I can understand why they attempted the heel turn. It was Stephanie McMahon's first real go at creative, wasn't it? The fun babyface act has a ceiling, whereas tapping into this darker personality, ideally, allows for Rikishi to be upped to a main event role. The problem with the whole driver angle is that you have Austin coming back and needing some shine, while Rikishi needed to establish himself as a heel. Anyone in that position probably would have flopped as a heel once Austin kicks their ass.
That being said, there were problems with heel Rikishi anyway. He's far from the most talented member of his family in the ring, and his personality basically evaporated in the role. It was ill-advised, but I can understand the ambition there.
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