.jpg) Anoa'i in 1995 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rodney Agatupu Anoa'i (1966-10-02)October 2, 1966 |
| Died | October 23, 2000(2000-10-23) (aged 34) Liverpool, England |
| Cause of death | Pulmonary edema |
| Children | 2 |
| Family | Anoaʻi |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring names | |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 589 lb (267 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Japan "The Land of the Rising Sun"[3] Polynesia[4] |
| Trained by | Afa Anoaʻi[3] |
| Debut | 1985[1] |
Rodney Agatupu Anoaʻi (October 2, 1966 – October 23, 2000) was an Americanprofessional wrestler. He was best known for his time with theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he wrestled under thering nameYokozuna. He was also known for his appearances withNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) asGreat Kokina.
Anoa'i'scharacter was portrayed as a champion sumo wrestler, with his ring name being a reference to thehighest rank in professionalsumo wrestling inJapan. While Anoaʻi wrestled as a representative of Japan, he was aSamoan American and was billed as hailing fromPolynesia. However, he was managed by the Japanese characterMr. Fuji (in reality a Japanese American) who would follow Anoaʻi to the ring with a wooden bucket of salt while waving aJapanese flag.[4]
In the WWF, Anoaʻi was atwo-timeWWF World Heavyweight Champion andtwo-timeWWF Tag Team Champion (withOwen Hart), as well as the winner of the1993 Royal Rumble. He was the first wrestler of Samoan descent to hold the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the first Royal Rumble winner who (as a result of a direct stipulation) received a WWFworld championship title shot atWrestleMania. He defeatedWWE Hall of FamersBret Hart andHulk Hogan at consecutive pay-per-views in the main events ofWrestleMania IX and the1993 King of the Ring, to win his two WWF Championships, also headliningWrestleMania X against Hart. He was the third-fastest newcomer (afterBrock Lesnar andSheamus) to win the WWF Championship after his debut. He was posthumously inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame in 2012.
Anoaʻi grew up in a family of wrestlers, theAnoaʻi family; his uncles, theWild Samoans (Afa Anoaʻi andSika Anoaʻi) trained him from an early age. He debuted in 1985.[1] He spent the early years of his career performing for promotions such asInternational World Class Championship Wrestling,Texas All-Star Wrestling, theUniversal Wrestling Federation, theContinental Wrestling Association, and theContinental Wrestling Federation under a variety ofring names, including "Giant Kokina", "Great Kokina", "Kokina", and "Kokina the Samoan". In December 1988, he wrestled for theCatch Wrestling Association (CWA) in Germany, unsuccessfully challengingOtto Wanz for theCWA World Heavyweight Championship.[5][6][7][8]
In August 1988, Anoaʻi began making appearances in Japan withNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as "Great Kokina". In August and September 1988, he took part in the "Sengoku Series" tour, where he faced opponents such asSuper Strong Machine andTatsutoshi Goto, and teamed with fellowgaijin includingCrusher Bam Bam Bigelow andScott Hall.[9]
Anoaʻi made his next appearances with NJPW in June and July 1989 as part of its "Summer Fight Series". During this tour, he repeatedly teamed withBig Van Vader andMike Kirchner, with his opponents includingKengo Kimura,Masa Saito, andRiki Choshu. In October and November that year, Anoaʻi made a third tour of Japan as part of NJPW's "Toukon Series"; during this stint, he again repeatedly teamed with Big Van Vader, while his opponents included Choshu, Kimura,Masahiro Chono, andOsamu Kido.[9]
