How Good Was Yokozuna?

[CelticPride101]

I was born in 1993. The same year Monday Night Raw debuted, so needless to say I don't remember much about the first few years of Monday Night Raw and the superstars who inhabited the show. I grew up watching WWE superstars such as The Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H, and many others while they were on the fringe of entering super-stardom and finally when they entered their primes. Due to the fact that I was born in 1993 I was robbed of seeing stars such as Bret Hart, Vader, Shawn Michaels, Yokozuna and many others compete in their primes. One of the stars who intrigued me the most was Yokozuna mostly due to his size. I hear many people praise Yokozuna, and he did indeed seem like a special talent, but for those of you who actually got to see him perform,could you reflect on how good you thought he was? How bad you thought he was? What made him so special? What you liked/disliked? etc. etc. etc.

 

[KBeef]

I would say YouTube some of his matches with the Hitman and Undertaker.

Now yes with those guys its hard to have a bad match, But with his size,

the fact that he could take bumps and he moved a lot faster than he should have. The guy was at least 500lbs and he was fluid and moved very well.

He had a good gimmick, good manager and was believable.

I watched him as a kid and saw a huge man who I thought couldn't be beat.

 

[LODemolition]

I'll say this about Yokozuna. For a man his size (I believe he got up to about 620-640 at one point), he could move pretty well. And his finisher, the Bonzai Drop, actually made me cringe because it seemed very easy to crush a man's sternum. In fact, I think he DID break someone's sternum, but I can't remember who.

Like KBeef said, he was believable. When he beat Hogan clean with the Bonzai Drop at King of the Ring in '93, you knew he was the next big thing. It says a lot about their belief in him that they let him be the one to "kill Hulkamania". Mr. Fuji was the perfect manager for him. Yokozuna was a guy you hated as a heel, but he was also very likeable when he turned face and had that feud with Vader. His time on top was pretty short-lived (from the '93 Rumble to WMX), but well-written. After that, he had a good run with Owen Hart, winning the tag team titles twice.. I think his last match with WWF was Survivor Series '96, or shortly thereafter. So he was only there about 4 years if I remember correctly. So his career was very short now that I think about it. But not many guys, if any, can say they won the WWE Championship in their very first WrestleMania.

 

[vampirek]

But not many guys, if any, can say they won the WWE Championship in their very first WrestleMania.

FYI the only other wrestler to do that is Brock Lesnar.

As for the topic and Yokozuna. When you consider he was quite a generic character, he pulled it off very well. I think a lot of the earlier work is thanks to having him paired up with Mr Fuji that he became the ultimate heel during his days on top. A lot of the wrestlers around his size failed to capture the audience and were never on the level he was, the likes of Earthquake for example.

As previously mentioned when he 'killed Hulkamania' it was actually believeable and he became the new giant of the WWE.... with Luger later becoming the new Hogan. Its a shame his weight did become an issue as it would have been interesting to see where his career would have led to.

Yokozuna also managed to work with guys who were at a different weight, one week going up against the likes of Koko B Ware to the likes of Hogan, Taker etc the next. This is a sign of someone who is good in the ring, whilst it can be argued that the likes of Bret had learnt to wrestle with big guys when Andre was around, I don't see Bret getting a good match out of someone like Khali etc.

Also, and I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong, nobody ever kicked out of the Bonzai Drop, it was almost Mortal Kombat-ish seeing Yokozuna dragging a wrestler to the corner (even though he could easily get the pin by now) going up to the second rope and shouting 'Bonzai'. Easily one of the best finishers in the business.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

Wrong. Brock won his first WWE championship at Summerslam. Good try though history buff...

The quote was winning THE WWE championship in their first WrestleMania... which Lesnar did. The quote wasn't about their first WWE championship.

As for Yoko, I was a kid during this time and a huge Bret Hart fan. This was kind of what exposed me to wrestling as a kid, so I saw Yoko as a huge monster heel. The fact that he'd previously beaten my favourite Bret just made him even more of a monster. He had a good run, but after losing the title at WMX never really seemed, at least to me, as a credible threat to the title ever again.

 

[Quinn30Colo]

i can't believe no one has talked the agility of this big man. He could run the ropes and then leave his feet with a rolling kick. (not sure what you call that. He was tremendous and moved awesome for a big man. Fuji was perfect with him. Never understood the pairing with Owen, but hey some pairings don't make sense.

 

[KBeef]

i can't believe no one has talked the agility of this big man. He could run the ropes and then leave his feet with a rolling kick. (not sure what you call that. He was tremendous and moved awesome for a big man. Fuji was perfect with him. Never understood the pairing with Owen, but hey some pairings don't make sense.

The pairing with Owen was that he was brought in to be his mystery partner at Mania XI to beat the smoking gunns. Also at the time I think Owen was aligned with Cornette so thats how i remember that. I could be wrong.

