Man, I gotta tell you about this wrestler I just got into, Yokozuna. I was flipping through channels the other day and landed on some old-school WWF – you know, back when it was still called that.
Anyway, I saw this massive dude, like, seriously huge, stepping into the ring. Turns out, it was Yokozuna. I did some digging, and guess what? This guy was billed as a sumo wrestler from Japan, but he was actually from the Anoa’i family – a Samoan dynasty in the wrestling world. Crazy, right?
So, I started watching some of his matches. This guy was a monster. I mean, 6’4″ and almost 600 pounds! He was squashing legends left and right. I watched a match where he took on Bret “Hit Man” Hart, and let me tell you, it was brutal. Yokozuna just dominated.
- And the way he moved for a guy his size, it was insane.
- He had this finishing move called the Banzai Drop, where he’d climb to the second rope and just drop his whole weight on his opponent.
- It looked absolutely devastating.
But here’s where it gets interesting. I read that he joined the WWF in 1992, and he just took over. They even filmed a segment of him at a restaurant to show off his size. He wore these traditional sumo garments and walked to the ring with a Japanese flag, even though he wasn’t Japanese. It was all part of the act, but man, did it work. He became a two-time WWF Champion, which is a huge deal.
Of course, I also found out that his weight eventually became a major problem for him. It’s kinda sad, really. But during his prime, Yokozuna was a force to be reckoned with. He was definitely a unique character, and his matches were always entertaining. He had a manager, Mr. Fuji. Mr. Fuji was his manager and also his spokesman.
A True Icon
I’m still going through his matches, but from what I’ve seen so far, Yokozuna was one of a kind. He’s definitely become one of my favorite wrestlers from that era.
