Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Rikishi on his sons Jimmy & Jey Uso, the Stinkface, falling off Hell in a Cell, The Rock

Episode Date: March 9, 2021

Rikishi is a WWE Hall of Famer from the legendary Anoa'i family. He joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Los Angeles to talk about his new YouTube channel called "Rikishi Driver Talk Show", getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, his sons Jimmy and Jey Uso, his wrestling school Knokx Pro Wrestling Academy, training rapper Bow Wow, being part of Armageddon 2000 when The Undertaker chokeslammed him off Hell in a Cell, getting shot in a drive-by shooting in 1987 and dying for three minutes, how being part of Too Cool changed the course of his career and much more!  Support the show by supporting our sponsors! Get your energy back, sleep better, and block out the unhealthy effects of blue light with BLUblox. Get free shipping worldwide and 15% off by going to https://blublox.com/CVV or enter code CVV15 at checkout. If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to https://chrisvanvliet.com  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast episode is brought to you by Coors Light. These days, everything is go, go, go. It's nonstop hustle all the time. Work, friends, family. Expect you to be on 24-7? Well, sometimes you just need to reach for a Coors Light because it's made to chill. Coors Light is cold-loggered, cold filtered, and cold package. It's as crisp and refreshing as the Colorado Rockies.

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Hope everything's going well for you. I'm Chris Van Fleet. If this happens to be your first time here, nice to have you with us. I'm an Emmy Award-winning TV host, and I'm fascinated with finding out how people are wired to achieve greatness. On each episode, we have in-depth conversations and reverse engineer the habits and techniques of the world's top athletes, actors, entrepreneurs, you name it. If they're the best at what they do, I want to get their insights so we can apply it to our own life. And just think about the legacy that Rikishi and his family have left behind in wrestling. It's pretty mind-blowing, if you think about it.

Sika, Atha, Peter Maya Via, The Rock, Jimmy Snooka, Umaga, Yokozuna, Jimmy and Jay Uso, Naya Jaxx, that's just naming a few of them. Mm-hmm. I actually got Rukishi to go through how he's related to everybody in his family tree. You know, you'd think that he'd be destined to be a pro wrestler with all those names I just listed. But he was actually on the path to being dead. Mm-hmm. Because he was hanging out with the wrong people growing up. He was shot in a drive-by shooting.

We talk about that in great detail, but it was actually wrestling that saved his life. And I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed this conversation and how grateful I am that Rikishi made the time for this. He doesn't do a lot of interviews. So this one meant a lot to me. Take a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening.

Tag us on social media so we can say hello and we can retweet. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. Rikishi is at the real Rikishi. And if you haven't subscribed yet, let's change that. Let's change that right now. Hit subscribe or hit follow wherever you're listening to this right now. 1798.

That's how many reviews Insight with Chris Van Vleet has as I stand here right now. I'm standing this time. Usually sitting doing these. Standing. Just thought, you know, maybe it'd project my voice a little bit more. Still heading towards that goal, though, of 2,000 reviews before my birthday.

So we got a little over two months till we get till May 19th. So let's do this thing. We have 202 to go. Can easily get to that. Yeah. This reviews from username Not Taken, who says The Goat.

There is no doubt this is the best podcast ever. Oh my gosh. Well, that is. That might be a bit of hyperbole, but thank you. It's so awesome to learn about the wrestlers outside the ring and how they really are.

I've been watching CVV for a couple of years now, and it's my all-time favorite podcast. Keep up the great work, Chris. Love you, brother. Well, I love you too. Thank you so much for that. Please keep the reviews coming. I'll keep reading one out

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enter the code CVV-15 at checkout. That's B-L-U-B-L-O-X.com slash CVV for 15% off, or just use that code, CVV-15. All right, my guest today is a W-W-E Hall of Famer. Please welcome the one and only, Rikishi. What a pleasure to be joined by Rikishi. Thank you so much. I'm proud to be here, my man. Thank you for having me. You've got a whole setup here. People need to know that you have your own talk show now, your own YouTube channel, Rikishi Driver Talk Show, and that's why it looks like I'm talking to a radio show host right now.

Well, I mean, my little 12-year-old boy kind of sets this up for me. Like, I have no idea how all this stuff here works. But Chris, it beats taking bumps, you know? You know that if you talk into the microphone, people can hear you. That's all you need to know, right? There it is. I'll adapt real quick. But you keep busy.

I mean, you're just a few minutes away from me with your wrestling school, which has trained some massive, massive talent in the wrestling industry. Yeah, what, you know, I'm proud to say, you know, Roussev, who is now Miro with AEW, has come out of our school, one of our proud graduates. We're very proud of his, you know, his accomplishments in the business. And, you know, we have a few other, a lot of other students, possible that we'll be able to get looked at soon. But, you know, we're right down the street

and it's not Spro, you know, K-N-O-K-XB-R-O-com. And that's what my life is today, Chris. You know, I'm home, you know, kind of, you know, dealing with this, what we're going through here at the new norm, I guess. And then most of my time, I'm back over there at the gym, you know, my heart should be able to smarten these kids up in the business. Gangrel has told me many great stories about training at your school. Yeah, well, Gangaeros another usual from, I mean, man, we were all raised together with Uncle Alpha and Sika back in the day. So, you know, his training and our training, it's all the same, you know. Now, Bow Wow's talking about training there.

Has he begun training yet? Well, I mean, this is the first time, you know, you got to support here, my man. You know, not yet. You know, we have been talking. And, you know, I'm very happy, let me tell the story about how I met this kid. Please. And so back in the day, Chris, I was actually coming on to a flight in Atlanta. And as I was coming to first class, I sit in my seat, you know, their bow wow was.

