I keep
reading negative comments on Rikishi, saying he does not deserve to be
in the Hall of Fame. Why? Have fans only just realized that the Hall of
Fame is a WWE Hall of Fame, and the WWE have always taken guys
in from the Anoa’i family and put them to work. The family has the
likes of Peter Maivia, Rocky Johnson, The Rock, Yokozuna, and many
others. WWE loves the family, and the family loves WWE, so even though
Rikishi did not become a World Heavyweight Champion, he still worked his
ass off (pun intended) to entertain.
He is still a former Intercontinental and Tag
Team Champion, which is more than some Hall of Famers managed to
achieve.
I guess people forget how athletic Rikishi was (and
still is) for such a large man? Maybe all they can remember are the
stinkfaces and absolutely NOTHING else about his career. How sad,
because my fondest memory of Rikishi was not the stinkfaces .. my
fondest memory was watching my first WWF ppv back in 2000, and I watched
Rikishi jump from the top of the cage and squash Val Venis.
I had never
seen anything like it in my life. Then you got the Hell in a Cell match
which saw Undertaker throw Rikishi off the top of it. Another classic
moment. But Rikishi was not about running over Stone Cold (for The
Rock), or falling from great heights, or even about the stinkfaces.
Rikishi was about entertaining the fans, and wrestling his own style for
many years. He was consistent, and when he returns he receives a
warm welcome everytime. How can you hate the guy?
Does Abdullah The
Butcher deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? Or Drew Carey? Or Bob Uecker?
Or Donald Trump? Or Koko B. Ware? Or Sunny?
You could make a
case for many Hall of Famers and say “why are they in there?”, but
what’s the point. Lighten up already, it’s Rikishi, and there will be
more inductions announced soon, so you will probably forget about
Rikishi when WWE decide to induct someone epic like The
Shockmaster or the Gobbledy Gooker. Grow up, and stop hating for the
sake of it.
