Rikishi (wrestler)

This article is about the Samoan American wrestler. For the general term for sumo wrestler, see Rikishi.

Rikishi
Rikishi at the Big Apple Comic Con, May 22, 2011.
Born	(1965-10-11) October 11, 1965 San Francisco, California
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Alofa the Polynesian Prince Mirac/.;l; Headshrinker Fatu J.R Smooth Junior Fatu Kishi Rikishi Riki-Shi Rikishi Phatu The Sultan
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight	425 lb (193 kg)
Billed from	The Isle of Samoa
Trained by	Wild Samoans (Afa Anoaʻi and Sika Anoaʻi)
Debut	1985

Solofa Fatu Jr. (born October 11, 1965) is a Samoan American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Rikishi (which means sumo wrestler in Japanese) with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a one time Intercontinental Champion, two time World Tag Team Champion, and one time WWE Tag Team Champion.

Professional wrestling career

The Samoan Swat Team (1985-1992)

Solofa Fatu, Jr. first got the fans attention in 1985 as he worked for Gino Brito and Dino Bravo’s “International Wrestling" territory based in Montreal. While in Montreal, Fatu worked as Prince Alofa, a high flying babyface often working as a team with the territory’s top faces. While working in Montreal, Solofa hung out with his cousin Samula Anoaʻi who was working in the area as the heel "The Great Samu". When the Montreal territory closed up, the two cousins signed with the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico and became The Samoan Swat Team (Samu & Fatu). The team adopted the “Samoan savage" gimmick that had made their fathers so well known and feared throughout the wrestling world, working barefoot and never speaking English on camera. The team became the first ever WWC Caribbean Tag Team Champions on November 7, 1987 when they beat Invader I and Invader III. The duo held the title for just over a month before dropping them to Mark and Chris Youngblood before leaving the promotion.

Samu and Fatu next appeared in Texas, working for Fritz Von Erich’s World Class Championship Wrestling promotion. The storyline was that Buddy Roberts brought the team in to fight his fights against the Von Erich family and former Fabulous Freebirds partner Michael Hayes. The SST was given a big push right away; presented as an unstoppable force, the team was even allowed to beat hometown heroes Kerry and Kevin Von Erich for the WCCW Tag Team Titles on August 12, 1988. The Samoans remained undefeated in WCCW until they came up against Roberts’ former partner Michael Hayes and Hayes new partner, “Do It To It" Steve Cox on September 12. The duo was not without the gold for long as they recaptured the titles only four days later. Hayes and Cox beat the Samoan Swat Team for the titles once again on October 15, but this time they only held the gold for two days before they lost it back to the SST. On September 12, 1988, The Samoan Swat Team become double champions as they beat "Hollywood" John Tatum and Jimmy Jack Funk for the WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship. The Samoan Swat Team made their pay-per-view debut at AWA SuperClash III, the first (and only) PPV that the American Wrestling Association ever presented. The Samoans successfully defended their WCCW Tag-Team titles against Michael Hayes and Steve Cox. In the beginning of 1989, the Samoans left WCCW, forcing both tag team titles to be vacated due to the sudden departure.

The Samoan Swat Team signed with Jim Crockett Promotions and was brought in as manager Paul E. Dangerously’s replacements for the "Original" Midnight Express who had left the promotion. The Samoans also took over the "Original" Midnight Express’ feud with the Midnight Express, winning at Clash of the Champions VI on April 2, 1989. The Samoans teamed with former rival Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Jimmy Garvin at the 1989 Great American Bash, losing a WarGames match to the Road Warriors, the Midnight Express, and Steve Williams. In the fall of 1989, Paul E. Dangerously was phased out and the Samoans were given a new manager: "The Big Kahuna" Oliver Humperdink. Their ranks were also bolstered by the addition of The Samoan Savage, who is Fatu’s brother. The Samoans started to lose more and more matches as 1989 drew to a close, but their fortunes appeared to be changing due to the injury to Sid Vicious. Because Vicious was injured, the Skyscrapers had to pull out of the "Iron Team Tournament" at Starrcade 1989 and the Samoan Swat Team were chosen to be their replacements. Fatu and the Samoan Savage participated while no explanation was given as to why the more experienced Samu was not chosen. For the remainder of the Samoan Swat Team’s time in WCW, Fatu and the Samoan Savage competed under the name while Samu made a few singles appearances.