Sucks his weight got the best of him because him in the attitude era would've been interesting.

 

[LODemolition]

The pairing with Owen was that he was brought in to be his mystery partner at Mania XI to beat the smoking gunns. Also at the time I think Owen was aligned with Cornette so thats how i remember that. I could be wrong.

You're absolutely right on that. I remember Yokozuna, Owen, and Davey Boy were all aligned with Fuji and Cornette there for a while before Yoko turned face.


Also, someone mentioned that no one ever kicked out of the Banzai Drop. I tried to do some research on that, and it seems like that's correct. Sure, people moved out of the way, but I don't recall anyone ever kicking out. How many wrestlers can say that? Not even The Undertaker can. That subject could be another thread all in itself.

 

[wrestler36]

When he beat Hogan clean with the Bonzai Drop at King of the Ring in '93, you knew he was the next big thing.

He didn't beat Hogan clean. Remember, there was that phony photographer that had that flash paper that blinded hogan. Regardless, Yoko was one of those guys who was too big for even the muscle guys to pick up and do moves with. If you see, with Luger, he would have to jump just so it looked like Lex could slam him. Undertaker was very limited with offense too. But Yoko was pretty agile, at least in his earlier years. He could do leg drops, superkicks, running avalanches and move with surprising speed for a guy his size. So you have this monster heel who good guys would always be the underdog with limited offense, but Yoko could be the monster, but also agile. So he was the best kind of monster heel.

 

[Slash-LN]

I loved the Yoko and Owen pairing. It allowed Owen to be as cocky as he wanted and he knew with Yoko to back him up he could get away with it. I liked when Owen would do the drop toe hold and then Yoko would crash down with a leg drop.

Unlike some other big men Yoko could actually move around the ring pretty well for his size. They did a few dumb things with him like a sumo match with Earthquake and he dropped out of WWF title contention but overall he was still an interesting wrestler.

 

[GameOver]

i truly believe for his weight he was the best big man of that era ability wise, he was very agile and flexible and he wasn't a typical fat slob who does a few power moves and that's it and paired with Mr Fuji he was believably a dominant force that wasn't gonna be stopped until ofcourse the underdog Hitman did the impossible and that was the end of Yokozuna as a main eventer. Lastly considering he couldn't talk any english he was certainly capable of working with anyone and put on a decent match, something that Hakushi also shared.

Pitty his run was really only one year then they pulled the plug and towards the end of his run he seemed to not care as much and let himself go both in looks and weight, not sure what happened there

 

[cccollins69]

^^ Yoko spoke fluent English and his Japanese heritage was just a gimmick unlike Hakushi. He is part of the Samoan family that includes The Rock etc.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Here's a thought: wrestling Yokozuna was similar to wrestling Sin Cara.

Yes, that sounds strange, but consider: Sin Cara moves around the ring at high speed and has good aerial skills......while Yokozuna was so fat and slow that he could barely get out of his own way.....but opponents of both of them had the same problem: having to move their bodies in position to take the punishment meted out by these guys.

Granted, it's harder to fight Sin Cara because you've got to get in position much quicker to put yourself in path to receive his flying maneuvers. When he launches himself off the ropes and flies to a point in the ring, his opponent had damn well better be there when he lands, or the stunt looks as phony as it actually is. With Yokozuna, it was easier for the enemy to place his body right in front of the big man to accept whatever shots he was scheduled to deliver. Without the opponent standing directly in front of Yokozuna, there would have been no match. Can you imagine Yoko having to chase his foe around the ring? He wouldn't have lasted 3 minutes. (Did I say 3 minutes?)

Some of you are saying Yokozuna moved well for a big man? No friggin' way! His immobility and lack of speed would have doomed him in any match he engaged had it not been for the efforts of his opponent to make him look good. If you are fighting a person twice your weight, do you walk right up to him to let him unleash his arsenal on you?

Yes, you could say this about every pro wrestler, but at least most of them look as if they could put up a decent shoot fight if they had to. Yoko was strictly a product of the scripted world of pro wrestling.

 

[LODemolition]

He didn't beat Hogan clean. Remember, there was that phony photographer that had that flash paper that blinded hogan. Regardless, Yoko was one of those guys who was too big for even the muscle guys to pick up and do moves with. If you see, with Luger, he would have to jump just so it looked like Lex could slam him. Undertaker was very limited with offense too. But Yoko was pretty agile, at least in his earlier years. He could do leg drops, superkicks, running avalanches and move with surprising speed for a guy his size. So you have this monster heel who good guys would always be the underdog with limited offense, but Yoko could be the monster, but also agile. So he was the best kind of monster heel.

You're absolutely right, I forgot all about the photographer. Wasn't it Cornette in a disguise?