But I think bow wow was like nine or ten years. So back in the day, and he was already making hit records and so forth. And so we just kind of, you know, kicked off. You know, me, I was on my way to work, and I just thought I knew who he was. And so, you know, my kind of father figure kind of kicked in, you know, very proud of you, continue, you know, the hard work, make sure you do good in school and blah, blah, blah. And, you know, 27 years later, maybe more than 27 years, you know, I see this tweet of him that comes on to, on Twitter, and, you know, I just put out a tweet

to him before you know it. You know, I just felt like I know this kid, you know, for a long time. And, you know, again, my passion for the industry and for those that are wanting to come in, but I just feel like I'm obligated to teach him the right way. So he's not based in California, though, right? No, he's actually out there in Atlanta. Right. And so, but you will be coming down here sometimes soon this month to be able to start

to get it going. And I'm going to train him. You know, I'm going to train him like I train all my students. You know, it's for me, you know, we know his celebrity status. But in order for him to really understand the industry, Chris, you know, we got to put that all aside. Sure. You know, and to be able to really, you know, prepare him for what's, you know, what's,

about the you know to happen in the in the future he's got to understand what it is when he gets in the ring how to you know protect himself how to be a storyteller uh that is you know theatrical movement not really get in there punching each other in the face so much so i got it you know i don't know when i when we find out i like to say we when students come in chris i like to find the students and the students have to find me meaning I got to see what type of athletic ability he has. You know, is he easy to train, meaning does he listen well? Or, you know, those type of thing.

Does he have an attitude? Is he coachable? You know, stuff like that. So I think I got my work cut out from opening my mouth too quick. So Rakesh, I think a lot of people thought that this was publicity stunned, but you're saying, no, he's actually going to come. He's actually going to train with me. As of now?

You know, that's what the, that's what the talk says, you know, so, hey, I'm very, you know, I'm very excited to be able to be a guy to be able to give him this knowledge and help train up, you know. For me, it's good for business. Sure. You know, if bow wow can come into our industry and put asses and seats in Resilmania, why not? Why not have him come in there, you know, and everybody should, you know, you know, to kind of motivate him or help him because of him coming in or anybody coming in, either from hip hop or the movie industry, anybody that comes into our industry, obviously they're green and they need to be smartened up.

So there is no time for, you know, for jealousy or those that just hate on a poor guy that's just, you know, trying to come and, you know, live, you know, to live his dream. Well, he obviously loves wrestling. In fact, his Twitter profile image right now is him with a WWE logo next to him. Well, tell me, Chris, who doesn't watch WWE? I mean, you know what I mean? At some point in our life, yeah. Yeah, I totally understand what he says that, you know, this was a childhood dream, I guess, of his to be able to one day to, you know, to do this.

Why not? When is the right time for you to do it? You got dreams that you want to accomplish. When is the right time? You better get out there and get it now. Now is the right time. I love that Chinese proverb. It says the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.

The second best time is right now. Amen. Amen. So if you're going to treat him like all your other students, what happens when you walk through the doors? Any student, any brand new student that walks through the doors at your wrestling school, what happens from there? Well, you know, first of all, when they walk through,

to me, they're already winners in my eyes. because that, you know, when they, you know, it's not easy what we do, but obviously, you know, these kids walk through because they love the sport or the entertainment of professional wrestling. And so I'll sit up down and the first thing I ask them, why do you want to be a professional wrestler? And then, you know, they, same stories. Oh, I used to watch blah, blah, blah.

You know, I used to love who and who and blah, blah, blah, and all that stuff. And then the second thing I tell them, you know, I asked to, how do you, you know, you have any type of athletic ability sports background or so i'm you know i'm doing all that to kind of find them you know a lot of them say they've never played sports before some come from football you know blah blah blah so you know as i'm listening to the kids uh you know give me what you know what their background is i have a person of mine dot all these notes down and so once that is done and then i'll take them into the ring and i won't even run them around I'll let them touch the ropes.

I'll let them go and hit the canvas. You know, I let them touch those steel posts that they're all real. There's nothing fake about that, you know? And then I'll just have them just start, you know, slapping the mat with their hands. Because every time, you know, 99% of our time, we're taking those bumps, Chris, we have to protect ourselves with our hands. Yeah.

And then some of them, when they slap that mat, oh, man, this is hard. I say, yeah. And you only slap, and you only slap it one time. Yeah. You know, and so, you know, and in that, you know, I just have them kind of, you know, do just regular stuff, are jumping jacks, squats, you know, I'll have them do like 25 reach just so I can see, you know, you know, do they blow up quick or are they in shape, you know? And so, you know, at the end of the day, you know, they'll be in there for like a half an hour,

you know, and then we'll just evaluate and I say, okay, this is what it is, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then either they cop back or they don't, you know. Let me ask you that question that you ask your students. Why did you want to be a pro wrestler? Oh, man. Pro wrestling saved my life. I had in San Francisco, California, Chris, you know, the streets of San Francisco, you know, where we were raised up back in the Bay Area.

I was raised in the swamps, you know, of Sunnydale, which, the hood back in the Bay Area. And I'll be honest, I wasn't the best of kids that followed the rules. You know, my background, I come from my grandparents are preachers of church, you know, and then, you know, my mother was the daughter of the preacher. And, you know, we go to church, we pray all the time, but I was just going to opposite. You know, and during the time there, you know, it was rough back in the Bay. I was running with the wrong crowd.

And at 17, I got hit by a drive-by shooting. Yeah. And damn near lost my life. I was dead for three minutes. I woke up in an ambulance, and all I can see was my mother's face. You know, I mean, being taken to the hospital. I can see my mother's face. And so I was in the hospital for two months.

And when I got out, my mother had made the decision that I was going to leave California. and she was sending me to her brother's alpha and Sica. And so I was 18 by then. And away it went. So I kind of just fell into the industry. You know, my mother felt like it was time for me to leave the Bay Area. And, you know, I'm happy she made that, you know, she did do what she did. Because who's the saying, you know, me getting back out after being shot.

you know, I could have been running with the same crowd again. So that's how that all started. The rest was history. The scar on your stomach is from that, which I don't know if everybody is aware of that. But was there a point in the hospital when maybe you thought, I might not make this through. I might not live after this. Well, yeah, you know, it was really a wake-up call for me.

