Which Wrestler Do You Most Associate With Mr. Fuji?

[The Brain]

Next up in the manager series is none other than the devious one, Mr. Fuji. Fuji may not have been involved in as many high profile angles as the other three managers we’ve discussed so far, but he too was around for a long time and managed many different men. He actually lasted longer in the WWF than the other three.

I think this poll will be a three horse race. Anyone in their mid 30s or older is likely to go with Don Muraco. Muraco’s greatest success came before he hooked up with Fuji but anyone old enough to have seen the laughably (and intentionally) bad skits such as Fuji Vice and Fuji General is likely to remember them. Anyone in their early 30s will probably go with Demolition. Demolition was a dominant tag team for a few years and even though they eventually split with Fuji they established their dominance under his tutelage. Anyone under 30 is likely to go with Yokozuna. Yoko brought the world title to Mr. Fuji making Fuji the only one of the four discussed managers to capture the big one.

I fall in the Demolition category. Yoko’s run as champion was impressive but Fuji had to share the spotlight, and at times was overshadowed by Jim Cornette. Demolition started as just a Road Warrior rip off but they established their own identity under Fuji. They scared the hell out of me when I was little. I remember the promos where Fuji talked about putting Demolition through torturous training regimens and actually pictured what those sessions must have been like. Ah to be young again. As a little kid I always thought the good guys would overcome the bad guys but going into WrestleMania IV I was worried that Strike Force wouldn’t be able to beat Demolition. I was right and Demolition kicked off a record setting title reign. Demolition split away from Fuji during that title reign but I’ll always remember their rise to dominance under his leadership.

 

[SSJPhenom]

I have to go with Yokozuna on this one.

Every time I think of Yokozuna, I picture Mr. Fuji walking with him to the ring holding the Japanese flag. I also picture Jim Cornette with that blasted tennis racket. For some odd reason Mr. Fuji is one of my all time favorite managers. When he and Cornette were with Yokozuna, they elevated him so much and he became one of the most recognizable figures in the WWE during the early to mid 1990's.

I started watching wrestling when I was about 3. So I would say that I started watching wrestling heavily in late '91. Mr. Fuji will always be associated with Yokozuna in my mind.

 

[legendkiller1979]

For me it's the Powers of Pain. Along with Demolition, they were my favorite team. the POP needed Fuji so much more that Demolition ever did. I watched the promo cut after the double turn at the survivor series and it was awful. The POP couldn't cut a promo to save their lives. The double turn is one of the great moments in WWF history. I have always resented L.O.D for being responsible for the break up of the powers. They were among my favorites and Mr Fuji was such a big part of that.

 

[Aberle4Life]

I've been a fan since 1985, but I picked Yokozuna. He was just the first to come to mind, probably because that was really the only main eventer that Fuji managed. Demolition was certainly a big deal, but I think of the Demos more as faces and thus without Fuji.

As an aside, that whole Survivor Series angle when he switched from Demolition to the Powers of Pain was certainly goofed up. The crowd was so confused and was actually cheering for Fuji and the Powers of Pain, which made sense because the turn just came out of nowhere and fans up to that point had no reason to cheer for Demolition. In the long run, I'm glad they did it because Demolition was awesome as faces.

But back to Yoko, he was brought in by Fuji and they were together such a long time. Even though he was Fuji's final protege (I think), Yokozuna stands above all the rest to me. Great way for this great manager to go out.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Easily picked Yokozuna. I thought Yoko was unstoppable during his run. Fuji fit with him perfectly. Managed him to 2 wrestlemania main event title matches in a row (or 4 if you want to count the Hogan/Luger matches)

I did miss the Demolition/Powers of Pain run, as great as tag teams were in the late 80s, I could see how they would be selected.

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

I have to agree with those that said Demolition. No disrespect to Yokozuna, but as big a deal as he was during his run in WWE, Demolition is just a seminal tag team in all of pro wrestling, and most definitely in the WWE circa 80's early 90's.

Just the imagery alone of Fuji, along with Axe and Smash, whom no other tag team looked like at the time, was such a stark contrast that it really set them apart. Fuji didn't have to work the microphone like Bobby Heenan, Slick, or The Genius, he simply case across as sinister, and that alone really played in to the heel personas of Demolition. I have no doubt that he is one of, if not the biggest aide they had in getting over as heels.

 

[matman8540]

I have to agree with the Brain. Since I am over 30, by a considerable margin, I went with the Magnificent Muraco. This was Mr. Fuji's first foray into being a manager, and this was a rousing success. From that, he was able to parlay that success into getting wrestlers such as Demolition, and Yokozuna. However, as I was thinking about this thread, and you wanted to go literal, since this didn't exactly state "as a manager", the choice would clearly be the man he teamed with for over a decade to many tag titles around the world; Professor Toru Tanaka.

 

[yur_momma]

I agree with the above poster, its don "the rock" muraco for me. all the videos they made when i was a kid are fun memories for me now. fuji vice FTW! lol
powers of pain come a close second

 

[Rampage Bentley]

Hands down, The Orient Express.

I've loved wrestling as long as I can remember but the matches that really brought me to the next level were The Orient Express vs. The Rockers. I was four or five years old, and I was so pissed whenever Fuji would use his cane on Shawn or Marty, I even remember crying during their WrestleMania match when Fuji used his powder to blind Marty Jannetty and get The Rockers counted out.