Anoaʻi wrestled a fourth stint with NJPW in January and February 1990 as part of its "New Spring Gold Series". During this tour he once again teamed with Big Van Vader, as well as teaming with his futureWorld Wrestling Federation tag team partnerOwen Hart. On the final day of his tour, he and Vader unsuccessfully challenged Masa Saito andShinya Hashimoto for theIWGP Tag Team Championship. He returned to NJPW for one week in July 1990 during the "Wrestling Scramble", teaming withWild Samoan as theSamoan SWAT Team and unsuccessfully challengingKeiji Muto and Masahiro Chono for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. He had a short sixth stint with NJPW in September 1990 during the "Explosion Tour", once again teaming with Wild Samoan.[9]
Anoaʻi returned to NJPW for a seventh stint in April 1991 during that year's "Explosion Tour". This stint saw the Samoan SWAT Team primarily wrestlesix-man tag team matches, teaming withScott Norton orPegasus Kid. He made a sixth stint with NJPW in July 1991 as part of the "Summer Crush" tour and a seventh stint in September 1991 as part of the "Battle Autumn" tour, again teaming with Wild Samoan. At the end of the Battle Autumn tour, Anoaʻi took part in the "Memorial Battle inYokohama" event at theYokohama Arena, teaming with Wild Samoan, Pegasus Kid, andBrad Armstrong to defeatBlack Cat, Kengo Kimura, Osamu Kido, andShiro Koshinaka. In October 1991, Anoaʻi and Great Kokina took part in theSuper Grade Tag League; they defeatedKim Duk andTiger Jeet Singh, but lost their other five matches, ultimately placing in joint last place with two points.[9]
Anoaʻi made a ninth stint with NJPW in March 1992 as part of the "Big Fight Series", once again teaming with Wild Samoan as the Samoan SWAT Team; the main event of the final day of the series saw the Samoan SWAT Team and Big Van Vader lose to Keiji Muto, Masahiro Chono, and Riki Choshu in theKorakuen Hall inTokyo. In June and July 1992, the Samoan SWAT Team wrestled on the "Masters of Wrestling" tour. Anoaʻi made his final appearances with NJPW in September 1992 as part of its "Battle Autumn" tour. His last match took place at the "Battle Hold Arena" event at the Yokohama Arena, where the Samoan SWAT Team lost to Raging Staff (Super Strong Machine and Tatsutoshi Goto).[9][10]
In 1989, Anoa'i received his first major exposure in the United States when he joined theAmerican Wrestling Association (AWA) as "Kokina Maximus".Managed bySheik Adnan El Kassey, he depicted a disheveled Samoan wild man, and was billed as the biggest Samoan wrestler ever.[11] In late-1989, anangle was booked in which he repeatedly delivered abig splash toGreg Gagne, marking the end of Gagne's career.[12] Anoaʻi made his final appearance with the AWA in April 1990, losing toYukon John Nord in alumberjack match atSuperClash IV.[13][14]
In February 1990, Anoaʻi began wrestling for theUniversal Wrestling Association (UWA) in Mexico as "Great Kokina". He initially wrestled primarily intwo-out-of-three falls matches. In March 1991, he unsuccessfully challengedEl Canek for theUWA World Heavyweight Championship. In April 1991, Anoaʻi and his cousinsFatu andSamoan Savage (with the trio collectively billed as the "Hawaiian Beasts") defeatedLos Villanos for theUWA World Trios Championship. Los Villanos regained the titles in a rematch the following month. For the remainder of his tenure in the UWA, Anoaʻi continued to wrestle primarily in two-out-of-three falls matches (including teaming withBlack Scorpio andBuffalo Allen in a loss toAndré the Giant, El Canek, andVillano III in May 1992), as well as again unsuccessfully challenging El Canek for the UWA World Heavyweight Championship on several other occasions. He made his final appearances with the promotion in August 1992.[15]
In 1992, Anoaʻi was contacted byVince McMahon of theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) and offered a roster spot along with The Samoans (Fatu and Samoan Savage). On the August 17 episode ofPrime Time Wrestling, the Samoans (soon to be the Headshrinkers) made their debut. CommentatorGorilla Monsoon made mention of another, larger Samoan that they would soon be seeing in the WWF.[16] Anoaʻi made his initial debut as Kokina in an untelevised match on September 1, at aWWF Superstars taping inHershey, Pennsylvania, defeating Ron Neal. This would be the only time that Anoaʻi wrestled under his former gimmick, as shortly after, he was offered a newgimmick: Yokozuna.
