During the latest episode of Something to Wrestle With, JBL looked back at one of the most controversial creative decisions of the Attitude Era: the revelation that Rikishi was the person who ran over “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. While the heel turn was widely panned by fans, JBL defended the logic behind it.
Rikishi was revealed as the mystery attacker on the October 9, 2000, episode of Monday Night Raw. The storyline gave him a brief main event run, but the character never regained the popularity it had as a babyface.
“On paper, I think this worked. I think it worked really well,” JBL stated. “You want to turn a hot babyface heel… and Rikishi was a beloved character. This whole thing made perfect sense. The thought behind it is pretty good. He’s the Samoan dynasty, and we did it for The Rock. The whole thing, to me, made sense. The people not buying it, that’s one thing that you can’t control.”
JBL was quick to point out that the failure of the angle had nothing to do with Rikishi’s ability as a performer. “That has nothing to do with the talent of Rikishi,” he said. “He was a great heel, great babyface. Everything he did, he was terrific at.”
Instead, JBL believes the audience’s affection for the fun-loving, dancing character was too strong to overcome. “People enjoyed Rikishi being out there because he got guys to be out of character… maybe people just didn’t want that to be taken from him,” he theorized. “Sometimes when you take it from them, that makes them a really hot heel. In Rikishi’s case, I think they just loved him so much they just didn’t want him to be that heel.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Something to Wrestle With with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
