Rise and fall of Yokozuna

Howie Hodge

Zombie Woof
Sep 16, 2017
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4,027
Buffalo, NY
A Champion Sumo Wrestler from Japan.

Or was he Rodney Agatupu Anoaʻ, a Samoan American from San Francisco?

Could he have also been one Kokina Maximus in the dying days of the old AWA?

His career ended in 2000, during an independent tour of England, he was 34, if he was indeed one Rodney Agatupu Anoa'.

You have to decide....
 

JackSlater

Registered User
Apr 27, 2010
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A couple of problems. One is that monster heels in general don't last long on top of a single promotion, as once the monster loses a few times the intimidation factor is gone. WWE has never been great at protecting these types. Two is that his weight eventually became a serious problem. He definitely seemed like a very good athlete to move pretty well at his peak, but by 1996 I believe Yokozuna was nearing 700 pounds. Difficult to do anything at that size.
 
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ManofSteel55

Registered User
Aug 15, 2013
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Was this big boy from Japan only a one time wonder? Why didnt they used him much more? There was potential, but after they turned him from heel to face, his career ended.
He got too fat. End of story. He was a liability to have wrestle as they didn't know if his heart would explode and they didn't trust him to not kill guys in there. He was a legitimate 700+ pounds at that time. They told him to go away and lose some weight, he came back heavier.
 
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Loosie

The Eternal Optimist
Jun 14, 2011
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Yup, his weight got too high. I believe that was part of the reason for his absence from Survivor Series 94 - WrestleMania XI. The tag team run with Owen was fun, then he turned face and kept getting bigger. I think the last straw was when the ring rope broke during his SummerSlam pre-show match with Austin.
 

ManofSteel55

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Aug 15, 2013
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Sylvan Lake, Alberta
Yup, his weight got too high. I believe that was part of the reason for his absence from Survivor Series 94 - WrestleMania XI. The tag team run with Owen was fun, then he turned face and kept getting bigger. I think the last straw was when the ring rope broke during his SummerSlam pre-show match with Austin.
Exactly. Every hiatus he took was a "go home and lose 100 pounds". He kept getting bigger and bigger. I loved his tag team with Owen, that was his best run, IMO, as I wasn't a huge fan of his run as champion (because Bret Hart should have had it then).
 

NewAgeOutlaw

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Jul 15, 2011
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The rope breaking was the planned finish of that match with Austin. You can tell because both men avoid hitting the ropes like hot lava during the match.
 
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CaptainCrunch67

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Aug 23, 2005
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When he was released by WWE he was over 700 pounds and wanted to set the record for the biggest wrestler in history at 850. The sad irony is when he died he had dropped a couple of hundred pounds and was 570 ish.
 

BigBadBruins7708

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Dec 11, 2017
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That bad. I remember the match vs Undertaker. For his bodymass i was amazed how mobile he was.

seems like every Samoan is like that. big guys, but incredibly athletic and nimble for their size. Rikishi is that way too. A man his size shouldn't have been able to move like he did
 

CHGoalie27

Don't blame the goalie!
Oct 5, 2009
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I remember it was Vader who broke his leg and he HowieMorenzd, unless my memory is that cloudy
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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Where was Yokozuna before WWF? In Japan wrestling?

I don't really want to be that guy but... perhaps Yokozuna's connection to Japan wasn't as strong as you think. Wikipedia said that he did wrestle a bit in Japan but I think that he did more in the AWA. I saw him on ESPN Classic once or twice during an episode of the AWA's weekly program.
 

iamjs

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Oct 1, 2008
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I don't really want to be that guy but... perhaps Yokozuna's connection to Japan wasn't as strong as you think. Wikipedia said that he did wrestle a bit in Japan but I think that he did more in the AWA. I saw him on ESPN Classic once or twice during an episode of the AWA's weekly program.
Yeah, there's next to nothing on wiki about him being in Japan, like literally one sentence.

The last major appearance for Yokozuna was at October 1999's Heroes of Wrestling pay-per-view. At an estimated 760 lb (345 kg), he had not only gained the weight that he had lost, but admitted he was intentionally getting bigger, with a goal weight between 850 (386 kg) and 900 lb (408 kg), so that he would set a new record for the heaviest professional wrestler ever.[50] At the pay-per-view event, Yokozuna was scheduled to take on King Kong Bundy in one of the event's two featured matches. However, Jake Roberts, who was scheduled to face Jim Neidhart in the other main event match, came to the ring for his match intoxicated and in no condition to wrestle. The promoters made a last minute change and ordered Yokozuna to team with Roberts against Bundy and Neidhart, and Yokozuna's team lost.

Edit: we have video from his last match, where Yokozuna was allegedly 760 lbs

 

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