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Rikishi has voiced his regret over the fact that he never the WWE Championship during his wrestling career.
As a WWE Hall of Famer, Rikishi had a remarkable career, and he was one of the most popular stars during the Attitude Era. He's a former tag team champion and a former WWE Intercontinental Champion, but he never won the company's world title.
On a recent episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the WWE Hall of Famer explained how he would have loved to have had a run with the championship. He painted the ideal scenario for his WWE Championship victory, as he pitched the idea that he could have defeated The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania.
"That was one thing that I wished would have happened. I just wanted to have that shot, to become the world champion. Just one time. If you’re in this industry and you’re not shooting for the top like that, then you’re in the wrong industry. You need to start getting your priorities straight. Even though, a lot of people may think it’s a work and so forth, but you can tell they put the belt on certain people for a reason."
"If you’re not fighting to perfect your craft, to really get looked at, to have the company, the bookers, the promoters, be able to have that look on you, then you’re not working hard enough. Then you’re not understanding this industry. Had I been able to turn it back around, yeah, I would have loved to have had a match against The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin for the title, and beat them. And beat them on the big grand stage of WrestleMania."
Rikishi also emphasized the hunger that prospective world champions need to have in order to succeed. He stated that WWE typically rewards wrestlers who have a strong work ethic with world title runs. Of course, it's also important to note that plenty of hard workers don't make it to the world title level because various other factors are at play.
Rikishi says he hopes Jimmy or Jey Uso will become WWE Champion
While it's clear Rikishi is disappointed he was never able to win a world title in WWE, he also said he was "thankful" for the rest of his wrestling accomplishments. The former Intercontinental Champion also stated that he hopes at least one of his sons, Jimmy or Jey Uso, will become a world champion one day.
"The rest, everything else, I’m thankful. I won the Intercontinental belt. I won the tag team [titles] multiple times, for different companies. But it’s nothing like winning the main belt. So let’s hope one of my boys will win it for me!"
Rikishi remains involved in the wrestling business, as he is currently preparing to train American rap star Bow Wow for his in-ring debut. Meanwhile, the Usos continue to carry on his legacy in WWE, as Jey is prominently featured on Friday Night SmackDown while Jimmy is recovering from an injury.
