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The latest Hall of Fame entrant will be Rikishi.
The news was broken on Twitter by the Usos. For those of you who do not know by now, the Usos are Rikishi's sons. They will likely be inducting their father too.
A native of the Isle of Samoa, Rikishi is part of the Anoa'i /Fatu/Johnson dynasty. He debuted with International Wrestling in Montreal, Canada as Prince Alofa. He was a babyface contrast to his cousin, The Great Samu. When the company closed, the cousins then formed a tag team in Puerto Rico. Rikishi changed his name to Fatu, and the pair competed as the Samoan Swat Team, and then the Wild Samoans. They pretended to be savages who could not speak English and competed barefoot and pretended to be unable to speak English. Legend has it that their gimmick caused them to spend a night in the cells. They were traveling with Hulk Hogan when Hogan got pulled over. While Hogan looked for his driving license, a gun fell out of the glove compartment. Hogan begged the Samoans to tell the police that he didn't know the gun laws for the state of Florida. The Samoans were afraid of breaking character and kept silent.
The tag team had great success across the United States and in the WWF. Samu was briefly replaced by Sione (the Barbarian), with the tag team being called the New Headshrinkers. When this team ended, Fatu developed a more realistic gimmick that was similar to Men On A Mission, and was informally dubbed "Make A Difference" Fatu. But he was suddenly repackaged as The Sultan. The Sultan was a masked wrestler who never talked because his tongue was allegedly cut out. The Sultan's highlight was being the first man to lose to the Rock at WrestleMania.
After a break from the WWE, he returned as the sumo wrestler Rikishi. His advanced weight and ring attire caused his buttocks to be exposed. Fans kept cheering for Rikishi to sit on opponents. So the butt drop and the stink face became his signature moves. He became more of an amateur dancer due to his association with the Too Cool tag team that he later joined. Like his teammates, he celebrated most of his wins by dancing in the ring. He briefly held the Intercontinental championship, and almost won the 2000 King of the Ring. Despite weighing over 400lbs, he recreated the Jimmy Snuka splash off the top of a cage. He turned heel when he was revealed to be the man that ran over Steve Austin with his car. But the gimmick flopped and was passed back to Triple H. He would become an enhancement talent for much of his remaining time in WWE, with exception to runs as Tag Team champions with Scotty 2 Hotty and Rico. He was released over concerns that he was not taking his weight-related health issues seriously.
He toured the independent circuits for the rest of his career. He had a very short run in TNA as Junior Fatu.
Like his sons, Rikishi is also a twin, being the brother of 'The Tonga Kid' Tama. He is the older brother of Umaga / Jamal, and the nephew of both Wild Samoans Afa and Sika. He is also cousins with Samu, Rosey, Black Pearl, Manu, L.A. Smooth, The Rock and Roman Reigns.
Rikishi was one of the first people to be attacked by Brock Lesnar when he made his main roster debut. This, and the fact that he is Reigns' cousin, will both likely be worked into Reigns' feud with Lesnar.
The news was broken on Twitter by the Usos. For those of you who do not know by now, the Usos are Rikishi's sons. They will likely be inducting their father too.
A native of the Isle of Samoa, Rikishi is part of the Anoa'i /Fatu/Johnson dynasty. He debuted with International Wrestling in Montreal, Canada as Prince Alofa. He was a babyface contrast to his cousin, The Great Samu. When the company closed, the cousins then formed a tag team in Puerto Rico. Rikishi changed his name to Fatu, and the pair competed as the Samoan Swat Team, and then the Wild Samoans. They pretended to be savages who could not speak English and competed barefoot and pretended to be unable to speak English. Legend has it that their gimmick caused them to spend a night in the cells. They were traveling with Hulk Hogan when Hogan got pulled over. While Hogan looked for his driving license, a gun fell out of the glove compartment. Hogan begged the Samoans to tell the police that he didn't know the gun laws for the state of Florida. The Samoans were afraid of breaking character and kept silent.
The tag team had great success across the United States and in the WWF. Samu was briefly replaced by Sione (the Barbarian), with the tag team being called the New Headshrinkers. When this team ended, Fatu developed a more realistic gimmick that was similar to Men On A Mission, and was informally dubbed "Make A Difference" Fatu. But he was suddenly repackaged as The Sultan. The Sultan was a masked wrestler who never talked because his tongue was allegedly cut out. The Sultan's highlight was being the first man to lose to the Rock at WrestleMania.
After a break from the WWE, he returned as the sumo wrestler Rikishi. His advanced weight and ring attire caused his buttocks to be exposed. Fans kept cheering for Rikishi to sit on opponents. So the butt drop and the stink face became his signature moves. He became more of an amateur dancer due to his association with the Too Cool tag team that he later joined. Like his teammates, he celebrated most of his wins by dancing in the ring. He briefly held the Intercontinental championship, and almost won the 2000 King of the Ring. Despite weighing over 400lbs, he recreated the Jimmy Snuka splash off the top of a cage. He turned heel when he was revealed to be the man that ran over Steve Austin with his car. But the gimmick flopped and was passed back to Triple H. He would become an enhancement talent for much of his remaining time in WWE, with exception to runs as Tag Team champions with Scotty 2 Hotty and Rico. He was released over concerns that he was not taking his weight-related health issues seriously.
He toured the independent circuits for the rest of his career. He had a very short run in TNA as Junior Fatu.
Like his sons, Rikishi is also a twin, being the brother of 'The Tonga Kid' Tama. He is the older brother of Umaga / Jamal, and the nephew of both Wild Samoans Afa and Sika. He is also cousins with Samu, Rosey, Black Pearl, Manu, L.A. Smooth, The Rock and Roman Reigns.
Rikishi was one of the first people to be attacked by Brock Lesnar when he made his main roster debut. This, and the fact that he is Reigns' cousin, will both likely be worked into Reigns' feud with Lesnar.