Rikishi says he was caught off guard by recent WWE decision regarding The Bloodline storyline
WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi addressed the recent developments in The Bloodline storyline. He revealed that he was taken off guard by a recent creative decision.
The OG Bloodline struggled to find a fifth member for their WarGames Match against the new Bloodline at Survivor Series for several weeks. Although Sami Zayn and The Usos approached multiple superstars, including Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and LA Knight, they all turned down the opportunity. Meanwhile, Paul Heyman returned to SmackDown after nearly five months of absence to reveal CM Punk as the final member of Roman Reigns' team.
Speaking on his Rikishi Fatu Off The Top podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer disclosed that he thought Brock Lesnar was going to be the fifth member of the OG Bloodline's team. He admitted he was quite surprised that it turned out to be CM Punk, and that he'd pictured the veteran doing his own thing.
"I would have probably thought that it would have been somebody like Brock Lesnar. I don't know, you know what I mean? Again, I just, you know, with CM Punk, he's just such a big asset to the company as far as being able to help draw people to the arenas or the pay-per-view [PLE] to the event. I just kinda see CM Punk off by himself," he said.
The 59-year-old said that Heyman introducing The Best in the World as the fifth member of Roman Reigns' team caught him off guard.
"And I'm speaking as like a promoter vibe. What I mean, like, to put my best hitters out there to be able to sell this thing, you know what I mean? Numbers, I'm a numbers guy and then I'm just thinking, you know, wow. It just fits if in case, you know, where was Paul at? And then out comes Brock Lesnar. So, this caught me off guard with CM Punk," he added. [13:48 - 14:52]
You can check out his comments in the video below:
Paul Heyman recently commented on whether Brock Lesnar will return to WWE
Brock Lesnar has been absent from the Stamford-based company since August 2023 when he lost to Cody Rhodes at WWE SummerSlam. In a recent interview with CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri, The Wiseman commented on the potential return of The Beast Incarnate.
The WWE Hall of Famer stated that the subject would not resolve itself before the end of 2024. Hence, it was not on the radar of things to address at this moment in time.
"I don't really put any thought into that at this time because it's not a subject that is going to resolve itself by Survivor Series or by the end of the year. Therefore, it is not on the radar of things to address," he said.
Triple H previously stated that he would be open to speaking with Lesnar if the latter wanted to return to WWE. It will be interesting to see if The Beast Incarnate makes his comeback next year.
If you use the quotes from the first part of this article, please credit Rikishi Fatu Off The Top and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.