I was in there for, you know, two months. and they basically you know the scar of my stuff and they had to cut me open you know because I was shattered inside you know inside my

my insides and they actually said that the bullet it was a 22 actually hit the side of my rib which saved my heart had that said my rib

would not be there when it went to my heart we probably wouldn't be having this conversation right now And so for two months, I was in the hospital, Chris. And, you know, my kids were very, very young, the twins at the time, you know, and my family members were in and out of the hospital. They were just furious.

They wanted to find this son of a bitch that did what they did to me. You know, when you're in the hospital, Chris, you have nothing about time. I can't go nowhere. Yeah. All I just, all I just seem. just, I feel like I brought a lot of pain to my family. Everybody's losing their mind. They're wanting to blah, blah, blah,

go find this person or whoever it is and do damage to these people here. And then, you know, I thought about, you know, they do stuff like that. Now, God forbid, they kill that person. Now they're going to be in prison for life and blah, blah, blah. And it just helped me just, you know, really kind of a wake-up call. that, you know, my life, to be able to give me a second chance of life was for a reason, something. Did they ever find the guy that did it to you?

No. Wow. I never did. I wonder if he knows, you know, with all the fame and all the success you've had with WWA, I wonder if he knows it was you. Well, I hope one day, I mean, if you're watching this here and you think you know who I am, I would like to personally meet you and I would like to

I'm going to say this in case I don't have have a chance that I forgive you man I forgive you for what has happened to me what you have done to me and you know I hope that you know you can learn from you know from what has happened in our

encounter back in the day to be able to be a better person. Wow that is powerful. Wow to be able to forgive someone for that that's incredible when you move to And with Offen Sika, where were they living? Well, my Uncle Alpha was up to Hampton, Connecticut, which is not too far from Stanford, Connecticut. And Uncle Sika, he's still out there in Pensacola, Florida.

You know, so, you know, I used to, when I came to Hampton, Connecticut, I actually stayed with Uncle Alpha before, I don't know, until they got cold up there in the snow because I hated the snow. and then I would go down to Pensacola, Florida, where Uncle Seiko is at, and Uncle Seiko would have a ring in a backyard. You know, you've seen that documentary of Yoko, that ring right there, that's where we had, our training. We didn't have an academy, Chris, to go to. Everything was in the backyard, you know. Then you know it. You knew when you moved in with him in that moment, you were going to make it.

You were going to be a pro wrestling. Yeah, I didn't, you know, again, I was still green, Chris. And so when I moved in, all I know is I was just coming to Uncle Alpha and I have no idea, you know, how to train. I have no idea what does it take to be a pro wrestler. All I know is that I've seen my uncle's on TV and I was, I was scared of them, you know, because, you know, they look like they, you know, rip people's heads off on TV. me so you know and i keep in mind i know my uncles but i don't know you know i'm just a young kid that now all of a sudden i'm living in a new home that that i have no idea how my uncles are

yeah and uh you know he he really changed my life they both did you know they made me do the sometimes the work to tear up the ring to tear down to me you know to drive the ring truck and You know, I used to question myself, like, damn it, I didn't come over here to, you know, be a ring truck driver or, you know, tear up the ring, tear down to like the ring crew. But, you know, they did all that for me so I can, you know, understand the hard work that comes everything with this industry. I feel like if you're, if you're Samoan, you have to be a wrestler. Like, I feel like that's, there's not many other career paths because you guys are so good at it. Well, in our family, I mean, you know, I, to this day, Chris, I think we're like 18, 19 strong. It's incredible.

This one legacy, this one bloodline. Yeah. And I always say people ask me, why there's so many? I don't know. I really, I wish there some will go play football. Some will go play, you know, other sports, you know. We have a lot of our nephews now. you know, they're able to go play other sports and stuff.

But I think it's just, you know, the pride that they have in this, you know, from the legacy. You know, Uncle Peter Maivia, Uncle Afenica, Yoko, the Rock, the Umanga. I mean, it's just that just continue to, you know, with our young ones in the family. It's like they want to step put into that, into that footprint and then continue to carry on, which we see today, you know, the Uso's, Roman rains are doing a hell of a job, you know, what they're, you know, representing a family out there and let it on the rock in the movie industry. Right. You know, and then we have our young ones that are yet to be seen like Jacob Fatu, who is the Tonka kids son for MLW. and I wish he would leave MLW and go to AEW or go to WWE or Japan.

There's so much that kid has to offer in this industry that he's just being locked out for now and he needs to make the move. And then I have my son, who's the Uso's third younger brother, Cephafatu, there's a lot of noise about him going to AEW as well. So, you know, I'm very proud of all the,

all of our young kids that are coming through the industry to continue on the legacy. It's an amazing family tree. And I think that some of these are pretty obvious. But if I give you a name, can you tell me your relation to that person? Yeah. So, I mean, obviously Jimmy and Jay are your sons.

That's an easy one. Rosie. Who's Rosie in the family tree for you? My first cousin. Okay. That's up off. But. Roman Reigns?

My first cousin. Okay. Everyone's going to be your cousin, I feel like, on this last. Yeah. Umaga? My brother. Your brother. Yokozuna?

My first cousin. Naya Jacks. She is a double cousin back. Second cousin. How were you related to Rocky Johnson? Related to Rocky Johnson. Johnson and threw out to my via who's my auntie okay okay and then so then who would peter myavia be he's being my uncle he's good i got him out for you man i know i've got more for you what about

lance uh lans is my nephew that's uh my first cousin samu who's the head shrieker that's his young baby So my nephew. What about Jimmy Snooka? Jimmy Shooka. He's my uncle. So Tamina? I got a fake thing, you know? I know. This is great.

