Was Austin vs Rikishi the most weird and forced feud?
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Dog Based Gremlin
Veteran
OmegaK2099
Gettin' It In
I been watching the feud on the network and im actually enjoying it
Actually they just turned him face again and things went back to how they were. Or did he get injured? Anyway he was back to shukin and jivin' in no time flat. Its like they had no faith in him, they dont mention it all like it never happened
Rikishi embraced it and played the heel role well, but it was one of the most premature and unnecessary heel turns ever.
He and Too Cool had a good run going, that didnt even rock for a full year before it got ended outta nowhere... it seems like it was over enough to go for at least another year. And while it was surprising and unpredictable, it ended up taking Rikishi nowhere. It all fell off within a month. He turned face again six months later and he never got as over as he was in 2000.
He and Too Cool had a good run going, that didnt even rock for a full year before it got ended outta nowhere... it seems like it was over enough to go for at least another year. And while it was surprising and unpredictable, it ended up taking Rikishi nowhere. It all fell off within a month. He turned face again six months later and he never got as over as he was in 2000.
OmegaK2099
Gettin' It In
Btw this is a weird ass time, you had triple h getting babyface pops (because he was a face for some reason at this point feuding with benoit) and rocky tagging with billy gunn against right to censor
The storyline was fine, and Rikishi did well in it. There are 2 fatal flaws though:
1) He was already introduced as a funny half-comedic guy in Too Cool, so it made this seem so out of place. It wasn't a "never would have expected" swerve, it was a "wait the same guy who was dancing giving stinkfaces? gtfo" swerve.
2) They kept him in his same ringgear, showing his ass. No one is gonna take you serious like that, they even covered up Yokozuna...
If they would have kept him away from Too Cool before this, or simply used the Austin storyline as his initial re-debut, it would have worked much better. And have him put on some kind of shorts or tights with his current gear, or just rock his PhatWear pants during matches Test style.
1) He was already introduced as a funny half-comedic guy in Too Cool, so it made this seem so out of place. It wasn't a "never would have expected" swerve, it was a "wait the same guy who was dancing giving stinkfaces? gtfo" swerve.
2) They kept him in his same ringgear, showing his ass. No one is gonna take you serious like that, they even covered up Yokozuna...
If they would have kept him away from Too Cool before this, or simply used the Austin storyline as his initial re-debut, it would have worked much better. And have him put on some kind of shorts or tights with his current gear, or just rock his PhatWear pants during matches Test style.
Worst part? They retconned it and made Cripple H the mastermind because they thought it was too big a push for Rikishi. Then before Vengeance 01..The Rock turned him face when he stuck Vince's head up his ass after Vibce tried to bully Trish in that Kiss My Ass Club shyt.
That whole time period was truly ass. Random Rikishi turn that flopped so bad that had to have HHH save it. Austin just brawling every week. I think HHH was a face against Angle. You could see creative start to lose it
Breh Obama
First Breh President. Coli Prophet.
This is when everything started to go downhill
Playaz Eyez
Veteran
This feud COMPLETELY killed Rikishi's character. He was a hugely popular beloved midcard face, and no one really wanted to boo him. It was great as far as being a total surprise, but everything else was a failure. Rikishi never recovered from that, even when he turned back face and was teaming with Scotty 2 Hotty
DamienWayne
Superstar
That would be reigns and lesnar
OmegaK2099
Gettin' It In
How so? They were building toward wrestlemania X7 and to a lesser extent that Austin heel turn you all seem to love so much
Breh Obama
First Breh President. Coli Prophet.
I hated the Austin heel turn. This Is when everything started to become redundant
Stephanie took over creative at that time, all that needs to said on why the writing went to shyt in late 2000.