What Is The Stinkface – Rikishi’s Finishing Maneuver?

Published 07/26/2020, 7:44 AM EDT

There’s a lot of things that come to mind when you think of Rikishi. The bulldozing presence of the Samoan wrestler, coupled with his attire that saw him wear a thong, was enough to attract a lot of fans to the product.

Perhaps his biggest claim to fame was when he was revealed as the mystery attacker who barged his car into Stone Cold Steve Austin. However, in hindsight, that was just a miniscule percentage of who the WWE Hall of Famer was and that might not even be remembered when you commemorate his legacy.

In essence, Rikishi was an entertainer. Pure snd simple. Professional wrestling is sports entertainment at the end of the day, that’s what Vince McMahon whole heartedly believes in, that was the idea behind the conception of the Attitude Era, and that’s what made professional wrestling a worthy contender of prime time television.

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That’s why, it’s not surprising that Rikishi was a pet project of McMahon. As Bruce Prichard once revealed on Something To Wrestle, McMahon always wanted to do more with Yokozuna, a character that the company boss loved.

One of the qualms that Vince had with the Yokozuna character was that he came out in tights. The twisted genius felt that if Yoko’s giant posterior was revealed, that would mean more ratings.

Finally, Vince was able to fulfill this story idea with Yokozuna’s cousin Rikishi. Vince created this character from point zero and micromanaged details like Rikishi’s buttocks being visible.

However, one of the biggest quirks in this character was the finishing move. It had to be something associated with the size of Rikishi. After much contention, the ‘Stink Face’ was chosen as the top gun in Rikishi’s arsenal.

How did the stink face by Rikishi work?

Well, the details of this move are pretty funny or pretty disgusting, depending on the kind of person you are.

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To execute this move, Rikishi first used the Irish whip to make his opponent fall down in a sitting position in the corner of the ring. After that, he shoves his posterior onto the face of the poor victim until he completely passes out.

Over the years, the Samoan legend used this move on many professional wrestlers. In fact, the company Chairman Vince McMahon himself became a victim once.

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Even now, fans clamor for Rikishi to roll out the stink face whenever he makes a guest appearance.

SOURCE: Something To Wrestle

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Aryan Sharma is a WWE and Tennis author and editor at EssentiallySports. Being a journalism graduate from Delhi University, he combines his love for creating content with an astute knowledge of almost three eras of professional wrestling. He's also a Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova fan and likes to write on the social impact of these two legends beyond their achievements on the tennis court.

What Is The Stinkface – Rikishi’s Finishing Maneuver?

How did the stink face by Rikishi work?

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