So how are you related to Kna? Tamina's related to me. She's my cousin from Jimmy Snooka. What's your relation to the rock? The rock is my, the rock is anti. I don't know. There's a lot of others. He's my cousin, Ruancy. Yes, Duranthi.

And then Jacob? He's my nephew. That's the younger kid, son. The kid is my brother. Did I miss anybody here? Sepha. Okay. And then we talked.

We talked about often, Sika, being your uncles. Yeah. I mean, this is, this legacy is unbelievable. Chris, it's a freaking reality show. I'll tell you that, man. It should be. It's on your chest right there, Samoan Dynasty. I wear it proudly.

Well, that's the thing. That's the thing about like when you say Uso or you say Uso, like family means so much more to somebody like you. You know, Chris, it's our culture, man. you know, becoming from Polynesian being raised up in a household of faith and culture. You know, everything starts within our living room. And, you know, even though, you know, this family legacy comes from different angles, different gimmicks, as we walk through that square circle, we never forget who we are, you know, the core of where this family comes from. And, you know, it's pride.

you know, it's the reminding of us of why we are out there, you know, to be able to, you know, represent, you know, where we come from as, you know, back in the day, a lot of people didn't know who Samoans were. You know, you have Uncle Peter Maivia

and Uncle Afa. You know, they were the ones that, you know, put Samoans on the map as far as in professional wrestling. And so you can imagine that we coming into after them, man, that was a lot of, of freaking pressure man yeah sometimes i wanted to quit sometimes i said this is not for me but then you know you know what i think about you know why i was sent there you know as far as for my mother and so for me my my parents you know there was no turning back you know there's no quit in some months

you know when you meet you you realize just how big you are like you're a big dude and i'm really curious to know were you always a big dude like were you a big kid oh no man i mean i was a slim kid back in a day i don't believe yes yeah i was i mean i have to say you so cold but anyhow um no i i i was probably like i don't know maybe about 200 pounds maybe 180 pounds back in the day in high school and i really start to you know put on weight uh when i turned 18 I was actually in that environment with my Uncle Alpha. And every morning, Uncle Alpha would wake us up at 7 a.m. In Hampton, Connecticut, be it snow, raining, or sunny.

That we would go to the powerhouse gym. And I would train with the likes of, you know, Tony Korea, Ivan Pushky, the powerhouse. You know, we were there with some of the SD Jones. These are names way back. and, you know, way back in the day. We were a young kid. But that was our atmosphere, you know.

I came from a city boy to all of a sudden in an atmosphere where everything is working. Like, you know, training early in the morning. Come back, put up the ring. Get in the ring, start training until the sun, you know, comes out, tear that freaking ring back down. And then repeat the cycle over and over. Now, you know, those type of atmospheres, you know, was new to me, you know. And when you start taking protein and you're starting, you know,

your uncle's having you eat, you know, like a lot of tuna, a lot of rice and barbecue chicken. It really, I'm just as, you know, 18-year-old kid and I've never, next year you know, Chris, I start to like what I start to see in a mirror. I was starting to poke it up and it looked like a body belt, you know. You know, knowing what you know about the industry, both good and bad, were you apprehensive to let Jimmy and Jay get into it? Very. Very. I didn't want my,

because, you know, their upbringing and my upbringing is totally different. You know, the boys there, you get a chance to go to college, you got a chance, you know,

they lived a good life. You know, their father, I got out there and I did what I had to do so my kids wouldn't come up the way I came out. And, you know, Jimmy and Jay,

they've been around the business, all their life, you know yeah uh everywhere it was just in them and you know i just wanted them to do something different like the plan that at my age during the time was like at 46 that i wanted to be on the sideline of 40 on nfell either or team i just wanted to get an rv and i wanted to travel to all their games and you know and so one day i was out on the road i came home and uh they both sat me down and They wanted to, you know, they threw that, that curveball to me and said that they didn't want to play football. They wanted to join the family business.

So, you know, it was difficult for me because I knew if I went against it, then it wasn't going to work, you know, it wasn't going to work out. And so as a father, you always try to support, it might not be my decision, but you always try to support your kids to see. to be able to give them that, you know, knowing that, okay, you're going to do what I do, but I'm going to tell you, this is not easy, man. You're going to get ready to all the stuff you see me come home and drop my bags at the door can barely walk through the bedroom. You're going to understand why there's some nights that I come home. I don't feel like talking.

I just want to get to my bed and my recliner, you know, and just put my stuff down and just get some less. You might feel like I'm not paying attention to. But the life that you live on the road, when you come home, it's your peace of mind. It's your way to get away from all the chaos, all the bullshit, all the politic and all the everything. I just want to be safe in my home, and you're going to understand why I like so. But they've been into the industry 12 years, and I'm very proud of both of them. Do you think if they continued playing football, that there's a chance we would have seen them in the NFL?

Oh, most definitely. Huh. Most definitely, you know. But, you know, the plan was that they go to make a name for themselves in the NFL. Yeah. By the time they make a name for themselves in NFL, they'll come to WWE because I know how WWE is. They'll bring a person with a name in there, like, you know, for that cat,

came from New England Patriots. Rob Grancowski. You're coming. You can imagine what type of money they paid him. And he didn't even know how to work. And so, you know, that for me was a plan for my boys as to go play NFL. That way, you know, you live that.

You can say, okay, I've done that, you know, my parents are happy that we did that. Now we jump over here. But by the time they jump over here, you don't have to go through all the other system of being a new cat in WW because you're already a superstar in the NFL. You can write your ticket with WWE. So if you know me, you know how much I love sleep.

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did things really start clicking for you? You know what? I want to say at the beginning of my career. Okay. And what I mean about that, Chris, it was that the lessons learned, you know, coming into this industry with my, I'm so, so blessed to have my uncles be the one there for me, you know, and then, you know, to have our family circle so, tight. You know, when I first came into the industry, you know, I've learned so much about what it is to smoke some air.

