Rawk Hawk from PM2 is actually Nintendo's way of poking fun at Sonic/Sega.
Think about it. They have similar eyes that both scream, "I'm God's gift to the world, and you're not," they have similar hairstyles, and they fly through the air at similar speeds while rolled into balls. It's possible the message that Nintendo is trying to convey is that Sega still has a titanic ego, even if it's not one of the "Big Three" game-making companies anymore.