Rikishi

The incredible man-mountain Solofa F. Fatu Jr is best known by his professional wrestling ring names, Rikishi, and Fatu. He is a member of the Anoa’i family of Samoan wrestlers, and in 2015 was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his wrestling sons, Jey and Jimmy Uso. A hugely accomplished wrestler, he is a one-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time World Tag Team Champion, and one-time WWE Tag Team Champion.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Fatu began wrestling at High School, and was later trained as a professional wrestler by his uncles, Afa and Sika Anoa’i. He was 20 when he made his debut in 1985 as a character called Prince Alofa, a high-flying babyface. Since then he has forged out a remarkable career in the ring. He and his cousin, Samula Anoa’i, signed with the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico to become The Samoan Swat Team, and successfully used the “Samoan savage” gimmick in their bouts. They joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1992 and changed their name to The Headshrinkers, successfully competing for three years. Fatu repackaged himself as The Sultan in 1996, and then, in 1999, he appeared in an episode of WWF Metal as Rikishi Fatu. In 2001 he joined the WWF Brand Extension, SmackDown!. From 2004, Rikishi worked the independent circuit, taking part in various bouts, including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and Impact!, as well as making sporadic WWE appearances. Most recently he appeared on WWE for the RAW Reunion show in 2019. And in 2020 he made an appearance at Survivor Series during The Undertaker’s retirement ceremony. Away from the ‘real world’, Rikishi is a playable DLC character in the Attitude Era-themed video game WWE ’13.

Rikishi regularly connects with his huge fanbase and dedicated followers through Instagram and Twitter and Facebook, posting pictures and videos of his life both in and out of the ring. He has his own YouTube channel, The Rikishi Driver Talk Show, and is also available for a personalised smack-down message via the Celebvm platform.