During a recent edition of his “Off The Top” podcast, Rikishi recalled the emotional highs and lows experienced by the Anoa’i family during WrestleMania IX, including his cousin Yokozuna’s WWF Title win and the quick loss to Hulk Hogan.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Yokozuna winning the title and the family’s celebration: “Let me take the fans behind the scenes… So when Yoko won the belt — keep in mind when the Bloodline family, the Dynasty family, Anoa’i/Fatu clan. When we rolled into WrestleMania, we rolled deep. We just took over the whole freaking green room up there, the family green room. So we’re up there and Yoko won the belt, and it was like back home on the island non-stop. Some of the family members would grab a folded chair and hit it on the ground. It’s our way of celebrating. The louder the noise is we could grab something and make loud noise, that’s a cheerful moment for us. And so, boom, Yoko’s mom was alive back in the day, and she was so happy for her baby. The whole Fatu and Anoa’i clan was happy. Of course, a lot of people didn’t know, and we didn’t know [what was coming next].”
On Hulk Hogan’s involvement and the sudden title change: “Out of nowhere, here comes Hogan. And that quick finish, that quick switch? Dude, when he switched and boom, when he lost the belt that day, that cheerful noise that was in the green room, it almost turned into a battlefield in there. [laughs] It was like, ‘Somebody needed to come deal, come get some of the family members in.’ These are the family members that are real hardcore wrestling fans.”
On Yokozuna’s mom’s and family’s reaction to the loss: “Yoko’s mom — boy, she cried. She was so heartbroken. And like Hulk Hogan, oh! She just wanted to reach out there; if she could have raked Hogan’s eyes or hit his a*s with a chair, she probably would have. But the whole family man, was just upset. Upset that Hogan came out there, and that’s what it was. So it was that.
“But I had to tell that story, because a lot of people don’t know the deal that happened. How happy the family was when we celebrated. But when he lost, when that belt switched that quick, man it was like a dark moon went over Vegas. Because the Samoans were out, and we weren’t too happy. So you can imagine the family members in all the clubs and the buffets; we were eating, but we weren’t too happy.”