And I started when I was 18. I turned pro when I was 20. It only took me a couple years at 20 years old. And then I'm traveling, going to Texas, the Von Erics. I'm going to Puerto Rico with Carlos Colom. You know, I'm going over to Egypt where I have no idea of, but all these different experiences that my uncle has taken us to, it really helped me prep for the WWE or for WCW. So by the time we came to the big time, we were 23, 24, we were young, I mean, strong horses that the big companies look for to be able to dance with their big start.

who they got going on. And so when we came through, it wasn't, I was so used to making $30, Chris. By the time I got, by the time I got to the WWE and made the big contract, it didn't phase me at all.

You know what I mean? It didn't because I was already, the value of the dollar of making $30, you know, the hard work that we did on the independent scene. Now when I come there and do, the hard work there, you know, it's just an extra to us. And our job was to stay, you know, stay employed, stay away from all the drama, and just protect every time we jump in the ring.

My uncle's just your say, you respect that square circle. If you respect the square circle, you're going to have a job for a long time, meaning the passion, the pride, the, you know, the will to be, you know, the will to be the best damn tag team or the best performer there, it's going to keep that weekly paycheck coming in, and the office is going to see it. Right. I mean, things were obviously going really well in your career,

but too cool must have really changed everything for you. Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, that era, when that happened with me, Scotty, and Brian, you know, rest of the peace for Brian, you know, that was kind of like, When that hit, Chris, I knew it was okay. It's all gravy from here. I mean, I was getting paid to stick my ass in people's faces and bust the move and dance.

All these years, Chris, it took me breaking my body, bumping, getting hit with chairs, getting hit with, I mean, you name it. And then finally, this is what takes me overboard, was backing that ass up and busting the move. Bust in the movie. You know, time changes, I guess, you know. And I'm very grateful. I'm very grateful and thankful that, you know, all the fans out there just, you know, they really made us feel, made me feel that it's okay for me to be my size. It's okay for me to have a thong on there and do what I do.

I must be the toughest man to wear a damn thong in Professor. Like, was, were you the one that came up with the idea? that that was going to be a ring attire? Oh, no. That was all Vince McMahon and his creative crew. You know, keep in mind, you know, I was the Sultan before that. Yeah. And wearing a mask.

Yeah. So the Sultan gimmick didn't even last long. You know, I signed a four-year deal being a Sultan, and I came on TV, and I was crushing everybody every Monday night row. I think, Chris, it was like two months. And I was killing people on TV next year you know. They plan to go the opposite way where I think Brett turned heel. And then, you know, he was going up against the Patriot.

So who better to put the Patriot over than the guy from the Middle East? Sure. Set him up for Brett. And then when that happened, I was done. So where do we go from here now? They said, we'll go back to the drawing board. But I just signed a contract for four years. So I didn't make no noise about anything.

I just stayed out the way, you know, got a weekly paycheck for a damn near three and a half years to stay home, you know. And during that last 90-day clause before your contract is over, I went and I actually wrestled Kurt Angle in Memphis. That's when Kurt Angle was just starting out at Memphis for Jerry Lawler. And when they came down there, Bruce Pritchard seen me. And I was every bit of, you know, that weekly paycheck being off for three and a half months, it was not but barbecue it every week and having a good time. You see me, I was every bit of like $450, I believe it is.

Wow. But I could still move, you know. I was still just real light on my feet. You know, I didn't feel no, you know, I didn't feel like anything, you know, wrong with me as far as inside. I could still breathe. You know, I didn't have no problem carrying my weight. And Bruce, by the time I came back from TV, having that match with Kurt, I said that Vince wanted to have a meeting with me.

And that's what happened. We had that meeting. And then the way we went, you know, with the ideas that he wanted to, when he came up, the idea with wanting to do a sumo. As soon as he said, Sumo, Chris, I thought of my cousin, Yoko. Of course. And I was like, nah, I don't, I don't want to, you know, I don't want to do a sumo character when my cousin already done it and just do the respect for Yoko.

You know what I mean? And then, you know, he came up. He wanted to do the whole, you know, yours will be different. I want to do the whole where you show your button, like where the shoot sumo gear. Now, when he said that, Now, when he said that, I said, do you mean like just, you know, everything just show just your butt, my buttox just wide on TV?

Yeah, just the real thing, you know, a whole new blah, blah, blah. And I was like right off the back, you know, I said, hmm, hmm, I keep in mind, I'm like 90 days out from this other Sultan contract. Now here's a part here. Now, if you kids are out there, you're going to listen about this industry, when to make your move and when to sit back and shut your mouth. And so you're 90 days out, Chris. The numbers come up, and then all of a sudden,

the super moved years different from what Yoko, because Yoko had the whole tights on. Yeah. And I'm thinking, I said, okay, that's going to, the first thing I thought about was my kids. Like, what? You know, in high school, School in general, kids are ruthless to other kids.

I do want kids to start ripping my kids in school. You're dad, blah, blah, blah. So I took the drawing home. I told them this, I was, you know, let me think about it, you know, and I get back to you. I took the drawing home. I had dinner on the table. I pulled those drawings out and said,

there's a deal here. This is going to be my new characters. And I want to know from you kids there. Will you guys be upset? if I were something like this on TV. They both, they all sold it. Wow. Wow. Hey, that.

You all do it. That's up to you. It's all good. You know, I said, that's all I had to hear. The rest of the things in my mind, I'm going to go out there and I'm going to take this character because I already knew people when they see me come out there. I knew people were going to be smirking. There was going to be a lot of heckling and blah, blah, blah,

even in the locker room. Yeah. I already knew that was going to come. But in my mind, I'm going to take this character and I'm going to make this work. Because for me, I'm just getting through with this four-year contract from the Solta. Now I'm going to come into this second, this next contract. And I want to make this character work to the best. So I asked to change up a few things as far as a sumo character.