 

[LODemolition]

Lastly considering he couldn't talk any english he was certainly capable of working with anyone and put on a decent match, something that Hakushi also shared.

Yokozuna spoke English just fine, he was Samoan. He only said "Banzai!" until he turned face. In a promo for his 6-man tag with Jake Roberts and Ahmed Johnson vs Vader, Owen, and Davey Boy at WrestleMania 12, he finally spoke before performing the Banzai Drop on a dummy with a balloon for a head (with Cornette's face drawn on it).

 

[Big Sexy]

Yokozuna was damn good until he got too big. He debuted at just over 500 pounds and if he could have stayed at that weight then who knows how much greater he could have become. For a guy his size he was extremely agile in the ring and could really work. Once he started tipping the scales at over 600 pounds things started to go south. He was slowing down in the ring and just wasn't the same in his later years. It would have been nice to see him stay at around the 500 pound mark as Yoko and then as the attitude era came on he could have had the complete gimmick change going back to his Samoan roots and slimming down closer to the 400 pound range (which is here he was at prior to his WWE days).

 

[Goldie]

You're absolutely right, I forgot all about the photographer. Wasn't it Cornette in a disguise?

I've heard rumours that it was Steve Lombardi (Brooklyn Brawler) dressed as the Japanese phorographer. (though the identity was not revealed onscreen).
If it was Corny, surely they would have revealed it after Hogan got pinned?

 

[Goldie]

It would have been nice to see him stay at around the 500 pound mark as Yoko and then as the attitude era came on he could have had the complete gimmick change going back to his Samoan roots and slimming down closer to the 400 pound range (which is here he was at prior to his WWE days).

Then they wouldn't have needed Rikishi?

 

[Ubermensch]

Yokozuna was a cool gimmic. Easy to draw heat as a Japanese guy that came down with Mr. Fuji waiving a Japanese flag.

In my opinion the feud with Yokozuna was the apex of Luger's career. He was in the best shape of his life, and had the opportunity to take the company helm. In essence, Yoko beating Hogan and then feuding with Luger is a kind of passing of the torch.

The WWF put alot of eggs in the Luger basket at that time. To be honest it was entertaining. Luger slamming the Japanese beast on the aircraft carrier, the Lex Express, were all great.

Luger had a better body than Hogan, maybe marginally better wrestling ability, but less charisma in and out of the ring. Furthermore, where the Warrior was similar to Hogan in being another charismatic, built guy, drawing on the fans, the way Hogan was; they weren't the same gimmick. What hurt Lex was being a rehash of Hogan. Hogan was a guy who was patriotic, Luger was a walking flag.

Furthermore, Luger MAY could have carried the company for a few years, but when he beat Yokozuna by countout at Summerslam, it looked all down heel from there.

Sorry to get off-topic, II just don't think you can mention Yokozuna without Luger.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Yoko was good but never go past 1994 if you want to see any of it. Not saying his tag team with Owen Hart wasn't good but by 1995 he got so big that he could barely move some matches and I always preferred singles, early 90's Yoko anyways.

Yoko was very interesting to say the least. I would say Yoko was good but he rarely put on a good match because he was so big, realistically what's a 6'1", 230 lb guy gonna do with a guy that's 500lbs? In my eyes that didn't matter though, Yoko was a foreign monster who played his part very well. He moved very well considering his morbid obesity, he didn't talk but he had this quiet, stoic charisma going for him, when Yoko came to the ring people turned their heads and wasn't because a fat dude was walking to the ring, there's been lots a fat dudes in wrestling people wouldn't look twice at.

As it was brought up in the last WZ Tournament when Yoko when up against a main eventer he rarely dominated yet he always had this unstoppable aura around him. A lot of times in wrestling there's much more to things than meets the eye. Yoko didn't have the best matches, couldn't talk at all but he had such a presence that made people notice him and he played his character very well which made him a believable main eventer, there's a lot to be said about a guy with those skills.

 

[Goldie]

Yoko was good but never go past 1994 if you want to see any of it. Not saying his tag team with Owen Hart wasn't good but by 1995 he got so big that he could barely move some matches and I always preferred singles, early 90's Yoko anyways.

That could be a reason why they put Yoko in tag matches in 1995, as he got so big that he couldn't work singles matches without running out of gas.
From then on he was never a world title threat again.
However tagging with Owen allowed Yoko to be involved in longer matches.... and maybe even helped to prolong his WWE career.
By 1996 Yoko was jobbing on PPV preliminary matches that didn't officially make the show.

Its a little similar to the end of Andres career.... as he was tagged with Haku to easen the load in the ring.

 

[Stingersplash89]

IMO definitely one of the top 5 big men in history. Always was a fan of his leg drops and his belly to belly suplex