Throwback Thursday – Yokozuna
So I had this crazy idea that on Thursday I might start a new blog segment called Throwback Thursday where I look back at a wrestler from the past and explore his/her journey through the world of professional wrestling. Sound good to you..? Well, like it or not, I’m doing it! 😀
Today’s wrestler, Yokozuna was chosen because I’ve seen that silly KGB commercial too many times with the way to say “I surrender” to a sumo wrestler. I figured I’d embrace and run with it.
So, what to say about Yokozuna. Well first off, the character was billed from Japan, but the man behind the character, Rodney Anoa’i was actually of Samoan descent and born in the United States. If his last name looks familiar to you, that’s because he shares the same name with his uncles, The Wild Samoans. When I first saw Yoko in the WWF, he was 500 lb. monster managed by Mr. Fuji. As he entered the ring, he was greeted by two Japanese geisha looking women who handed him flowers, and he would do a traditional sumo toss of salt to purify the ring. He would then go on to squash his opponents with ease as he was easily 300 lbs. larger than his opponents. He would cap off his matches with a move known as the Bonzai Drop where he would drag his opponents broken body over to the corner, go up to the second rope, and then jump & sit his fat ass on the man’s chest and face. OUCH!
One of the memories I have of Yokozuna was from WrestleMania IX in Las Vegas. Yoko squared off against the World Champion Bret Hart. “The Hitman” had the match well in hand, locking the Sharpshooter on Yoko. That is until Mr. Fuji threw salt in Hart’s eyes allowing Yoko to escape and then dominate the latter part of the match. The sad part about this memory of Yokozuna was the fact that his championship celebration was cut dramatically short when Hulk Hogan came out of nowhere to help Bret Hart and was challenged by Mr. Fuji & Yoko to a title match just seconds after the match with Hart. Well, that didn’t go so well for Yokozuna. Mr. Fuji accidentally threw salt in Yoko’s eyes and within a minute, Hogan clothes-lined him and then dropped the leg for the 1-2-3 becoming the World Champion. Yokozuna would eventually go on to beat Hogan for the title later that year, but the record book was written as Yoko became one of the shortest reigning champions in the history of the WWF.
Another memory I have of Yoko was how deathly afraid of caskets he was when he was feuding with The Undertaker. They eventually had a casket match (Royal Rumble 1994) where Paul Bearer had The Undertaker build a double-wide, double-deep casket specifically designed for Yoko. The match, however, did not go the deadman’s way as Yoko and Mr. Fuji were prepared and had extra wrestlers run down to help make sure he wasn’t placed in the giant box.
Eventually, Yokozuna got out of the singles wrestling game and went into the tag team division. He at one point in time teamed with guys the likes of Owen Hart & Crush. Yoko and Owen even had two different title reigns as tag champions due in large part to help on the outside from Mr. Fuji and his “American Spokesperson” Jim Cornette.
In October 2000, Yokozuna passed away from heart complications at the age of 34. He was in his hotel room in Liverpool, England when it happened. I think it’s safe to say that his weight and line of work contributed to his early passing, but it’s always sad when someone so young passes before his time. Yoko was arguably one of the best big man in the business, and from what I’ve read, he also was a great man in general, beloved by his fellow wrestlers.
If anyone has any ideas for wrestlers that they would like to see talked about in Throwback Thursday, drop me a message either in a comment, or on Twitter or on Facebook.