Managed byMr. Fuji, Yokozuna debuted on the October 31, 1992 edition ofSuperstars with his then new gimmick of a stereotypicalsumo wrestler, who competed under the Japanese flag; though the WWF tactfully acknowledged his Samoan roots. That night he defeated Bill Jordan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.[11] He wore amawashi as part of his ring attire, but wore long tights underneath the loincloth, something thatVince McMahon and Yokozuna's cousinRikishi later felt wasn't needed and that he should've worn the traditionalmawashi without the tights to expose his buttocks (which Rikishi himself would later do).[17] Anoaʻi also revamped his appearance as Yokozuna by gaining additional weight, becoming clean shaven and transforming his unruly hair into achonmage. He made hispay-per-view debut on November 25 atSurvivor Series,easily defeating the much smallerVirgil with his huge weight advantage.[18] Yokozuna's career soon took off and he was billed as a potential favorite to win theRoyal Rumblematch on January 24, 1993, doing so by last eliminatingRandy Savage.[19] Having cemented his movement towards main-event status, Yokozuna was a competitor in thefirst-ever match inMonday Night Raw history, defeating the much smallerKoko B. Ware with his signature finisher, the Banzai Drop. Soon after, Yokozuna was challenged by American patriot"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, who aimed to be the first man to knock Yokozuna off his feet (this was taped before Randy Savage knocked down Yokozuna at the Royal Rumble). On the February 6 airing ofSuperstars, Duggan succeeded in knocking Yokozuna down, only for Yokozuna to sneak attack Duggan with a bucket of salt Mr. Fuji had brought to the ring, and crush him with fourBanzai Drops, the fourth being with the American flag draped over Duggan. Afterwards, Duggan was suffering from (kayfabe) internal bleeding.[20] On the May 10, 1993, edition ofMonday Night Raw, Yokozuna served as one of the lumberjacks in a match between Duggan andShawn Michaels for theIntercontinental Championship. Duggan, upon seeing Yokozuna, immediately charged at him and knocked him off his feet again; late in the match, afterBam Bam Bigelow distracted Duggan, Michaels attacked the challenger from behind and threw him out of the ring to where Yokozuna was standing. Yokozuna knocked Duggan to the floor and nailed him with a leg drop, then rolled his unconscious body back into the ring as payback for the earlier attack.[20]
AtWrestleMania IX on April 4, Yokozuna wrestled againstBret Hart for theWWF Championship. Hart had the match won with Yokozuna about to submit to theSharpshooter, when Mr. Fuji threw salt into the champion's face. Blinded, Hart was then pinned by Yokozuna, who won the WWF Championship.[21][22] As he and Mr. Fuji celebrated,Hulk Hogan came to the ring to help Hart and was challenged by Mr. Fuji to take on the new champion. After Fuji accidentally threw salt in Yokozuna's eyes, Hogan came through with the win and captured his fifth WWF Championship. At the time, Yokozuna held the record for the second shortest time (afterRic Flair) to win the WWF Championship after his debut, with 173 days (currently, Yokozuna holds the fourth shortest time, after Flair,Sheamus, andBrock Lesnar).[23] On June 13 atKing of the Ring, Yokozuna, whose weight increased from 505 lb (229 kg) to 550 lb (250 kg), challenged Hogan for the title. Hogan seemed to have the match won, but aphotographer, planted at ringside among a legitimate Japanese wrestling press group, shot a blast of fire into Hogan's face. This allowed Yokozuna to take Hogan out with a leg drop and regain the WWF Championship, after which he proceeded to hit Hogan with the Banzai Drop in the corner.[24] Hogan then left the WWF to pursue other interests, leaving Yokozuna and Fuji to claim that they had ended "Hulkamania". To celebrate, he held a "Bodyslam Competition" aboard theUSS Intrepid, a decommissionedaircraft carrier, onIndependence Day. Many wrestlers and athletes failed to slam Yokozuna untilLex Luger flew in by helicopter, stepped forward, and slammed him on the deck. CommentatorBobby Heenan claimed Luger's move was a hiptoss, not a bodyslam, as Yokozuna was running at Luger, but the slam was ruled legitimate. This made Luger the next major challenger to Yokozuna's title.[25]
On August 30 atSummerSlam, Yokozuna, now weighing 568 lb (258 kg), and Luger fought for the WWF Championship. Luger took control late in the match, scoring on Yokozuna with a bodyslam andflying forearm. Luger had metal plates put into his arm following an injury from a motorcycle accident (it was stipulated that Luger had to wear a protective pad over it, but it was torn off in the course of the match). However, Yokozuna was knocked out of the ring unconscious and lost via count-out, though he retained the title because it could not change hands via count-out.[26] The contract Luger had signed for the match, as orchestrated by Yokozuna's new spokesman and advisorJames E. Cornette, stated that if he did not win the championship, he would not get another shot at the title.[11] Yokozuna and Luger continued to feud untilSurvivor Series on November 24, where each chose a team of allies for an elimination match, which was billed as an All-Americans (Lex Luger,The Undertaker, andSteiner Brothers) vs. Foreign Fanatics (Yokozuna,Quebecer Jacques,Ludvig Borga, andCrush) contest. Yokozuna was eliminated via double count-out after brawling with the Undertaker outside of the ring; the All-Americans went on to win the match.[27]