After leaving WCW in the summer of 1990, the Samoan Swat Team worked for a number of independent promotions in the US, Europe, and Japan, often teaming up with family member Rodney Anoa'i who competed as "Kokina Maximus". The family worked for the Universal Wrestling Association in 1991 with Fatu, Kokina, and The Samoan Savage winning the UWA Trios Tag-Team titles and holding it for just under two months. They also made a headline appearance on the UWA’s 16th anniversary show losing to Dos Caras, El Canek, and Mil Máscaras.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

The Headshrinkers (1992-1995)

The team changed their name to the Headshrinkers, but their gimmick of Samoan wildmen remained the same. Rodney Anoa'i also signed with the WWF but he was repackaged as "Yokozuna" and the family ties between him and the Samoans were not mentioned on air. The team first made their presence known when they helped Money Inc. beat the Natural Disasters to win the World Tag Team Championship. Early in their run with the WWF, the Headshrinkers feuded with the Natural Disasters and the recently formed High Energy. The Headshrinkers also, received a little push when the Headshrinkers defeated teams composed of pure jobbers.

Between 1992 and the early parts of 1994, the Headshrinkers maintained a position in the middle of the tag team division. They occasionally challenged for the titles and made sporadic PPV appearances feuding with teams like The Smoking Gunns and Men on a Mission. The Headshrinkers assisted their relative Yokozuna in a casket match against The Undertaker at the Royal Rumble. In April, the Headshrinkers turned face and challenged then tag team champions The Quebecers; with the addition of manager Lou Albano the team won the gold on April 26. At King of the Ring on June 19, the Headshrinkers successfully defended their tag team titles against Yokozuna and Crush. Their run with the titles came to an end on an untelevised card on August 28 where they lost the titles to Shawn Michaels and Diesel. The title change happened just one day before they were scheduled to defend against Irwin R. Schyster and Bam Bam Bigelow. Soon after the title change, Samu left the WWF to recover from injuries and was replaced by Sione, who formed the "New Headshrinkers" with Fatu.

The storyline reason given for Samu’s departure was that he was not coping well with manager Lou Albano’s attempts to civilize the Headshrinkers, especially wearing boots. For the first time ever, one half of the Samoan Swat Team/Headshrinkers was not a member of the Anoa'i family nor a Samoan, as Sione was from the island of Tonga. The New Headshrinkers made only one PPV appearance as a team which was at the Survivor Series where they were quickly eliminated. They were also both participants in the Royal Rumble. The only other notable appearance of the New Headshrinkers was as part of the tournament to crown new WWF tag team champions in late 1994/early 1995. The New Headshrinkers lost to Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka in the Semi-Finals. By July, the New Headshrinkers ended as Sione signed with WCW. By the time Sione left the WWF, and, the team was used to put over new teams such as Jacob & Eli Blu.

Singles competition (1995–1998)

Fatu during his "Make a Difference" gimmick in 1995

Fatu became a singles wrestler in 1995; the WWF repackaged Fatu by dropping the “savage" gimmick and revealing that Fatu could speak English and was raised in the US. Fatu became a "man of the streets" who spoke about growing up in the hood and being shot during a real-life drive-by; the shooting had left Fatu clinically dead for three minutes and remains visible from a scar on his abdomen. He started gaining weight from 280-300 lbs. During this time he was referred to as “Make a Difference" Fatu. After a short while, two men started to show up whenever Fatu was in the ring: Samu and his brother Lloyd Anoaʻi, also known as "The Samoan Gangster Party". The Samoan Gangster Party, however, never got in the ring or confronted Fatu before he was repackaged and the whole angle was dropped.

The WWF then decided to give Fatu a total change, as he became a stereotypical “Middle Eastern" known as The Sultan, complete with a face mask to hide who was playing the gimmick. In storyline The Sultan's tongue was removed thus he never spoke in promos. He was managed by the Iron Sheik and Bob Backlund. He now weighed at 340 lbs. He was given a shot at Rocky Maivia's Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania 13 but failed to win the gold. Fatu left the spotlight when the Sultan gimmick was dropped in early 1998 to get better training at Dory Funk Jr's.

