How Rikishi’s Stink Face Became One of WWE’s Most Infamous Moves

Rikishi turned his bare backside into one of the most unforgettable weapons in WWE history, and there was no complicated master plan behind it. The Hall of Famer says the Stink Face started as something fun before he realized he had the perfect setup to make crowds lose their minds.

While speaking with Ring Rundown in San Antonio, Rikishi was asked if there was ever a moment when he knew the Stink Face was going to become something bigger than just another wrestling move. According to him, it wasn’t that deep. Sometimes wrestling gives you something ridiculous, and you run with it.

“Well, no. It was not. It was just something fun. Professional wrestling. You know, sometimes you stumble across certain moves and you know, and at the time, my goodness, I like to say I was the baddest man to wear a thong in professional wrestling.”

Then came the part only Rikishi could explain with a straight face. His gear already left plenty of his backside exposed, so he figured there was no point wasting the opportunity.

“And so I thought about, well, you got all my buttocks and my cheeks hanging out, but why not beat him and feed him and give the fans something to, you know, to smile about and be entertained about.”

That idea turned into a nightmare for anybody unfortunate enough to get trapped in the corner. Rikishi would back it up, the crowd would erupt, and another wrestler would end up with a face full of something they definitely didn’t train for.

Rikishi insists there was never anything personal about humiliating somebody with the move. For him, the whole thing came down to getting a reaction and remembering that WWE was supposed to entertain people.

“It’s nothing never like, you know, like personal to anybody, you know, but we’re we’re in front of people. We are sports entertainment. And so I thought, why not put the entertainment in emphasis on the entertainment?”

And if the goal was making the Stink Face impossible to forget, mission accomplished. Rikishi said he simply wanted fans to walk away remembering the ridiculous moments he gave them.

“And I hope I did everybody happy and, you know, to be able to remember uh, you know, good times.”

Decades later, fans still know exactly what was coming the second Rikishi started backing into that corner. Plenty of wrestling moves hurt more, but very few came with the same level of public humiliation — and that’s probably exactly why the Stink Face never disappeared from fans’ memories.

This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.