahon was moving more and more towards "Ken Dolls" in terms of male physique. He didn't fit the type that was wanted and so he didn't have a chance at getting anywhere with major prestige. But, he was funny and believably dominant...like Umaga but in a language most people could understand.

 

[Captain America]

He was disgusting. I personally found him repulsive and I know I'm not the only one. How can anyone take a 400 pound wrestler in a thong seriously? How's he supposed to be this big scary badass, when he's wearing that ridiculous ring attire? People cheered for him only, because they found it funny when he would rub his ass in someone's face. No one ever took him seriously. He was a decent worker, but with his gimmick he's lucky to have gotten as far as he did.

 

[PBA_Sensation]

Not to knock this post or anything, but Duffman Dave here left out about 7 or 8 years of Rikishi's career. For a guy who started watching when Sunday Night Heat was airing, Im surprised he even knows anything about the SST or Headshrinkers.

Sure, he is most known now as a big fat guy who danced with Too Cool. But before that and after the whole Headshrinkers thing, he was a street wise guy who told kids to say no to drugs. He was "Officer Dare", if you will. He had a good few feuds with a young Hunter Hearst Helmsley as the man known as Fatu.

Then a few years go by, and for whatever reason, he was paired with the Iron Sheik. He was put under a mask and called "The Sultan". He had a decent mid card jobber role, having a few IC matches. After that failure, he THEN came back to be the dancing fat guy.

If you are going to make a series of this, make sure you add in everything, not just the big things. Obviously the "forgotten files" of Solafa Fatu have been forgotten by the poster. In anyway, I hope to fill in the blanks here with this info. Great idea for a post though, dont get me wrong

 

[The Brain]

Fatu was one of those guys who was always around. Sometimes you didn’t really notice him, but he was always there. The Headshrinkers joined the WWF when tag team wrestling was still alive and they fit in quite well. Unfortunately about a year and a half after their debut tag team wrestling was dying in the WWF and the Headshrinkers became champions almost by default. Shortly after dropping the titles Samu left the WWF and Fatu couldn’t keep his momentum with new partner Seone. After the New Headshrinkers Fatu decided to shed his savage persona and try to make a difference in his community. He encouraged kids to stay in school and stay away from drugs. That gimmick had no impact and didn’t last long. The Sultan gimmick wasn’t mentioned in this thread and for good reason. Other than an IC title match at WM13 (a poor substitution for an injured Marc Mero) he did nothing as the Sultan.

That leads us to Rikishi. I don’t think anyone expected Rikishi to get over like he did in 2000. When I heard Fatu was coming back in late 1999 I figured he would be destined for Heat as a glorified jobber. When he danced with Too Cool for the first time he caught lightning in a bottle. The fans ate that up and the WWF wisely took notice. Rikishi was one of the most popular guys in all the WWF in 2000. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. A lot of people remember the stinkface and remember Rikishi as a fat guy in a thong. He was actually a pretty good wrestler and moved really well for a man his size. His launching samoan drop and sit down piledriver were awesome. I remember a match very early in 2000 where Rikishi wrestled Triple H on raw. I couldn’t believe how the crowd was behind Rikishi. It’s really amazing how over he was. Turning heel was the worst thing that ever happened to Rikishi. You would think a big feud with Steve Austin would be great for him, but the angle was a total bust. Rikishi got injured around WM17 and returned as the fun loving fat man at the end of 2001. He never captured that momentum he had before the heel turn. He would spend the next three years as a lower mid card guy and wouldn’t really be relevant again.

Overall Fatu had a nice career for himself. He was part of a good tag team. He struggled to find an identity with some low mid card gimmicks. He then became one of WWF’s most popular guys during the company’s most successful year. A failed heel turn regulated him back to the undercard. He was a bit underrated as a wrestler. He had consistent employment and longevity so that in itself makes him at least somewhat of a success. I don’t see him as a hall of famer, but Fatu had a respectable career.

EDIT: I saw PBA also mentioned The Sultan while I was typing my response. Good catch.

 

[JJ15776]

You forgot his brief run as The Sultan.

He's forgotten, but I think wrestling history is full of guys like that. Those vital midcarders that carry the show when the stars aren't on, but nobody remembers them as soon as they're gone. Is he Hall of Fame worthy? You have to look at the Hall of Fame as it is to answer that. And when you look at the Hall of Fame, there's no argument: he deserves to be there. Because their HOF has no standards. You can't say Rikishi shouldn't be in when Koko B Ware is in. The Wild Samoans are in there. Tito Santana, Junkyard Dog, Big John Studd, Bobo Brazil...the HOF is full of Rikishi's. I see no reason for him not to be inducted someday, especially with his sons in the WWE today.