Too Cool (1999–2000)

Rikishi at King of the Ring in 2000.

Main article: Too Cool

After Fatu received gradual training, he returned on the November 13, 1999 episode of WWF Metal as Rikishi Fatu beating Julio Fantastico, the Rikishi name being a sumo wrestling term similar to his cousin Yokozuna's professional wrestling name. Then the name would become Rikishi Phatu, but was eventually shortened to Rikishi when he started teaming with Too Cool. He had gained a great deal of weight at 425 lbs bleached his hair blonde, and exchanged his long trousers for a thong. Rikishi had a brief feud with Viscera before aligning with Too Cool, which consisted of Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty. It was at this point that Rikishi's popularity began to soar as their post-match dance routine became popular with fans. During the 2000 Royal Rumble, Rikishi eliminated seven opponents in the Royal Rumble match; he was eliminated by six wrestlers working together.

Rikishi became famous for giving wrestlers the Stink Face, as his butt was rubbed in the face of an opposing wrestler. This move became very popular with the fans. In May 2000, Rikishi and Too Cool feuded with Edge, Christian, and Kurt Angle, culminating in a victory at Judgment Day. After winning the Intercontinental Championship on the June 22 episode of SmackDown! from Chris Benoit, Rikishi qualified for the 2000 King of the Ring tournament. On June 25 he defeated Benoit and Val Venis in the quarter and semi-finals respectively, but both his opponents hit him with a steel chair after losing, weakening his shoulder and helping Kurt Angle defeat him in the finals. Stemming from Venis's attack at King of the Ring, Rikishi faced Venis on July 6 and lost his title after Tazz hit him with a television camera. Rikishi faced Venis in a Steel Cage rematch at Fully Loaded. In the course of the match, Rikishi ascended the cage and, in a move reminiscent of Jimmy Snuka, leapt from the top, splashing Venis. Rikishi was defeated by Venis shortly after when Tazz once again hit him with a television camera.

Heel turn (2000-2001)

On October 9, Commissioner Mick Foley used a slip of the tongue from Scotty 2 Hotty to implicate Rikishi as the person who had run over Steve Austin at Survivor Series, as Scotty stated that he had been hanging out that night with Grand Master Sexay and Rikishi. However, Foley stated later that night in the ring that Rikishi at that point had not debuted yet. In actuality, this is not true, as Rikishi had debuted on the Saturday night before the '99 Survivor Series on WWF Jakked. Rikishi admitted injuring Austin, claiming that he had done so in order to allow his cousin The Rock to achieve stardom, insisting that Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, and Austin - "The Great White Hope" - had always been pushed over Samoan performers such as High Chief Peter Maivia and Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, who he believed had been held back, this turned Rikishi heel in the coming weeks. Austin immediately set out to obtain revenge, facing Rikishi in a No Holds Barred match at No Mercy. The match went to a no contest when Austin dragged Rikishi to the parking lot and attempted to run him over, but a police car drove in front of Austin's car, saving Rikishi. Though Austin was arrested, he had badly injured Rikishi, inflicting numerous cuts and bruises to his face. Later that night, Rikishi attempted to help The Rock retain the WWF Championship in a match against Kurt Angle, but "accidentally" kicked and crushed The Rock, allowing Angle to Angle Slam both men and win the title. After a number of instances where Austin was attacked backstage by an unseen assailant, it became clear that Rikishi had an accomplice. During a handicap match pitting Rikishi and Kurt Angle against Austin, Triple H came to the ring, seemingly to aid Austin, but swerved the audience by attacking Austin with a sledgehammer. This led to Triple H revealing that he had masterminded the assault, relegating Rikishi to his hired muscle.

