Rikishi Solofa Fatu Jr . ( October 11 , 1965 ) is a Samoa n - American professional wrestler , best known under the ring name Rikishi ( which means wrestler or 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 . 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 Anoa ' i 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 . 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 ( 1992 - 2004 ) . The Headshrinkers ( 1992 – 1994 ) . In 1992 , Samu and Fatu signed with the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) , managed by Samu ’ s father Afa . 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 WWF Tag Team Championship . Early in their run with the WWF , the Headshrinkers feuded with the Natural Disasters and the recently formed High Energy . 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 Sionne , who formed the " New Headshrinkers " with Fatu . The New Headshrinkers ( 1994 – 1995 ) 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 Sionne 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 Sionne signed with WCW . By the time Sionne left the WWF , the team was used to put over new teams such as Jacob & Eli Blu . Starting out single ( 1995 – 1998 ) . 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 . 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 Anoa ' i , 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 was given a shot at Rocky Maivia ’ s Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania 13 but failed to win the gold . The Sultan gimmick was dropped in January 1998 and it was over . Rikishi ( 1999 – 2004 ) . Fatu left the spotlight when the Sultan gimmick was canned , working on the independent circuit . He returned on the November 13 , 1999 episode of WWF Metal as Rikishi Fatu beating Julio Fantastico . Then the name would become Rikishi Phatu . The name was eventually shortened to Rikishi when he started teaming with Too Cool . He had gained a great deal of weight , 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 . Two of those seven were Too Cool themselves , whom Rikishi eliminated after they performed their dance routine in the middle of the match . Rikishi became famous for giving wrestlers the Stinkface , 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 WWE Intercontinental Championship Intercontinental [ [ File : Rikishistinkfacexpac - 1 . jpg | thumb | [ [ Rikishi ] ] giving the [ [ Stinkface ] ] to [ [ Road Dogg ] ] Championshipon the June 22 episode of " [ [ WWE SmackDown | SmackDown ! ] ] " from Chris Benoit , Rikishi qualified for the 2000 [ [ King of the Ring 2000 | King of the Ring ] ] tournament . On June 25 he defeated Benoit and [ [ Sean Morley | 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 [ [ Professional wrestling match types | Steel Cage ] ] rematch at [ [ WWF Fully Loaded | Fully Loaded ] ] . In the course of the match , Rikishi ascended the cage and , in a move reminiscent of [ [ Jimmy Snuka | Jimmy " Superfly " Snuka ] ] , leapt from the top , splashing Venis . Rikishi was defeated by Venis shortly after when Tazz once again hit him with a television camera . On [ [ October 9 ] ] , [ [ Professional wrestling authority figures | Commissioner ] ] Mick Foley used a slip of the tongue from Scotty 2 Hotty to implicate Rikishi as the person who had run over Stone Cold Steve Austin at [ [ Survivor Series ( 1999 ) | 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 / Metal | WWF Jakked ] ] " . Rikishi admitted injuring Austin , claiming that he had done so in order to allow his cousin [ [ Dwayne Johnson | The Rock ] ] to achieve stardom , insisting that [ [ Buddy Rogers ( wrestler ) | Buddy Rogers ] ] , Bruno Sammartino , Bob Backlund , Hulk Hogan , and Austin - " The Great White Hope " - had always been [ [ Push ( professional wrestling ) | pushed ] ] over Samoan performers such as High Chief Peter Maivia and Jimmy " Superfly " Snuka , who he believed had been held back , this [ [ List of professional wrestling terms | turned ] ] Rikishi [ [ Heel ( professional wrestling ) | heel ] ] in the coming weeks . Austin immediately set out to obtain revenge , facing Rikishi in a [ [ Professional wrestling match types | No Holds Barred match ] ] at [ [ WWE No Mercy | 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 [ [ WWE Championship | WWF Championship ] ] in a match against Kurt Angle , but " accidentally " kicked and crushed The Rock , allowing Angle to [ [ Professional wrestling throws | 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 [ [ List of professional wrestling terms | 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 never reclaimed the popularity he enjoyed throughout his initial run as Rikishi . Rikishi lost to The Rock at [ [ Survivor Series 2000 | Survivor Series ] ] . He then participated in the six - man Hell in a Cell match at [ [ Armageddon ( 2000 ) | 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 [ [ Royal Rumble ( 2001 ) | 2001 Royal Rumble ] ] at number 30 . He