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Post by cordless2016 on May 27, 2017 8:15:20 GMT -5
Anyone wonder why the WWF turned Rikishi heel and tried pushing him so hard in the fall and winter of 2000?
I get he was a long time employee and nobody would have guessed that he ran over stone cold, but at the time and rewatching episodes today, Rikishi just seemed out of place next to all those great. Especially in the HIAC where he was against 5 legit hall of gamers. Hell, they even had him eliminate Taker from the Royal Rumble and pinned guys like Kane and Jericho clean a few times.
If they wanted to push someone new into the main event, why not go with Kane, Jericho, or Benoit? They were all in the upper midcard with Rikishi at the time or his turn, and all three were more ready for a big push than he was. Hell, if they wanted a surprise, why not go with Eddie Guerrero who was over as a midcard heel and not doing much at the time.
Anyone else annoyed that Rikishi was pushed so hard? I enjoyed him as a midcarder but I couldn't take him seriously as a main eventer.
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Post by blissfan4life on May 27, 2017 8:38:50 GMT -5
Made no sense and killed his overness
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Post by Gone. on May 27, 2017 8:48:00 GMT -5
Pretty sure it was meant to be Billy Gunn all along. But he got injured, missed the deadline of the turn.
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Post by cordless2016 on May 27, 2017 9:03:44 GMT -5
Pretty sure it was meant to be Billy Gunn all along. But he got injured, missed the deadline of the turn. Yeah I've heard that it was suppose to be Gunn as well but was injured. I'm interested in why they chose Rikishi as his replacement when they had so many better options to chose from. Benoit was fresh off main eventing his second PPV in under a year with the WWF, while Kane had just turned heel and changed up his look a bit. Jericho was mega over as an upper midcard face. And even Eddie Guerrero was beginning to be taken more seriously as a heel around that time. Just weird that they chose Rikishi. Maybe because he is good buds with Taker and Taker was pushing for him. Just speculation on my part but I can't think of another reason to push him besides that. |
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Post by TKO Propagandist on May 27, 2017 9:58:58 GMT -5
Was a big fan of Rikishi, great worker and his heel run wasn't all bad. Him running over Austin made sense the way they told the story of him doing it for The Rock so that a Samoan could finally be the top guy in WWF. Plus, they could beat Rikishi anytime they wanted once they turned him guys like Benoit or Jericho they couldn't necessarily, especially given they already had a bunch during that Summer. And they definitely were not gonna put anyone over Rock and Austin besides a select few. I do believe the changeover in head writer played a part as Stephanie took over as lead of creative during the angle.
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koreygunz
Main Eventer
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Post by koreygunz on May 27, 2017 13:33:12 GMT -5
Didn't they say the suspect had blonde hair about a month our from the reveal? If Gunn couldn't make it, they were somewhat limited to who they could choose (no Benoit, eddie, etc)
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Post by The Brain on May 27, 2017 13:43:42 GMT -5
I'm actually glad they didn't go with Billy Gunn as that would've been too predictable. It was a nice swerve on their part to have Rikishi be the culprit as nobody saw it coming since before they revealed it he was just in the IC Title picture. It gave him mega heat right off the bat and he was thrust right into the main event picture. Overall a very good heel turn.
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Dr. Mantis Toboggan MD
Main Eventer
I need a monster condom for my magnum sized dong.
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Post by Dr. Mantis Toboggan MD on May 27, 2017 13:52:47 GMT -5
Pretty sure it was meant to be Billy Gunn all along. But he got injured, missed the deadline of the turn. I've been watching around that time lately. Gunn returned 2-3 weeks before the reveal, which takes out this idea. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2017 14:24:36 GMT -5
Because he did it for da rock.
But in all actuality, he didn't fit the main event role and shouldn't have been booked there in the first place.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on May 28, 2017 2:01:03 GMT -5
Rikishi did fit the main event scene, however he fit it as a baby face.
If you look back to mid 2000, Triple H vs. Rikishi happened on Smackdown I believe it was. So Rikishi could have be in the main event scene as a face, but the heel thing just never worked.
Fans didn't wanna boo Rikishi, they wanted to cheer him and Too Cool on as they danced in the ring together. The Rikishi heel turn just didn't damage himself, it hurt Brian and Scotty too.
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Post by TKO Propagandist on May 28, 2017 6:33:10 GMT -5
Rikishi did fit the main event scene, however he fit it as a baby face. If you look back to mid 2000, Triple H vs. Rikishi happened on Smackdown I believe it was. So Rikishi could have be in the main event scene as a face, but the heel thing just never worked. Fans didn't wanna boo Rikishi, they wanted to cheer him and Too Cool on as they danced in the ring together. The Rikishi heel turn just didn't damage himself, it hurt Brian and Scotty too. Rikishi had grown out of Too Cool though. He deserved a run on his own beit heel or baby. Even Scotty could have went further at the time it the fed cared about their crusier division (just look at his match at Backlash 2000 with Malenko). Brian Christopher was a screw up though. Ruined it all for himself. |
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 9:39:50 GMT -5
Was supposed to be Billy, but Austin and especially HHH kept putting the kabosh on any push he was to get.
