The only singles title win in Rikishi's WWE career occurred on the June 22, 2000 edition of Smackdown when he beat Chris Benoit and he ended up losing it just 14 days later on July 6, 2000. What's the point of a two week title reign? It was done to build up some midcard feuds for him although looking back at it there was no reason for him to even win the title if he was going to lose it so quickly. Rikishi's loss to Val Venis on Smackdown occurred after a ref bump, then interference from Test and Albert, who were managed by Trish Stratus at the time and also from Tazz, who hit Rikishi in the head with a camera. They were booking Rikishi way too strong, so they felt the need to do a lot of booking tricks. Based on how popular he was, they probably should have given Rikishi a legitimate title reign that lasted for a couple of months instead of a two week run that ended up being pointless in the long run.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