Yokozuna's next title challenger was The Undertaker, whom he was eventually forced to accept acasket match with.[3] The match occurred on January 22, 1994, atRoyal Rumble, which Yokozuna won by shoving the Undertaker in the casket with help from multiple heel wrestlers. After the match, a mysterious figure appeared on thetitantron, looking like the Undertaker inside the casket. He opened his eyes and said the Undertaker would not rest in peace; he then disappeared in a smoke and light show, rising to the top of the titantron and seemingly levitating all the way to the arena ceiling until vanishing. Thisstoryline was used to allow the Undertaker to rest for several months to recover from lingering real-life injuries.[28]
In the Royal Rumble match, the last two competitors, Lex Luger and Bret Hart, fought and eliminated each other simultaneously. Since the winner of the Royal Rumble was to become the number one contender to Yokozuna's title, it was decided that both wrestlers would get a shot at the title atWrestleMania X.[29] By virtue of winning a coin toss, Luger got to wrestle Yokozuna first at the event. The winner of that match would go on to face Bret Hart later in the evening with the title on the line.[30] To obviate the risk of outside interference, both title matches were scheduled to have special guest referees, withMr. Perfect as the referee for the Luger/Yokozuna bout. Luger had knocked out Yokozuna with arunning forearm smash in the middle of the ring, as well as Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette, but when he went for the pin, Perfect occupied himself with the unconscious Fuji and Cornette who were still lying on the ring apron. An angry Luger was disqualified after pushing Mr. Perfect, making Yokozuna the firstvillainous champion to successfully defend the WWF Championship atWrestleMania.[4][11] Later in the night, Yokozuna defended the championship again, this time against Bret Hart, who had lost earlier in the night to his brotherOwen Hart. For this match,Roddy Piper was the special referee, attacking Cornette when he tried to break a pinfall. At the end of the match, Yokozuna seemed ready to hit his finishing maneuver, the Banzai Drop, but lost his balance and took a fall from the ropes. Hart pinned Yokozuna to win the title, ending Yokozuna's reign at 280 days.[31]
After dropping the belt, Yokozuna's main event status began to fade away. He briefly tagged withCrush, another Mr. Fuji charge.[11] On the May 16 episode ofRaw, Yokozuna lost toEarthquake in the only (worked) sumo match[32] untilWrestleMania 21, betweenThe Big Show and an actualyokozuna,Akebono.[33] AtKing of the Ring on June 19, Yokozuna and Crush failed to win theWWF Tag Team Championship fromThe Headshrinkers (Samu andFatu).[34] Yokozuna then had to deal with the "rebirth" of the Undertaker, who immediately came after the foe who had taken him out of action. The two met in another casket match on November 23 atSurvivor Series, this time with actor/karate expertChuck Norris as thespecial enforcer to keep the other heel wrestlers away from ringside. Without their help (althoughIrwin R. Schyster successfully interfered on Yokozuna's behalf), Yokozuna lost the match and ended up locked inside the casket. Yokozuna continued to wrestle briefly before taking some time off to increase his already huge weight advantage.[11][35]
In April 1995,Owen Hart began promising that he would have a great tag team partner to face off againstThe Smoking Gunns (Billy andBart) atWrestleMania XI for theWWF Tag Team Championship. At the event on April 2, Yokozuna, now weighing in at 641 lb (291 kg), was revealed as his partner, and the team defeated the Gunns to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.[36] The two retained the titles against the Gunns in a rematch on May 14 atIn Your House 1[37] and against theAllied Powers (Lex Luger andDavey Boy Smith) on July 23 atIn Your House 2.[38]
AtIn Your House 3 on September 24, Yokozuna andDavey Boy Smith took onShawn Michaels andDiesel (the back story being that Hart was with his wife as she gave birth to one of their children) with Diesel's WWF Championship, Shawn Michaels'Intercontinental Championship and Hart and Yokozuna's Tag Team Championship on the line. During the match, Hart came to the ring, only to be pinned by Diesel. The next day, due to protests from the team and the legal help ofClarence Mason,PresidentGorilla Monsoon reluctantly returned the belts to Yokozuna and Hart, since Hart was not an official part of the match.[39] Their second reign was shorter, as the Smoking Gunns defeated them that night for the belts.[4]