even eliminated the Undertaker but he did not last long in the [ [ Royal Rumble ( 2001 ) | Rumble match ] ] before being eliminated by The Rock . After the return of [ [ Tonga Fifita | Haku ] ] at the [ [ Royal Rumble ( 2001 ) | same event ] ] , Rikishi and Haku formed a tag team , and feuded with [ [ Brothers of Destruction | Kane and The Undertaker ] ] and The Hardy Boys . The team split when Rikishi was sidelined with an eardrum injury , and Haku was later released . Rikishi returned from injury on May 7 , 2001 and was urged by Foley to become a good guy again after delivering the stinkface to Stephanie McMahon who was quoted as saying the following week that he stuck his cottage cheese , oily ass right in her face , that she could see the discoloration of the skin between his legs , that the pimples on his butt cheeks popped against her skin and that the stench of his lingering excretion was still in her nose a week afterwards . He wrestled for several weeks before suffering a shoulder injury which caused him to miss much of 2001 . Rikishi returned on December 6 , 2001 , delivering a Stink Face to Vince [ [ File : Culo rikishi . jpg | thumb | [ [ The Rock ] ] shove [ [ Vince McMahon , Jr . | Vince McMahon ] ] face into [ [ Rikishi ] ] ' s ass ] ] McMahon and solidifying his [ [ Face ( professional wrestling ) | face ] ] status . Upon the WWE Brand Extension , Rikishi was drafted to SmackDown ! . At [ [ WWE Judgment Day | Judgment Day ] ] , he faced Billy and Chuck in a " secret partner " match . His partner turned out to be [ [ Rico Constantino | Rico ] ] , [ [ Monty Sopp | Billy ] ] and [ [ Chuck Palumbo | Chuck ] ] ' s stylist . Despite Rico ' s best efforts to unfairly help Billy and Chuck , Rikishi and he won the match and became the [ [ World Tag Team Championship ( WWE ) | Tag Team Champions ] ] . Rico would later cost 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 | " Rowdy " Roddy Piper ] ] led Rikishi to challenge him as Piper had hit Jimmy Snuka with a coconut years ago on Piper ' s Pit . He enter to the [ [ Royal Rumble 2002 ] ] at number 1 , [ [ Big Bossman | Bossman ] ] gets an extended Stinkface from Rikishi and is eliminated ; Rikishi is eliminated by The Undertaker in minute 13 : 39 . At [ [ Backlash ( 2003 ) | 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 Tarō | 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 ] ] . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2007 ) . On the September 13 , 2007 episode of " [ [ Impact Wrestling | Impact ! ] ] " , Fatu debuted in [ [ Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ] ] under the ring name Junior Fatu . Fatu faced [ [ Christian ( wrestler ) | 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 ( wrestler ) | Chris Harris ] ] took Fatu ' s spot in the Fight for the Right semifinal match . Return to WWE ( 2012 - present ) . 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 ] ] . After the match , he danced with his sons [ [ The Usos | Jey and Jimmy Uso ] ] . He then reappeared on the 1 , 000th episode on July 23 with other Legends to help [ [ Amy Dumas | Lita ] ] take down Slater . On January 6 , 2014 , Rikishi appeared on " Old School Raw " to reunite with [ [ Too Cool ] ] to take on [ [ 3MB ] ] in a six - man tag team match , which his team successfully got the win . Rikishi also appears as a playable DLC character in the [ [ Attitude Era ] ] - themed [ [ WWE ' 13 ] ] video game . On February 9 , 2015 , it was announced that Rikishi will be inducted into 2015 WWE Hall of Fame . Personal life . Fatu and his wife Talisua Fuavai - Fatu have five children . He rubs his nose twice en route to the ring to tell his children that he loves them . Fatu is a member of the famous Anoaʻi family . He is the father of twin sons [ [ Jimmy Uso | Jonathan ] ] and [ [ Jay Uso | Joshua Sammy ] ] ( born August 22 , 1985 ) , who currently wrestle in WWE as [ [ The Usos | Jimmy and Jey Uso ] ] . He is also the cousin of [ [ Joe Anoa ' i | Leati Anoa ' i ] ] , who wrestles in WWE as Roman Reigns . Fatu also has a daughter Thavana Monalisa ( born June 12 , 1984 ) and two younger sons : Jeremiah Peniata ( born August 30 , 1986 ) and Joseph ( born 1994 ) . Fatu is the nephew of [ [ Sika | Sika Anoaʻi ] ] and [ [ Afa | Afa Anoaʻi ] ] , known as the [ [ Wild Samoans ] ] . He is also the brother of [ [ Umaga | Eddie Fatu ] ] ( Umaga / Jamal ) and [ [ Sam Fatu ] ] ( The Tonga Kid / Tama ) and cousin of [ [ Dwayne Johnson ] ] ( The Rock ) , [ [ Yokozuna | Rodney Anoa ' i ] ] ( Yokozuna ) , [ [ Samu | Samula Anoa ' i ] ] ( Headshrinker Samu ) , [ [ Matt Anoa ' i ] ] ( Rosey ) , and [ [ Roman Reigns | Leati Anoa ' i ] ] ( Roman Reigns ) . On April 27 , 2008 , Fatu ' s mother Vera died after a seven - year battle with cancer . Fatu ' s brother [ [ Umaga | Eddie " Umaga " Fatu ] ] died of a heart attack on December 4 , [ [ 2009 ] ] . [ [ Category : Samoan wrestlers ] ] External links . 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