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Post by theoutlaw1999 on May 28, 2017 17:24:30 GMT -5
The worst outcome of a who dunnit storyline is an obvious culprit. Rikishi however was the last person anyone would've expected so the reveal was a huge surprise which wasn't really a bad thing.
I strongly disagree with those who say that Rikish didn't belong in the main event, he did but just not as a heel. Too Cool was one of the most over acts in 2000 and Rikishi was born to be a face so the entire heel turn screwed Too Cool and severely damaged Rikishi's character.
Early in 2000 there was a lottery on Smackdown where the winner got to face HHH for the title and Rikishi's name drew but he was over as hell in that match and I remember me and all my friends wanted him to win the title so IMO he would've shone as a main event face,
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Post by BrIaNMeRcY on May 28, 2017 18:34:36 GMT -5
Was a big fan of Rikishi, great worker and his heel run wasn't all bad. Him running over Austin made sense the way they told the story of him doing it for The Rock so that a Samoan could finally be the top guy in WWF. Plus, they could beat Rikishi anytime they wanted once they turned him guys like Benoit or Jericho they couldn't necessarily, especially given they already had a bunch during that Summer. And they definitely were not gonna put anyone over Rock and Austin besides a select few. I do believe the changeover in head writer played a part as Stephanie took over as lead of creative during the angle. The change in creative in 2000 caused a shift that we see today. Remember, a lot of the stuff we saw in 2000 was due to the late Chris Kreski. The reveal of Rikishi was nothing but a swerve. Fatu had reemerged as Rikishi on WWF Jakked/Metal which aired the day before Survivor Series 1999. |
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Post by TKO Propagandist on May 29, 2017 4:01:38 GMT -5
Was a big fan of Rikishi, great worker and his heel run wasn't all bad. Him running over Austin made sense the way they told the story of him doing it for The Rock so that a Samoan could finally be the top guy in WWF. Plus, they could beat Rikishi anytime they wanted once they turned him guys like Benoit or Jericho they couldn't necessarily, especially given they already had a bunch during that Summer. And they definitely were not gonna put anyone over Rock and Austin besides a select few. I do believe the changeover in head writer played a part as Stephanie took over as lead of creative during the angle. The change in creative in 2000 caused a shift that we see today. Remember, a lot of the stuff we saw in 2000 was due to the late Chris Kreski. The reveal of Rikishi was nothing but a swerve. Fatu had reemerged as Rikishi on WWF Jakked/Metal which aired the day before Survivor Series 1999. Kreski is definitely an unsung hero, gets a lot of love on the Attitude Era Podcast. He took over from Russo and oversaw the best period of television the company has ever had for around 6 months in 2000. Russo himself says Stephanie taking over creative was one of the worst things that could have happened to the Fed, is Vince really gonna be that hard on his daughter like he was his son. |
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Revy
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Post by Revy on May 29, 2017 20:14:55 GMT -5
Still wish it had been HBK. Had the motive and we would have gotten him back way earlier than what we did. However, I know he still had his "demons" then. I'm in the minority though, I loved 90s shawn more than 2000s shawn.
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Post by theoutlaw1999 on May 30, 2017 6:35:03 GMT -5
Still wish it had been HBK. Had the motive and we would have gotten him back way earlier than what we did. However, I know he still had his "demons" then. I'm in the minority though, I loved 90s shawn more than 2000s shawn. That would've been the perfect way for Shawn to return to the ring and mosy importantly he would've been a heel. Shawn was always out of place as a face and it's something I hated about his 2000's run. |
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Post by cordless2016 on May 30, 2017 13:22:55 GMT -5
Still wish it had been HBK. Had the motive and we would have gotten him back way earlier than what we did. However, I know he still had his "demons" then. I'm in the minority though, I loved 90s shawn more than 2000s shawn. That would've been the perfect way for Shawn to return to the ring and mosy importantly he would've been a heel. Shawn was always out of place as a face and it's something I hated about his 2000's run. I'm with yah on 90s Shawn. He was the perfect heel that you'd want to see get his teeth knocked out. And he'd have been perfect as the driver. Sadly his demons got in the way of it which is a shame. Rumors say that he was physically ready to go in the ring by mid-1999 but his drug issues are what kept him out for the majority of those 4.5 years. |
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Post by The Sexy Psychotic on May 30, 2017 15:56:36 GMT -5
That would've been the perfect way for Shawn to return to the ring and mosy importantly he would've been a heel. Shawn was always out of place as a face and it's something I hated about his 2000's run. I'm with yah on 90s Shawn. He was the perfect heel that you'd want to see get his teeth knocked out. And he'd have been perfect as the driver. Sadly his demons got in the way of it which is a shame. Rumors say that he was physically ready to go in the ring by mid-1999 but his drug issues are what kept him out for the majority of those 4.5 years. I've always heard that the original plans for WM16/2000 was Austin/Taker and HBK/Triple H as the double main event; so yeah HBK was seen to be ready within just over a year |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2017 9:30:49 GMT -5
Mania 2000 would've been tremendously better if that had happened.
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