5. His Old Gimmicks
If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. Rikishi may have hit it big as a member of Too Cool in 2000 but it took him a long time to get there. He joined the WWF in 1992 as a member of the Headshrinkers tag team with cousin Samu, managed by Samu's father Afa. The team had a decent run for a couple of years and had a great match with The Steiners at WrestleMania IX before Sione (who had replaced an injured Samu in the team) left for WCW. The WWF repackaged Fatu as 'Make a Difference' Fatu. Gone was the Samoan savage gimmick and in was a more realistic and contemporary gimmick. Fatu talked about his experiences growing up in the ghetto, including the time he was hit in a drive-by shooting (which left him critically dead for three minutes). The gimmick didn't last long and Fatu was repackaged again, this time as The Sultan. Managed by The Iron Sheikh and Bob Backlund, the Sultan never spoke and mainly wrestled in low-card matches before he was sent to train at Dory Funk's wrestling school. Rikishi tried out a couple of other gimmicks (including J.R. Smooth) when down in Funk's school before returning as Rikishi in Novemeber 1999. The WWE is inducting the character Rikishi, much like they inducted Razor Ramon last year, and they don't want you remembering his previous (failed) gimmicks.