Rikishi got emotional after his son Jey Uso won the WWE Royal Rumble.
At the 2025 Royal Rumble on February 1st, Jey Uso eliminated John Cena to win the men’s Royal Rumble match in a move that caught many by surprise. Ahead of the bout, Cena was favored to win, with CM Punk and Seth Rollins close behind. Uso recently recalled how shocked even he felt at the moment of his victory.
Another man who was shocked by the victory was Uso’s WWE Hall of Fame father Rikishi. Speaking on the latest edition of his Off the Top podcast, Rikishi talked about his son’s victory, admitting that his voice is in rough shape due to celebrating all weekend. Rikishi had words of thanks to fans who’ve reached out, saying:
“[Smiles] Can you tell by the look on my face? It has been like that since the weekend of the Royal Rumble, since Jey punched his ticket to headlining WrestleMania, YeetMania. You can tell my voice is just kind of hoarse from yelling, screaming, having a few cocktails. The family, we’ve been celebrating. It’s been great, man.
I want to say thank you all the fans, thank you to all my family, my personal friends, those that got my contact, my number. Nonstop texts, nonstop calling. I ain’t ever had so many people call me. I wasn’t even in the match [laughs]. But just because the relationship, the love and the respect that’s shown, how happy they are for my son Jey, the work has been recognized. So thank y’all. Thank the whole wrestling universe. Thank the world. WrestleMania is gonna lit. It is gonna be YeetMania [laughs]. Yeet.”
Jey Uso recently revealed that he only found out he was winning the Royal Rumble on the day of the event, and continuing on the podcast, Rikishi made it clear that he had no idea the victory was coming.
“Honestly, I had no idea that this boy was gonna be the one to win the Royal Rumble. We’ve talked about it on the past podcasts, about the Yeet Man, about the opportunity, about the third time he came up against Gunther and so forth, when he won the Intercontinental Belt and he lost the Intercontinental Belt, such a short time. I mean, all that. Somebody must have heard and said, ‘Hey.’
The one thing that is definitely power is the voice of the wrestling fans. The voice of the wrestling fans, the videos tell no lie, when you see Jey hit that arena, Jey’s got that arena all lit. It doesn’t matter if it’s Hong Kong, Japan, Chicago, New York City, it does not matter. It is YeetMania. So the Yeet Man’s on fire. The Yeet Man has put in work.
For us as a family that has seen personally the struggle, the hard work that the kid has went through, thank you to WWE, thank you to the WWE Universe for believing in this kid. My kids, they are not the type of kids that’s gonna quit. I always tell them, know your worth, believe in your worth, your time will come. Just keep working hard, keep working hard. Now, hey, Jey, you the man. You the man. You made us all proud. All the family members, I’m sure the fans as well.
I got goosebumps talking about this, and this happened a few days ago. I got goosebumps. I’ve never, for anything huge celebration, the last time I felt like this is when we won the tag team straps for the first time, me and Samu against The Quebecers, and when I’ve seen Yokozuna win the Royal Rumble, back in the day. Years later, man, we’re talking 2025, we got a Fatu up there that’s gonna headline WrestleMania. So all I can say, without no alcohol in me, God did. God did.”
Rikishi Wishes His Mother Could Have Seen Jey Uso Win The Royal Rumble
Continuing, an emotional Rikishi reflected on his family legacy and spoke about his late mother, who he credits with helping instill values in both himself and his children.
“This one here was [very] emotional. You see your kid…it was the type of vibe too when they both wrestled each other at WrestleMania. All I can think about is the days back home in Pensacola, all the lonely nights trying to make this thing happen for these kids and so forth, and the struggles that they’ve gone through, because of my life of a wrestler that’s trying to make it, it takes me back to thinking about my late mother.
These were her grand babies. She always talked to them about the faith and the culture and be good kids, keep working hard, things will come your way. I can only wish that she was here so we could all celebrate together. I guarantee you that she would be front-row seat, [for] her grand babies at WrestleMania in Vegas.
So a lot goes on, and man, it’s so much to try to unload, the joy and the happiness that the Anoa’i -Fatu clan feels. I’m just proud. I’m proud of Jey, Jimmy, Solo [Sikoa], Jacob [Fatu], Roman [Reigns], just set the pace. Rock is on a whole new…that level, conquered Hollywood and now in with the company.
So it’s a good day for the family. I’m glad that the company and the world has recognized, this wasn’t given to us. This was a family that has [given] blood, sweat, and tears for 75-plus years. 75-plus years, we’ve given our heart and our soul.”
h/t Fightful