Rikishi

Rikishi, born Solofa Fatu Jr. on October 11, 1965, is a professional wrestler from San Francisco, California, and a member of the Anoa’i family, one of the most storied families in wrestling history. He was trained by his uncles Afa and Sika, the Wild Samoans, after surviving a drive-by shooting at age seventeen that left him hospitalized for two months.

He made his professional debut in 1985, beginning his career as Alofa the Polynesian Prince, a babyface in Lutte Internationale in Montreal, with additional early work in International Championship Wrestling (ICW) in New York.

He later teamed with his cousin Samu as the Samoan Swat Team, a hard-hitting tag team that competed in promotions such as New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Wrestling Council (WWC) in Puerto Rico, World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) in Texas, Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

In Texas, the team defeated Kerry and Kevin Von Erich to win the WCCW World Tag Team Championship, and at one point, they held both major WCCW tag titles at the same time.

When Fatu and Samu entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1992, they were repackaged as The Headshrinkers and kept their wild Samoan image. They won the WWF Tag Team Championship by defeating The Quebecers on April 26, 1994, with Lou Albano in their corner, and successfully defended the titles against Yokozuna and Crush at King of the Ring 1994.

After dropping the belts to Shawn Michaels and Diesel, Samu left because of injury and was replaced by Sione, forming The New Headshrinkers, but that version of the team did not last long.

Fatu was then repackaged as a solo character based on his real life, preaching a message of positivity and drawing from his difficult upbringing. Each segment ended with the phrase “Make a Difference,” giving the gimmick its unofficial name. The character failed to connect with fans and was dropped in April 1996.

In August 1996, Fatu was repackaged again as The Sultan, a silent, red-masked heel managed by the Iron Sheik and Bob Backlund, with the storyline explanation that his tongue had been cut out. He challenged Rocky Maivia for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 13 but failed to win the title.

After the Sultan character was dropped in early 1998, Fatu left the WWF and went to Memphis Power Pro Wrestling, where he worked as J.R. Smooth, a rap-inspired character that introduced the bleached hair and flashier personality he would carry into the next phase of his career. He also won the PPW Heavyweight Championship during that run before returning to WWF television in late 1999.

He returned to WWF television in late 1999 as Rikishi Phatu, a name that was soon shortened to just Rikishi. He gained significant weight, kept the blonde hair, and adopted a sumo wrestler look. He joined Too Cool’s post-match dance routines and his popularity soared. During the 2000 Royal Rumble, he eliminated seven opponents before being removed by a group effort.

In June 2000, Rikishi won the WWF Intercontinental Championship and later reached the finals of the King of the Ring tournament, where he lost to Kurt Angle. His Intercontinental title reign ended the next month when Val Venis beat him in a steel cage match at Fully Loaded 2000.

Later that year, Rikishi moved into a higher-profile storyline when he was revealed as the driver who ran over Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1999. During that reveal, he delivered the line, “I did it for The Rock,” which became one of the most remembered promos of his career. The angle led to major feuds with both Austin and The Rock before it was revealed that Triple H had been behind the plot.

After leaving WWE in July 2004, he continued to wrestle on the independent scene and made appearances in other promotions such as TNA Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, and AAA.

Outside the ring, Rikishi remained closely tied to the Anoa’i family’s wrestling legacy. He is the father of Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, and Solo Sikoa, linking his own career directly to another generation of major WWE talent. He inducted Yokozuna into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012, and Rikishi himself entered the Hall of Fame in 2015, with his two sons, Jimmy and Jey Uso presenting him at the ceremony.