Rikishi Shares Details Of His Emergency Surgery: ‘It Was Just One Of Those Type Of Things That Was Caught Just In Time’

Rikishi says he’s feeling like a new person after the surgery.

A few weeks back, Rikishi had to cancel his GLCW appearance due to a health emergency. Rikishi had said he’s “grateful to be alive” following the surgery.

The WWE Hall of Famer recently returned to his Off the Top podcast, where he shared more details regarding the situation. He said that the surgery took six hours to finish, but he felt great afterwards.

“It was an emergency type of surgery, and I’m going to leave it at that. It took about six hours to be able to be under the knife. I woke up feeling great… I feel like a new person.

It was just one of those type of things that was caught just in time and with the grace of God and the surgeons that were there that day, I’m here today to be able to sit and talk with you… I woke up feeling a different way when I got wheeled back to the room into the hospital, meaning just grateful.”

Rikishi says he underwent six hour emergency surgery, grateful to still be here:

“It was an emergency type of surgery, and I'm going to leave it at that. It took about six hours to be able to be under the knife. I woke up feeling great… I feel like a new person.

It was just… pic.twitter.com/iSWSGeXIxU

— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) November 9, 2025

Check out the full podcast below:

In another episode of the podcast, Rikishi shared his thoughts on Jacob Fatu’s booking in WWE. Fans can read his comments here.