Vince McMahon wanted to fire WWE Hall of Famer; kept him and hired three family members
Former WWE star Jim Cornette has revealed that Vince McMahon wanted to fire Rikishi in the early 2000s, but instead retained him and signed three of his family members.
Rikishi, who also went by the ring name Fatu and The Sultan in WWE, had a 12-year run with the company in his first stint, which began in 1992. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012 and has made few appearances on WWE television in the last few years.
On the latest Jim Cornette's Drive Thru show, Cornette discussed WWE's decision to fire several stars recently. He narrated an anecdote about how Vince McMahon wanted to fire Rikishi (Fatu) but ended up keeping him, while also signing his uncle and pro wrestling legend Afa, as well as his brother Umaga (Jamal), and Roman Reigns' late brother and Rikishi's cousin, Rosey.
"I think he'd been The Sultan for a while and then they'd done something else... he'd gone through two or three gimmicks, he'd been there for a few years and Vince one day said, 'We've got to cut Fatu.' So, they called Fatu to the office - they didn't do it on the phone back in those days - Vince was going to talk to him personally. Afa comes with Fatu, and so did Rosey and Jamal. All four of them come in, they had the meeting with Vince and I see them leave and went in and talk to Bruce Prichard about something. I said, 'Did Vince tell Fatu?' He said, 'Nope. He not only didn't fire Fatu, he hired the other three,'" said Jim Cornette.
Cornette revealed that McMahon hired Rosey and Jamal to be a tag team, 3-Minute Warning, while also retaining Rikishi.
Umaga and Rosey's stint with WWE
3 Minute Warning #wwe #wwf #roseyandjamal #umaga https://t.co/iV5sIILJYx
Umaga and Rosey were a part of a tag team called Island Boys in the first year of their developmental contracts before being called up to the main roster as 3-Minute Warning.
The team, though, did not last long, while Umaga was also released from his WWE contract. Rosey had a few more years in WWE and teamed up with The Hurricane, before being released in 2006.
Umaga returned to WWE in 2005 and had a four-year run, winning the Intercontinental Championship twice. He sadly passed away in 2009, while Rosey passed away in 2017.
3 Minute Warning debut in WWE https://t.co/8vQo9ITPhV
Please H/T Jim Cornette's Drive Thru and Sportskeeda if you use any of the above quotes.