10 Wrestlers You Won’t Believe Were Once Paul Heyman Guys 3

3. Rikishi / Fatu

Solofa Fatu is best known to fans around the world as the smiling, dancing Rikishi, with his sumo style attire and bleached blond hair. But prior to that, Fatu had a very different image and demeanour. Going down the traditional Samoan route, he emulated his uncles, The Wild Samoans of Afa and Sika. Teaming with his cousin, Samu, they formed the Samoan Swat Team, barefoot and wearing black tights. Initially forming in 1985, they wrestled in Puerto Rico, Texas and the AWA before arriving in the NWA. After losing the Midnights vs Midnights feud to Jim Cornette, Paul E Dangerously brought in the SST to help him seek vengeance. While the Original Midnight Express were smooth, suave ladykillers, the SST were the polar opposite. These were two untamed savage beasts at the beck and call of their manager, elements which can be seen in the Lesnar/Heyman DYNAMIC that we see today in the WWE. They targeted the Midnights and Cornette, leaving them laying on several occasions and defeating them at Clash of the Champions VI.
However, by late 1989, Dangerously was replaced as their manager by “The Big Kahuna” Sir Oliver Humperdink and Dangerously moved on to a new client, who we shall meet very shortly. Fatu and Samu continued in WCW for another year, before resurfacing in the WWF as The Headshrinkers. But they had little success as a team, and Fatu underwent several TRANSFORMATIONS: he became the streetwise English talking guy telling kids to “make a difference” but this failed to take off. He then shaved his head and donned a mask and false ponytail as The Sultan, under the management of The Iron Sheik and Bob Backlund, unsuccessfully challenging Rocky Maivia for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 13, but again, this gimmick failed to grab the fan’s attention.
And then in 1999, he struck gold. Having gained some significant weight, he was repackaged as Rikishi, a sumo inspired look (the word rikishi is the Japanese word for a sumo wrestler) and paired up with Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay). The fun loving, dancing trio was a world away from the SST and the fans took them to their hearts immediately. Still wrestling on the independent scene, his twin sons are current WWE stars The Usos.

via www.whatculture.com