 

[mister_b1LL]

Although his career is not very Hall OF Fame worthy, Fatu did provide us with really memorable moments. Like when he got chokeslammed of the top of the HIAC, but then again it takes a few seconds for you to remember who was the one that went for the ride. I really enjoyed him with Too Cool. They were my favorite tag team back in the day and I'm not embarrassed to say it. And as for the Stinkface, when it came to heels getting their just desserts, there were two ways I considered the best: One was getting a Stunner from Austin, and the other was getting a Stinkface from Rikishi. When it happened, I was always like, "FINALLY!!!"

 

[Camie]

I thought Rikishi in Summer of 2000 was great. One of Rikishis defining moments was when he competed in a steel cage match with Val Venis for the Intercontinental Championship. Definately a "holy sh*t" moment when he climbed the cage and we seen a 400+ Samoan
splash all the way down on Val Venis.

Having never really thought about it, I think Rikishi did go downhill when he turned heel. The fact he was going crazy and saying he did it for the Rock just made him sound looney and pathetic. It's a shame his career went down as he was in some very entertaining matches considering the size of the man.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I always enjoyed Rikishi's work but i have to say that the Austin angle did kill his character completely. In late 1999 his character got over so well that Too Cool suddenly found themselves fighting alongside Rock N Sock to take on DX and The Radicalz on a couple of occassions. He took the returning tag team and elevated them to ME RAW (ok it was once, but still, for Too Cool that was a big jump)

Throughout 2000 people loved Rikishi. The 2000 Rumble had one of the best starts because Rikishi eliminated everyone up until he was finally ganged up on, and everyone paid attention from then on.

Hell he even beat up Chyna when she and Eddie were faces, and she cost Rikishi an IC title match against Eddie. He attacked a female face twice and the fans still cheered. A month later, and he's revealed to be the one who ran over Austin, for a really bizarre reason (as if the Rock needed help beating Austin?) except HHH put him up to it, and then suddenly he's tagging along Haku and people were more focused on 'Why the fuck is Meng back in WWF?' than 'what is Rikishi doing these days?' and that was it.

He did have a brief return around 2003/2004, but aside from a quick tag title reign with Scotty, there was nothing memorable about the rest of his career.

He was one of the most popular mid-carders of 2000 and before that year ended he was doomed to failure. He was possibly the worst choice to be Austin's attacker. Funaki would have been a better choice.

My favourite Rikishi match would be his KOTR final match with Kurt. That match made me believe that Rikishi would be a big name for years in the 'E'. How wrong was i?

 

[Nadeem Ahmad]

I too mostly enjoyed seeing Fatu before he became Rikishi because he was actually more agile and quicker in the ring. The way he presented himself let it seem as if he was in it for the wrestling more than the entertainment although that perception changed after he came back on Sunday Night Heat. It was nice for the commentators to announce he was making a return and not to treat him like a different person but this aspect did not greatly affect the rest of the career for him. I think he inadvertantly was able to use the responses and reactions from the crowds to play a big part in him rising to a small level of fame.

He did amazing things in the ring. Does anybody else remember how he would literally flip with one rotation after getting clotheslined by Steve Austin? I don't remember if it was backwards or forward but still felt it was impressive. The era of attitude was quite different and played to him well but I just could not picture him keeping a title for an extended time due to conditioning and weight. He actually gained almost one hundred pounds between the time he was The Sultan and Rakishi Phatu. I'm glad he held the Intercontinental Championship which still was more about technical wrestling in the nineties and this decade than the WWE Championship was.

 

[BigRedPunk]

I loved Rikishi. This may suprise some of you but he is at least my top 5 favorite wrestlers of all time along with The Rock, Kane, Yokozuna, and Stone Cold. He was very entertaining in a comedic sense and I remember him dancing with Too Cool at Royal Rumble 2000 and then throwing them out which was funny and understandable at the same time. I have not forgotten him. He is also related to another two of my favorite wrestlers The Rock and the late Yokozuna in the cousin sense. He will never be forgotten in my mind at least.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I will always remember that, "HE DID IT FOR THA ROCK"...

lol..this could have been huge..especially in 2000, he was huge..got huge reactions from the crowd when he was with too cool...the problem was...he turned HEEL...that was the downfal...he couldn't pull it off..even after dropping his ass on The Rock a dozen times at Survivor Series 2000...just never worked..and he didn't really belong in the cell match in 2000... I will always remember Rikishi for what he did in the year 2000...his best year...obviously...

 

[Zigglerfan227]

I will not forget Rikishi. I think that he was cool and he put on great matches. He could also do crazy things that other guys of his size could not do (such as running so fast and using the superkick for starters). I feel that Rikishi may have been overshadowed by the likes of Stone Cold, Triple H, The Rock, and other wrestlers of his time.