In 2000 they truly pushed him as a possible Main Event, World Champion class wrestler. Somewhere within that time, they drown him out to Too Cool in 6 Man Tag Team matches, then they threw him to Steve Austin, which he had no chance of coming out on top. And if you truly look at that, he was nothing more than a pawn that Triple H. used.. the ultimate storyline showed Triple H. being the mastermind behind the entire thing, with Rikishi only being the "wheel-man."
Then they had him cut the world's most infamous promo in how he did everything he did, because of race?! Because apparently the world of Professional Wrestling hasn't pushed all their Samoan Superstars.. all.. 7 of them?! 
The stupidity of the entire thing is, he supposedly did it, for The Rock, who was the biggest name in the business, without Austin's injury. So more or less, he did everything he did, for someone other than himself. Which basically means, he took himself out of the entire picture, with exception of making him look like a complete idiot.
I think Rikishi truly had the potential to be a World Heavyweight Champion, for at least a good 6 month run. He worked well in almost every feud he ever had. Hes had tremendous matches with Chris Benoit, Steve Austin, Undertaker, The Rock, and Triple H.
Rikishi reminded me a lot of a thinner Yokozuna, and I LOVED Yokozuna as World Champion. He was a truly unstoppable force. Rikishi would've never been seen as that, but he could've been seen as dominate, had they given him more of a chance.. rather than merely tossing him to Austin, to chew up and spit out.
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