And that's where you see the blonde hair come through. And then all of a sudden we talked about, okay, what would a sumo do, you know, after their matches? Let's go ahead and bust the move. I used to dance. I used to dance for money anyways in the Bay Area, P.R. 39, when I was 15, 14 years old. Right. And so I thought, you know, it'll be cool for, you know, for me, Scotty and Brian to, you know, to you know to treat people with a you know with a dance or something like that because you never

you know you never seen those before yeah it's always after somebody wins a professional russ and chris that's it raise your hand yeah we wanted to give them something special and then you know the rest was history when the stink face came that was it everything well where did the stink face come from so you know i'm still trying to find this old lady from Mobile, Alabama. If you're out there, this has been about 25 years. If you're out there watching, listen. Thank you. I love you.

I owe you, you know, I owe you everything for just telling me what you said that night. And so I wrestled a boss man in Mobile, Alabama on the house show. And I've been doing house shows with this gimmick on with the thaw. And, you know, that old thing when you're clothes lined somebody and they, in the corner and you know boss man fell to that stink face position as we know it today

yeah so when he fell all of a sudden that keep in mind Chris just like you know 20,000 people in the arena but all I heard I didn't know boss man fell down in that position and all I heard was RickyChi

Rickisi turn around and stick your about it is saying. And I'm like, I'm like, this is where that look comes from to where I'm kind of looking slowly because I'm looking in the front row, who's saying that,

who's yelling that? And as I turned around, and I turned around and I seen Bossman in that corner, and I just, when I took the first step, Chris, you can hear like the pop of the crowd. It kind of came up.

took the next step, it came up higher. By the time I got to him, and I turned around, it was like a pop that I had never, ever heard in my career. Like, damn, this is what it feels like. And it was just, it was there. You know, it was the people already. And all I can hear boss, man. Now, keep your mind, we have never done this move before.

Me and Boss Man says, all right, baby, go ahead and stick that booty in my face. We got him now. We got him now. I said, you sure? He said, bring it on, baby. Oh, bless his heart. He took that damn stink face like a champ, man. And that was on the Sunday, Chris.

The next day was Monday night wrong. And that's when the stink face was introduced to the world. What a story. Ain't that something? That's amazing, Rikishi. The lady, if you are out there, old lady, grandma, I don't know what your name is. Thank you. Thank you so much. I love you. Who had the biggest problem with taking the stink face?

I think it was a lot of the guys, man. Oh, sure. Yeah, a lot of the guys. Well, you know, keep in mind, here's the turnaround. Now, while we're doing this show, I hope a lot of you wrestlers that are listening out there, because the youngsters. And so keep in mind, Chris, I mentioned this about, I already knew people were going to laugh about me coming through with the thumb. So when the roster seen me come back in this new outfit,

everybody thought it was a real. Every single bite, but nobody would say it to my face. You can feel it, you know, because my ass get hot when I walk by people. I can feel like they're staring at it. Yeah, yeah. Oh, let's be right. real, my buttocks is not the most beautiful buttocks in the world. But here are the people, you know, the roster, they won't say it to your face.

But in our industry, everything they think is a rip when somebody changes their character. It's like, oh, they're coming back again to try. So whatever the case, but let it all, they didn't know that Rikishi was going to be one of the biggest stars in the industry of the attitude there. And so every single person, which they didn't know, that I can hear the heckling. And, you know, I hear it, but I don't know who did. All I remember who's sitting in the hallway. By the time I got to come to the stink face, Chris, I always knew, like, if I'm wrestling somebody that, you know, that night, you know, I would come. there would be like some fried rice on my chair

because they knew I like chicken fried rice. They knew, so when they start prepping it up, because they knew I had to give them a mistake phrase. That's just part of the Rukisi character. So there were times where a lot of the guys,

you know, they took it because they understood their role. It was my time, you know. And when they take it, you can tell those that are taken straight up, like Booker T, shout out to Book and T. When Book of T took it, he took it head up. You know, and the Rock took it, he took it head up.

Kurt Angle head up, you know? So a lot of guys, they understood, they didn't want to take it, but they knew that Vince McMahon was going to take it. And we all seen how that happened. Rock took Vince's face and just shoved it all the way up. And Vince was at, boy, he said, Rikishi, I hope you clean your buttocks today. I felt like Rock pushed Vince's face so hard into your ass.

I felt like Vince was going to break his nose. Oh, man, when you're live, you're live, you're live, man. You know what I mean? I mean, that was one of the most iconic. I think that was when we shut down the kiss my ass club. And that was the way to do it right there. I mean, he took it like a chair. Was there anyone that ever said, no, I'm not doing that spot?

I don't remember. I honestly, you know, I didn't have to worry about none of that, you know what I mean? Because nobody would come tell me in my face. You know, keep in mind, Chris, I'm Samoan before I'm a wrestler. You know, if we all know Samoans, we don't back down from shit. You know what I mean? And, you know, we're good people. We're business people.

I mean, but at the same time, you know, we're warriors, man. And, you know, from our culture, it's a respect level is a huge thing. you know, we're not the type of people that lie or truthful type of people. What you say is, you know, we believe you. But when we find out that, man, you just, you played us or you tried to play us. Now everything turns left, you know.

And so we had that type of reputation in the business. And, you know, I thank my uncle's Peter Maivia and Afanika, you know, for paving that type of way. Because, again, when they came and gave us that, knowledge, you know, we carried that into the locker room. And the era changes all the time. Like what used to be the same for their era was different in our era with Yoko Rock and then Umana's era was different now with, you know, Roman and, um, uh, Jimmy and Jay. It's just a whole new different era. You know, it's just different when you walk through their locker rooms nowadays. It's a whole new

different vibe. But, you know, shout out to them for continuing. to, you know, lacing their boots up and continue to do what they do as far as the legacy in the family. Yeah. You know, when you talk about not backing down from anything, that spot when you fell off hell in a cell is so terrifying to watch. I can't even imagine. I can't imagine doing that.