 

[Pedigree1]

Thank you for this one!! Easily for me Demolition!! Now your talking about my favorite tag team of all times!! Damn Fuji and Demolition were a force to be reckoned with. I loved it when Demolition squashed strike force at WM4 and then held the tag titles for close to 500 days.

Master Fuji was quite a comedian cheating in that 5k race funny stuff!! (favorite quote from demolition) Your Future: Dark,Bleak and Hopeless!!

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

Yokozuna, without a doubt. Besides being his most successful charge, by far, with two WWF Championship reigns, and two back-to-back WrestleMania main events, when I think of "Mr. Fuji" I don't think of the suit and bowler hat wearing Mr, Fuji with a cane and makeup, I think of the bald, Kimono wearing Mr. Fuji carrying the Japanese flag and salt bucket. And when I think of Yokozuna I think of Mr. Fuji.

 

[Thephanboy]

im torned with this one. definitely picture Fuji with Yokzuna....but i also see Demolition being lead by Fuji also. I think Fuji helped make both these, or these 3 guys.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

For some reason in my head I see Mr. Fuji with the Demolition face paint on. I don't know why I don't see him with Yoko. It might be because I used to hang wrestling posters up and I had a big one with Fuji in the face paint right next to the Demos.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I associate him with Demoliton AND Yoko pretty equally, his time with Zuna was more a reinvention, so it's kinda memorable for that. But I also remember him being the mastermind of Demolition... If I have to pick one, it'd be Yoko... just cos it was jarring to see him in a kimono and no bowler hat...

 

[klunderbunker]

Don Muraco.

Those Fuji Vice videos are some of the funniest bits you'll ever see in wrestling and are great examples of how stupid the 80s were, in a good way that is. Muraco also was a solid heel guy and a decent face as well, so having Fuji manage him was a good pick. Fuji wasn't the best manager, especially in the 90s, but in the 80s he was solid.

 

[ccotreau1]

When I think of Mr Fuji, the 3 I think of are Demolition, Power of Pain, and Yokozuna, but I will pick Yoko where when I was actually old enough to watch wrestling, that was who he was managing

 

[ITrippedTheShockmaster]

I guess I'm with the majority of the crowd on this one - Yokozuna, then Demolition and Powers of Pain. I started watching wrestling in the mid 1980s, so I first really saw Fuji with Demolition and PoP. Just this evil character who managed evil tag teams (and who, himself, was a tag wrestler in his heyday). Then, when he came back to manage Yoko, it was just a natural fit b/c of the character.

After that, maybe Don Muraco and then the Orient Express.

 

[covieo81]

im gonna go with demolition. they held the wwf tag titles several times and were main players in the tag division for a long time. i can see some peeps goin with yokozuna but he held the wwf title only once and not even for a year after that he kinda fell by the wayside. quick edit i guess technically he held it twice.

 

[Zaahir3000]

I am in the early 30s category and for me. I associate Fuji with Demolition. Demolition was awesome and are my all time favorite Tag Team. I know the LOD are considered the greatest of all time but for someone like myself who didnt have cable to keep up the NWA/WCW. Demolition was my team.

 

[The Eighties]

Demolition without a doubt for me, even though Fuji managed Yokozuna as a WWF champion, whenever I think of him it is with paint on his face managing Demolition to the tag titles against Strike Force at WrestleMania IV, it's one of my earliest wrestling memories.

 

[theBec2101]

You gotta go with Yoko. I mean he managed alot of great wrestlers but who had the career like Yoko. H was wwe champ he was dominate for a number of years as an individual and tag team. That the first person who comes to mind when you think of him.

 

[rokuma]

I'm going with Demolition just because Mr. Fuji missing a ridiculous flying legdrop at WM 5. Does anybody remember that?! I attached the link below:

http://youtu.be/tgBf_0Tjj_8?t=7m14s

Or what about when the Hart Foundation faced Demolition and at the end, Fuji hops up on the apron and took literally like 6 or 7 forearms to the chest from Jim Neidhart before finally falling down? The 2nd greatest manager of all-time, but may be the toughest.

 

[EastCoastFan]

For the longest time, the only guy Mr. Fuji managed was Don Muraco. Later, Muraco went on his own and Demolition took him on as their manager, only to dump "Fuj the Stooge" during the double turn in 1988. The only other major guy Fuji managed was Yokozuna, but once he regained the WWF title from Hogan, Jim Cornette came aboard as "American spokesman" and Fuji got pushed into the background.

 

[HBsam31]

When I think of Fuji I think of Demolition. I like the Brain could envision Fuji putting them through these torturous training sessions. I also think of Demolition using Fuji's cane to beat strike force, and their first title reign. As an aside the Fuji Vice type skits were freakin awesome, but I was a little young and just recently saw all of those skits on a dvd (can't remember which one though.

 

[Theo Mays]

Demolition all the way. When I read the title here they were the first names that popped into my head. One of the greatest tag teams in WWE history and Mr. Fuji played a key role in that. Honestly my mind when blank after that until I clicked the thread and realized how much of an idiot I am for forgetting about Yokozuna. However I associate Jim Cornette with Yoko moreso than I do Mr. Fuji (Brain hit the nail on the head there). Demolition under Fuji went on to have that historic title run that is absolutely impressive. Demolition had such a unique look (WWF-wise) and with Fuji you couldn't help but take notice to them. Easy pick here.