Yokozuna, by now weighing in at 660 lb (300 kg), had little continued success in 1996.[40] He competed in theRoyal Rumble match on January 21, eliminatingBob Backlund,King Mabel, and Swat Team member #2 before being tossed out by eventual winner Shawn Michaels.[41] Although Cornette tried to make peace between him and new acquisitionVader, many observers felt Yokozuna was being relegated. After several run-ins, Yokozuna left Cornette and began a short stint as afan favorite. He spoke English to the fans, had Mr. Fuji wave an American flag during his matches, and challenged Vader to numerous matches.[42] On March 31 atWrestleMania XII, Yokozuna,Ahmed Johnson andJake Roberts lost to Vader, Owen Hart and British Bulldog.[43] Vader jumped on Yokozuna's leg on the April 8 episode ofRaw, (kayfabe) breaking it. The splash was shown on television as a leg break, but in reality, it was performed to allow Yokozuna to take some time off to lose weight. However, instead of a stretcher, a real forklift had to be brought to carry Yokozuna out, as it was the only way to move a man of his size.[40]
In May, Yokozuna returned atIn Your House 8: Beware of Dog to wrestle Vader. During the event, a severe thunderstorm in the area caused the pay-per-view broadcast feed to blackout. In one of the matches not broadcast, Yokozuna defeated Vader.[44] The event was rescheduled two days later, in which the matches that were previously blacked-out took place again. Vader won their rematch.[45] On August 17, he appeared atFree for All just beforeSummerSlam, where he lost toStone Cold Steve Austin after he attempted a Banzai Drop on the rope, which broke under his weight, sending him crashing back down for Austin to win.[46]
The next night onRaw, Yokozuna faced then WWF ChampionShawn Michaels for the title in a losing effort.[42] Afterwards, he only made appearances on house shows. He made his final televised WWF appearance at theSurvivor Series on November 17, still going afterVader, however he only briefly entered the match illegally and it ended with all remaining wrestlers being disqualified.[47] His final match in the WWF was on November 20, 1996, at a house show inWhite Plains, New York in a battle royal won by his cousinRocky Maivia.[48]
For a second time, Yokozuna went to his home in Los Angeles to lose weight through exercise and dieting, being replaced by other wrestlers on a late November 1996 tour of theUnited Kingdom.[40] Despite dropping a reported 100 lb (45 kg), he still could not lose enough to satisfy the WWF officials, and was not medically cleared to wrestle in some states because of his physical condition. Yokozuna was ultimately unable to pass a physical examination required for professional wrestlers by theNew York State Athletic Commission, and was released from the WWF in May 1998.[4][40][49]
After his WWF career ended in 1998, he performed sporadically for variousindependent promotions, includingMaryland Championship Wrestling.[4][50] At theHeroes of Wrestling pay-per-view event on October 10, 1999, Yokozuna was scheduled to take onKing Kong Bundy in one of the event's two featured matches. However,Jake Roberts, who was scheduled to faceJim 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 Yokozuna teamed with Roberts against Bundy and Neidhart, and Yokozuna's team lost.[51] He wrestled his final match on October 17, 2000 (six days prior to his death) forAll Star Wrestling, teaming withGreg Valentine to defeat Spinner McKenzie andDrew McDonald inLondon in the United Kingdom.
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| L'homme au masque d'or | 1991 | L'Hawaïen | Film |
| The Mirror Has Two Faces | 1996 | Sumo wrestler on TV | Film |
| Aar Ya Paar | 1997 | Yokozuna | Film |
Anoaʻi was a member of theAnoaʻi wrestling family, withRoman Reigns,Rikishi,Samu,Rosey,Manu,Umaga, andThe Rock among his cousins.The Usos andSolo Sikoa were his nephews andAfa andSika were his uncles. He had two children, Justin and Keilani.[52] He also suffered fromarachnophobia, and claimed to devour 240 eggs, 12 pieces of chicken and a bucket-sized portion of Japanese rice every day.[50]
On October 23, 2000, Anoaʻi died in his sleep frompulmonary edema in his seventh-floor room at the Moat House Hotel onParadise Street inLiverpool while on a wrestling tour of the UK forAll Star Wrestling. He was 34 years old.[49] His body was found by his crew's transport manager, and after paramedics came into his hotel room, it took six men to move his body.[50] At the time, it was widely reported that he died of heart failure or a heart attack, but this was later found to be incorrect due to his lungs showing severe signs of fluid blockage.[53]
TheYokozuna Memorial Show was held inAllentown, Pennsylvania in November 2001, shortly after the first anniversary of Anoaʻi's death. It was presented by the independent promotionWorld Xtreme Wrestling, although matches included wrestlers from multiple promotions.
On March 31, 2012, Yokozuna was inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame by his nephewsThe Usos and cousinRikishi.[54]
.jpg)
20.11.1996
A coroner has attributed fluid in the lungs as the reason for the death of former WWF champ Yokozuna (Rodney Anoia) last October while the 600-pound Yoko was on tour in Liverpool, England. It originally had been reported that he died of heart failure.
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