Solo sofa Fatu

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Solo sofa Fatu Jr. United StatesUnited States
Solofa Fatu.jpg
Data
Ring name Fatu
JR Smooth
Junior Fatu
The Kish
Kishi
Rikishi
Rikishi Phatu
The Sultan
SUMO RIKISHI
height 183 cm
Fighting weight 130-183 kg
birth October 11, 1965
San Francisco , California
Trained by Afa Anoaʻi
Sika Anoaʻi
debut 1985

Solofa Fatu Jr. , (born October 11, 1965 in San Francisco , California ) is an American wrestler of Samoan descent. He became known in the World Wrestling Federation as part of the tag team " The Headshrinkers " and after a comeback as a single wrestler with the ring name Rikishi . He is currently the head of an independent wrestling promotion under the name "Kishi".

Career

The Samoan SWAT team

Fatu belongs to the Samoan wrestling family Anoaʻi, which is very successful in wrestling. He is the nephew of the tag team wrestlers Afa and Sika , the "Wild Samoans" , who were active in the 1970s . One of his brothers was Umaga , who was active in the WWE until 2009, another brother was also active there in the 1980s under the names Tonga Kid and Islander Tama . Fatu received his wrestling training from his family. In the mid-1980s, he and his cousin Samu formed the "Samoan SWAT Team" tag team, with whom they took over the "Wild Warriors from the South Seas" gimmick of the "Wild Samoans". As a tag team, they received the tag team title of the World Wrestling Council operating in the Caribbean . Various promotions such as the World Class Championship Wrestling, Jerry Crokett Productions and World Championship Wrestling followed for a few years , before they signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation in 1992.

The Headshrinkers

In the WWF, Fatu and Samu kept their gimmick as Wilde, while Afa stood by their side as managers . In addition, the Samoan SWAT team in "The Headshrinkers" (Eng. Was head shrinker ) renamed. For the next two years, the headshrinkers wrestled in the tag team division of the WWF and appeared regularly in the shows and pay-per-view programs of the promotion without being able to win the tag team belt. In April 1994, the team's image was changed from rule breakers to audience favorites and Afa also provided manager legend Lou Albano . In their new role, the Headshrinkers received the World Tag Team title belt on April 26, 1994 when they defeated the "Quebecers". They held the titles for four months before handing them over to Shawn Michaels and Diesel . Samu left the WWF a little later to cure injuries and was replaced by Seone . These "New Headshrinkers" were not a success. Before Seone switched to competitor World Championship Wrestling in mid-1995 , the WWF used the team as a noble jobber .

Career as a single wrestler

Rikishi at a performance in Iraq as part of the troop support

As a single wrestler, the WWF created a completely new image for Fatu. According to the storyline , the "Wild Samoans" were just for show and Fatu actually grew up in the United States. He got the new gimmick of a street worker or gang dropout with two companions who were played by Samu in a new gimmick and his brother Lloyd Anoaiʻi. However, the WWE soon dropped the gimmick. Fatu switched back to heel in the role of "The Sultan", a stereotypical , masked villain from the Middle East who had the Iron Sheik at his side as a manager . In that role, Fatu had a fight for the WWE Intercontinental Title against The Rock but was unable to take the title from his cousin. In 1997 Fatu left the WWF and then appeared in independent doctorates.

In 1999 he appeared again at the WWF, with a changed ring outfit, which reminded of his cousin Rodney and with the new name "Rikishi Phatu", which was soon shortened to "Rikishi". For the next five years Fatu was one of the most important actors in the promotion, appearing regularly in the promotion's pay-per-views, but also had to take several longer breaks due to injuries. On June 25, 2000, the WWF made him the holder of the Intercontinental title, which he had to hand over to Val Venis on July 6 . In May 2002 he received the WWE Tag Team title with Rico as a partner , but only for a few days. In February 2004 he received, this time with Scotty 2 Hotty , the same title that the two had to give up in April. In mid-2004, however, the World Wrestling Federation separated from Fatu.

Since the WWE held the rights to the name Rikishi, Fatu shortened his ring name to "Kishi" and appeared under this name in independent promotions. In 2005 he took over the Italy-based independent promotion Nu-Wrestling Evolution and withdrew from the ring to pursue the business behind the scenes.

In 2007 Fatu appeared again as a rikishi briefly at All Japan Pro Wrestling. From September to October 2007 he appeared as a junior fatu for TNA , but did not reach an agreement with the doctorate on a longer commitment.

In 2008 Fatu initially appeared in several independent leagues. He then performed for a long time in Nu-Wrestling Evolution . In 2009 he appeared on Hulkmania .

In July 2012, Fatu appeared as a rikishi on WWE TV in the 1,000th WWE Raw episode.

The February 9, 2015 edition of RAW announced that Rikishi would be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. The introductory speech was given by his sons Jey & Jimmy Uso .

Private

Fatu was married and has five children with his former wife, Sua. His twin sons, Jonathan Solofa Jr. and Joshua Samuel, are also known as WWE wrestlers and appear together under the names Jimmy and Jey Uso as the tag team " The Usos ".

Prior to his wrestling career, he was the victim of a drive-by shoot and was clinically dead for three minutes.

Titles and honors

Web links

Commons : Solofa Fatu  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Fatu, solo sofa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rikishi (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American wrestler of Samoan descent
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH San Francisco , California