Rikishi lost to The Rock at Survivor Series. He then participated in the six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon for the WWF Championship, during which Vince McMahon drove a flatbed truck to ringside in an effort to dismantle the cage and stop the match. However, Rikishi was chokeslammed from the top of the cell into the truck bed by the Undertaker. He won a match entitling him to enter the 2001 Royal Rumble at number 30. He even eliminated the Undertaker but he did not last long in the Rumble match before being eliminated by The Rock. After the return of Haku at the same event, Rikishi and Haku formed a tag team, and feuded with The Undertaker and Kane and The Hardy Boys. The team split when Rikishi was sidelined with an eardrum injury in May, and Haku was later released. Rikishi returned from injury on May 7, 2001 and was urged by Mick Foley to become a face again before delivering the Stink Face to Stephanie McMahon. He wrestled for several weeks before suffering a shoulder injury in May 2001 which caused him to miss much of the year.

SmackDown; teaming with Scotty 2 Hotty and departure (2002-2004)

Rikishi at Tribute to the Troops in 2004.

Rikishi returned on December 6, 2001, delivering a Stink Face to Vince McMahon and solidifying his face status. Upon the WWE Brand Extension, Rikishi was drafted to SmackDown!. At Judgment Day, he faced Billy and Chuck in a "secret partner" match. His partner turned out to be Rico, Billy and Chuck's stylist. Despite Rico's best efforts to unfairly help Billy and Chuck, Rikishi and he won the match and became the Tag Team Champions. Rico would later cause his partner to lose the titles in a rematch.

Rikishi was not featured much in late 2002 and early-2003. He feuded with John Cena, Bill DeMott, and the Full Blooded Italians on SmackDown!. The return of Roddy Piper led Rikishi to challenge him as Piper had hit Jimmy Snuka with a coconut years ago on Piper's Pit. At Backlash 2003, Piper's protege Sean O'Haire defeated Rikishi after Piper got hit with a coconut by Rikishi giving O'Haire time to hit the Widowmaker on Rikishi. Rikishi eventually formed a tag team with Scotty 2 Hotty, and the duo defeated the Basham Brothers for the WWE Tag Team Championship on February 5, 2004, holding them for two and a half months before losing them to Charlie Haas and Rico. Fatu, however, was released by WWE on July 16, 2004, following repeated requests from WWE to lose weight.

Independent circuit (2005-present)

Fatu continued to wrestle on the independent circuit. In October 2005, he shortened his ring name to Kishi after being notified by WWE legal representatives that WWE owned a trademark on the name "Rikishi". Fatu, as Kishi, would go on to operate Nu-Wrestling Evolution, a professional wrestling promotion based in Italy. On February 17, 2007, Fatu competed as SUMO RIKISHI in a tag team contest at an All Japan Pro Wrestling event, as he was brought in by Keiji Mutoh to feud with Akebono. On August 12, 2007, Fatu competed in an 8-man tag, as Rikishi, at Asistencia Asesoría y Administración's TripleMania event. On August 23, Fatu competed in a Triple Threat match against Samoa Joe and Sterling James Keenan at Ballpark Brawl VIII in Buffalo, New York. On November 17, wrestling as Rikishi once again, Fatu defeated Mike Rollins at a Heavy on Wrestling event in Duluth, Minnesota.

On March 28, 2009, Fatu debuted in Revolución Lucha Libre, a Chile based promotion, under the ring name "Kishi". In his first show, he faced Ariki Toa for the Absolute International Championship, RLL's major title. Kishi defeated Toa by pinfall with a Banzai Drop to win the title. After the match, Savio Vega assaulted Kishi.

Fatu is now wrestling in Territory League under his TNA alias Junior Fatu. He is a member of the Las Vegas Highrollers along with his friends Brian Christopher and Scott Garland, formerly known as Too Cool.

Fatu wrestled alongside his partner Brian Cristopher under their Too Cool names, Rikishi and Grand Master Sexay in a tag team main event match at an event in Cookeville Tennessee called Slamfest 2013 on May 4, 2013. The match was between Too Cool and Tommy Dreamer and 2 Tuff Tony. Fatu and Cristopher won after Tony was attempting to hit Fatu with a flaming vodka rag and accidentally hit Dreamer in the face with it. After this Fatu kicked Tony into a turnbuckle and gave him a stinkface.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) (2007)

Rikishi (far left), as one of Heath Slater's veteran conquerors at Raw 1000.

