text: In May 1999, Fatu made his debut in Memphis for Power Pro Wrestling as J.R. Smooth, a rap gimmick where he started dying his hair blonde and wore sunglasses. He defeated Michael Hayes (wrestler) for the PPW Heavyweight Championship. He would feud with Kurt Angle and dropped the title to Angle on July 24.
  World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1999–2004)
  Too Cool and Intercontinental Champion (1999–2000)
  After training at Funk's and working in the independents, Fatu returned on October 5, 1999, for a dark match for Sunday Night Heat defeating Crash Holly. On the November 13, 1999 episode of WWF Metal as Rikishi Fatu, beating Julio Fantastico. Rikishi  is the general Japanese term for a sumo wrestler, similar to his cousin's ring name "Yokozuna". "Fatu" soon became "Phatu", until he dropped the last name entirely after he started teaming with Too Cool. No mention was made of his WWF past. He had gained some weight, bleached his hair blonde, and wore a mawashi. Per Vince McMahon's request and Fatu's own willingness to honor sumo tradition, nothing was worn underneath the mawashi and his buttcheeks were exposed; this was unlike Yokozuna, who wore tights underneath the loincloth, which both McMahon and Fatu felt were unnecessary for the Yokozuna character. His ring gear gained immediate attention; on his televised debut with the gimmick on WWF Metal, play-by-play announcer Kevin Kelly responded that he was "a little concerned with, well, Rikishi Fatu's well...garment, or lack thereof," with color commentator Tom Prichard responding that "there isn't much of a garment there!".