Yeah. You know, I, all I can say was, you know, when you love something. when you were prepped up for, you know, anything that the industry throws at you, you know, and the smarts, I knew that I wasn't the person that was going over in that match. But I also knew that what can I do to be able to steal that away and have people, you know, years down in line talk about? Yeah. And I was, you know, no doubt I was, it was very nerve wrecking. You know, I've watched him make Foley come off the top of the hell in the cell.

And God bless him, man. I mean, he's put his body so much for this industry that, you know, I always say 30 seconds, an accident can happen. And he could have died in any one of those big boom bumps that he'd take it. And so it was my time. It was my time to come and, you know, you know, take us known to throwing somebody off the hell in the cell. But I've never knew that when my time would come, it'll be like, you know, taking a bump backwards onto a flatbed, steel flatbed. And it's, there's no rewind from that, Chris. Yeah.

Meaning that, you know, when he grabbed me, you know, in my last words with him was to tell my family I love him. You know what I mean? It was weary, but you can hear the crowd. They're exploding. It's that moment. Kiki, you can't turn back now. This is what you signed up for. This is what you trained for.

This is what the people, you know, they paid their hard-earned money to come watch you guys do what you do best. And these are the chances that you take as a pro-resser when that time comes in. You know, I'm thankful. I'm happy. I'm grateful that I was safe and that, you know, they'll continue to play my high spot

through the hell and the cell years to come. Well, the funny thing is people will remember that spot. Most people can't tell you who won that match, though. There it is. And that's exactly what, you know, what the mindset is. Like, you know, my uncle's used to tell us it's not who wins, son. You know, it's what people remember. if you're in there getting your heat on a person,

you know, you get your heat so well and so believable that people forget to finish. Yeah. And that was my mindset that day. So, yeah, but don't try that. And it was Shane McMahon that walked her through that spot and made you realize that was okay?

Yeah, let's give credit to what credit is due. You know, that. But Shane actually went up there. And, you know, they asked me, do I want to do it? Meaning practice it. And I said, no. I wanted to go just, you know, when the time is right, you know, meaning during showtime.

But he got up and he kind of just, he did it like as if, you know, he does that all the time. He's just fearless of heights and stuff like that, you know. And got up. He kind of walked me through it. that I'm standing down from the cage looking up. And it's a say, Kish, it's very easy. You know, just stop back. You know, just, you'll be standing like this.

You just take a step backwards. And then your whole body will just go, you know, just fall what it falls. It sounds like, by my mind. I hope that truck is in the right place where, because I'm 400-something pound. You know what I mean? I'm double the weight that he is. But he did it, I think he did a couple times, you know. And they asked me, did, you know, said, would you like to try now?

I'll go ahead and do it when it's showtime, you know. And there it is when I got up there and it's like, damn it, I think I should have tried this before. You know, but it was too late. I mean, it was too late that it was time ago. But even with the padding, how much did that bump hurt? It hurt, man. I mean, honestly, it really, I'm 400, that was 450 or 425 during the time, Chris. And they had padding there.

I think the padding was like three feet and then a lot of hay on top of that. But when you're coming from a 50 foot high cage at 450 pounds, I hit every bit of that steel metal plate in the back of the flatbed. And you can see the whole truck, like just went to the, you know, went to the springs, you know. And, you know, when you watch it very close, I didn't know if I made it. I was so, I was so, you know, full of anxiety, energy, you know, in the moment. When I land, you know, you can see my lips just like they were shaking. And then the first thing I was trying to do was move my toes just to feel if I have any type of, you know, feeling in my body. And I was just laid out and they drove that freaking flatbed in the back by the locker room as we came towards a gorilla.

And it was a standing ovation there. You know, all the boys, you know, there's the whole crew stand up. Even Shane came in, you know, came and congratulate for the bump that, you know, I hit the bump right solid. So I was like, man, it was a rush. But I said, I'm only going to do that one time, and that was the last time I did. I was always so blown away in the way you took a clothesline. Like you took a clothesline, like a cruiserweight. Yeah, well, you know, I wanted at my size.

You know, they always say that they stereotype, they look at big people, and they think that we can't move. Big people can't move in general. And I wanted to learn something like a 150-pound guy, do something. And so I took time learning that that 360. At my weight, every time I turned, Chris, I used to go head first because I was so heavy. Sure. Do it again.

And I'd do it in all the house shows. A lot of boys, yeah, man, you're going to break your neck. You don't break. But I was so determined to perfect that move that one day, I just filed it. And I kept doing it. And then it was my stepping and my footing and my timing to where when the guy gives me that close line you not to stop i wanted you to go all the way through and and so you know once i found the technique there was my my wild moment so i could say you never see a 450-pound guy do a 360

was there ever a point in your wwee career where they said are you've gotten big enough like maybe it's time to slim down uh you know i mean my last character was the rikishi yeah you know and so There was never a point to where I couldn't, like I wasn't old at my own. It felt different, you know, at 450, you know, when you're going every night. Now I know at 450 when I was in Memphis, I wasn't working that much every night. You know, I wasn't on the road. So, of course, I had energy to, you know, to go. But when you're on the road, 200-something days out of the year, Chris, after a while, that 450 start to kind of

All right. I felt it in my knees. You know what I mean? Sometimes in my ankles, but, you know, I never exposed it to anybody. Yeah. You know, I never, you know, in this industry, I'm trained to, if I'm hurt, nobody will know it in our family. Because, you know, we were trained to, you know, the day you let the promoters know, you're hurt. And now you might be out the door, they're going to bring somebody else in. Now, you don't miss that paycheck. Yeah. But Rikishi, being on the road as much as you were, what's flying in a plane look like when you weigh 450 pounds? Oh, geez.

It's sleep to me. You know, it was, you know, I was, they put me up front. Okay. I was always up in first class, so, you know, but sometimes, Chris, and those that are listening, first class is not what first class. is, you know? It's just, yeah, you get all the little perks and stuff, but I used to sometimes, like I knew certain flights and I would take my first class and give it to one of the boys. And then so I can have an aisle and a middle seat where it's more comfortable for me, you know. But of course, I took all my drinks and my food in the back.

