10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2003 Facts

3. Jim Ross Accidentally Mentioned Jamal And Rikishi's Relation

Brock Lesnar The Undertaker Royal Rumble 2003
WWE.com

The old wrestling gag is that every Samoan in the business is somehow related. While it's true that the Anoa'i family tree has more branches than a national banking chain, not every Samoan in wrestling shares blood. Rikishi and Jamal (the future Umaga) do, as they're legitimately brothers. That fact, however, wasn't part of WWE's written canon.

Rikishi and Jamal entered back-to-back at 20 and 21, and Jamal attacked Rikishi upon his own entry. After Rikishi responded by superkicking his brother to the mat, Good Ol' JR (most certainly without realizing it) noted that Jamal had "gone after his brother Rikishi", when no mention had ever been made on camera of their relation before.

Not that it was a big deal; kayfabe was beyond life support by 2003. It just made it even ickier when you realized that Rikishi was giving the stinkface to his own flesh and blood moments later.

Contributor
Contributor

Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.