On the September 13, 2007 episode of Impact!, Fatu debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Junior Fatu. Fatu faced Christian Cage on the September 20 episode of Impact! in his first match, which he lost due to a distraction by Christian's partner A.J. Styles. On the October 25 episode of Impact!, Fatu faced Robert Roode in a Fight for the Right Tournament match, which he won due to interference by Samoa Joe. On October 30, however, it was reported that Fatu had been released from TNA, due to he and TNA management failing to reach an agreement about a pay raise. Chris Harris took Fatu's spot in the Fight for the Right semifinal match.

Return to WWE (2012)

Rikishi made an appearance at the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. Rikishi made an appearance on WWE RAW on July 16, 2012, defeating Heath Slater. During the match, he used the Samoan Spike and the Banzai Drop (the latter having been used as a finishing move since his 1999 repackaging as Rikishi) as a tribute to his deceased brother Umaga and cousin Yokozuna, respectively. After the match, he danced with his sons Jey and Jimmy Uso. He then reappeared on the 1,000th episode on July 23 with other Legends to help Lita take down Slater.

Other media

Rikishi also appears as a playable DLC character in the Attitude Era-themed WWE '13 video game.

Personal life

Fatu is a member of the famous Anoaʻi family. He is the twin brother of Sam Fatu (The Tonga Kid/Tama), and both brothers have fathered twins. Sam is the father of twins Marley and Myracle, and Fatu is the father of twins Jonathan and Joshua Samuel, who currently wrestle in WWE as Jimmy and Jey Uso. He and his wife Talisua Fuavai-Fatu have five children. Jonathan and Joshua Samuel (born August 22, 1985), Jeremiah Peniata (born August 30, 1986) and Joseph (born 1993). He rubs his nose twice en route to the ring to tell his children that he loves them. He is the older brother of Eddie Fatu (Umaga/Jamal). He is the nephew of of Sika Anoaʻi and Afa Anoaʻi, known as the Wild Samoans, and his cousins in wrestling are Rodney Anoa'i (Yokozuna), Samula Anoa'i (Headshrinker Samu), Matt Anoaʻi (Rosey), Leati Anoa'i (Roman Reigns), Reno Anoa'i (Black Pearl), Afa Anoaʻi, Jr. (Manu), Lloyd Anoaʻi (L.A. Smooth) and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock).

On April 27, 2008, Fatu's mother Vera died after a seven-year battle with cancer.

Fatu's brother Eddie "Umaga" Fatu died of a heart attack on December 4, 2009.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • As Rikishi
    • Banzai Drop / Rump Shaker (Corner slingshot seated senton)
    • Rikishi Driver (WWF/E) / Over the shoulder reverse piledriver (independent circuit)
  • As The Sultan
    • Camel clutch
  • As Fatu
    • Samoan Splash (Diving splash)

• Signature moves
  • Headbutt
  • Samoan drop
  • Samoan Spike (High speed thumb thrust) – adopted from his brother Eddie
  • Savate kick
  • Seated senton
  • Side belly to belly suplex
  • Stinkface

• Managers
  • Paul E. Dangerously
  • Oliver Humperdink
  • Afa
  • Captain Lou Albano
  • Iron Sheik
  • Bob Backlund

• Entrance Themes
  • "U Look Fly 2 Day" by Jim Johnston (WWE/F; used while teaming with Too Cool)
  • "Bad Man" by Ike Dirty (WWE/F)

Championships and accomplishments

• Portland Wrestling
  • Portland Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Power Pro Wrestling (Memphis)
  • PPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #27 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000
  • PWI ranked him #347 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
  • PWI Comeback of the Year (2000)
• Revolución Lucha Libre
  • Campeonato Internacional Absoluto (1 time)
• Universal Wrestling Association
  • UWA World Trios Championship (1 time) – with Kokina Maximus and The Samoan Savage
• World Class Wrestling Association
  • WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Samu
  • WCWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Samu
• World Wrestling Council
  • WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Samu
• World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scotty 2 Hotty
  • World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Samu (1) and Rico (1)
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Worst Worked Match of the Year (1993) with Samu, Bastion Booger, and Bam Bam Bigelow vs. The Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission at Survivor Series

External links

• Solofa Fatu at Myspace
• WWE Alumni Profile
• Rikishi on Twitter