Do you think with the momentum that your character had, do you think that you deserve to a title shot or a title run? Yeah, most definitely. I mean, that was one thing that, you know, I wish that would have happened. I just wanted to have that shot to become the world champion. It's one time. You know, if you're in this industry and not shooting for the top like that, then you're in the wrong industry. It's time to get your priority straight, you know, even though a lot of people may see, think it's the work and so forth, but you can tell those.

they put the belts on certain people for a reason, you know, and if you're not fighting to perfect your craft to really get a look at, you know, have the company, the bookers, the promoters, be able to have that look on you, then you're not working hard enough to. Now you're not understanding of this industry. And so, you know, had I been able to turn it back around, Chris? Yeah, I would have loved to have a, you know, matching Insta Rock or Stonecold Steve Austin for the title and beat him and beat him on a big grand stage of

WrestleMania and you know the rest everything else you know now I'm thankful you know I've won the In Continental Belt I've won you know the tag team multiple times in different companies but it's nothing like when the main the main belt you know yeah so let's hope one of my boys you know will win it for me or something you know well does this Roman kind of count oh yeah I mean, my own. It comes from my seed. Yeah. Well, what does being inducted in the Hall of Fame mean?

What did that mean to you? I thank all of you guys. That really meant a lot to me. You know, just to be able to be acknowledged and appreciated of all the work that, you know, that I've been through in this crazy industry and professional wrestling. It's that attachment between me and the fans that they acknowledge me. And, you know, I really, you know, miss the fans. I don't miss the business of wrestling, of all the politics and all the traveling,

but I miss you guys. You guys with, like, the fuel. And you probably hear it all the time, but I never get to save it. You guys were the fuel for me to be able to, you know, help make me love myself for what I'm doing out there. That every time that where it was a boo or cheer, you know, it felt that I felt that connections with the fans.

And being a Rikishi character, you know, that character was a fun, loving character. Yeah. Like it was a happy guy, you know, that just when it's time to have fun,

he has fun. But when it was time to go back, you know, he can run with the best of them. And, you know, to be able to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, that was all the fans. And I thank you all for loving me and supporting me through my career. How much do you miss your blonde hair? I don't. I'm happy.

In my scalp for 27 years, Chris, I had to be sitting. You know, it burns inside your scalp. You know what I mean? I'm not a natural blonde. So as you see now, I'm kind of going back to the, my old, you know, what I started with, you know. And so it feels good to wear, you know. My wife likes it.

She doesn't have to bleach my hair anymore. You look a little more like Coco now. Yeah, well, back to the natural, the way I used to look. Yeah. That's one thing about all our family members. You know, my grandmother's jeans, which is often sick as mother. Right. And her jeans is so strong.

Like all our features, we kind of look the same. if you really look at all our features in this part everybody looks kind of the same song you know of course you know our grandfather was a preacher man he was a preacher but i think my grandfather was a wrestler before because man he'd preach the bible a word to you but if you step out of line man he he wouldn't hesitate to knock you out this well i mean i've interviewed your sons i've interviewed jimmy and jay i've interviewed the rock many times. They look so similar in person. Yeah. It's weird, you know, but that's a good thing, you know.

When I interviewed Jimmy and Jay, they said that when you first started doing the stink face, they were like, oh man, they were a little embarrassed by it. Well, of course, you know what I mean? I would too, you know. But hey, when you understand the industry, like, hey, I'm out there doing what I got to do to put food on the table for my family like I get it yeah I know that professional wrestling is sports entertainment understand so by all many by all means whatever they throw at you and this goes back to our training like you are that damn good enough that whatever character the company throws on you you can get that character over not too many people can do yeah there's been so many great

takeaways from this for Kishi I want to I want to thank you for spending this last hour with us You know, Chris, thank you, man. Thank you for opening up your platform. You know, I love doing these type of shows is to be able to help, you know, bring awareness to the business that I love so much that has taken care of me and my family. But I also am also utilized this platform

is to be able to each one teach one. Like the kids that you are coming into the industry of professional wrestling, that make sure you take time to listen, you know, to these type of shows when you run into OGs that are in an independency, you know, don't just not go talk to them. Don't think that we don't want to talk to you. You know, we're at our time and our life and our age

is that we want to teach you kids to be able to, you know, understand the industry. And you guys have it so much good today that we don't want you to lose the opportunity because you're not smart how to conduct yourself in this industry. Yeah. I end every interview by asking my guests, what are three things that you're grateful for in your life right now?

My family, me living, and my new grandkids. I love it. Rakesh, this has been such an honor, such a pleasure, such a privilege. Thank you so much for this. And I look forward to coming to your school in person. Absolutely. You got me, man. You got my number.

Let's link up sometime soon, man. Let's do it. Continue to do the good work. Thank you so much. All right. God bless you, Chris. Bye-bye. All right, my friends.

Thank you so much for being with us on this one. The name of the show is Insight. And I feel like it's so fitting after our conversation like this. Man, Rakeshi was bringing it. I feel like I feel like I teared up a little bit when he was telling that story about forgiving the person who shot him in the drive-by. That was power. Please share this with someone who needs some inspiration in their lives.

Take a screenshot, tag us on social media so we can say hi and so we can retweet. I'm at Chris Van Vleet. Rikishi is at the real Rikishi. And his story of forgiveness made me think of my favorite quote from Nelson Mandela, which I'll leave you with. Not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Hmm. Be great. be grateful we will see you on the next one for some more insight the hammer alley podcast an 80s flashback

mockumentary back in the 80s there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock but there was one band that had it all hammer alley whatever happened to hammer alley how did they go from top of the rock i'm looking for a music video they're a band from 1987 hammer alley ever ever heard of them to rock bottom dude i was born in 1980s I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.