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I think part of the reason Yokozuna often gets overlooked is that people tend to focus on wrestlers who are either strong technical workers or charismatic personalities. At 500 pounds (a number which rose pretty rapidly the older he got), Yokozuna certainly wouldn't fall into the same category of a Bret Hart or a Ric Flair, yet wasn't your typical immobile big man. He could move very, very well for a man his size and, with his agility and also a great sense of timing where he could take a beating and then completely shift the momentum with one or two quick moves, he was easily one of the best big man workers of his time.
Yokozuna was also completely silent for most of his career, as he apparently didn't speak English and preferred to let Mr Fuji and Jim Cornette do his talking for him. While this might seem to be another handicap in a world where colorful personalities like Steve Austin, the Rock, and others became great successes, he really didn't need to do a lot of talking because of what he did in the ring. He was a big, imposing man who was pretty well able to convey what was on his mind just with the way he looked at people and managed to be intimidating without ever needing to open his mouth.
On top of all that, he found himself the focus of a very important turning point in WWF history because he was the golden spike that was the link between the end of the Hogan Era and the beginning of the New WWF Generation and, later, the Attitude Era. Let's begin his story with his WWF debut in late 1992.
Yokozuna came to the WWF in the Fall of 1992 and, though he was actually a Samoan of the same family as the Headshrinkers (which stories say he was originally supposed to be the third member of), he was instead presented as a Japanese Sumo champion. At 505 pounds and with a repertoire of crushing offensive moves that used his mass to damaging effects, he racked up an impressive undefeated streak during which nobody even managed to knock him off his feet.
He made his PPV debut at the 1992 Survivor Series, squashing Virgil, then went on to win the 1993 Royal Rumble. While most people expected the Undertaker or Mr Perfect (who had recently returned from a year off due to a back injury) to win the Rumble, Yokozuna came in and dominated the field. He singlehandedly dumped Earthquake out of the match, then fought off about eight guys who tried to gang up and eliminate him. He cleared the ring, eliminated Bob Backlund after he had lasted nearly an hour in the match, then eliminated Randy Savage in a visually stunning fashion to win the match. Savage had managed to become the first person to knock Yokozuna off his feet and then hit the top rope elbowdrop, but made the mistake of going for a cover and Yokozuna simply bench pressed him over the top rope and to the floor.
Yokozuna appeared unstoppable as he headed into Wrestlemania 9 to challenge WWF Champion Bret Hart in the main event, but Bret had a plan that almost led him to victory. A big question going into the match was whether Bret would be able to get the Sharpshooter on someone with legs the size of Yokozuna's, but he did get the hold on and Yokozuna was seconds away from submitting when Mr Fuji threw a handful of salt into Bret's eyes, allowing Yokozuna to cover him and win the title.
It appeared that Yokozuna would become the first heel to walk out of Wrestlemania with the WWF Title, but Hulk Hogan ran into the ring, allegedly to check on Bret, and found himself on the receiving end of a grandstand challenge from Mr Fuji, who challenged Hogan to an impromptu title match. Hogan accepted, and Yokozuna attacked Hogan and held him for another handful of salt from Fuji, but Hogan moved and Fuji threw the salt in Yokozuna's eyes. Hogan knocked Fuji out, then clotheslined Yokozuna and hit the legdrop to walk out of Wrestlemania with the WWF Title to the surprise of nearly everyone watching.
It quickly became clear after Hogan regained the title that he wasn't going to work out as a long term champion or even as a member of the WWF roster. When Hogan left after Wrestlemania 8, the company had moved on and focused on Randy Savage, Bret Hart, and now Yokozuna as headliners instead. Hogan showing up to elbow his way back into his spot at the top was not welcomed by a large portion of the fanbase, especially after it became known that he shot down the idea of dropping the title back to Bret at Summerslam.
Instead, Hogan agreed to lose the title back to Yokozuna, so that became the plan instead and Yokozuna got the title back at King of the Ring 1993. Even still, Hogan would only lose after they booked the match to end when a phony photographer got onto the apron and shot a fireball into his face to set up Yokozuna hitting a legdrop to get the win. A blinded Hogan was led out of the arena by WWF officials, and that was the last time he was seen on WWF TV for nearly a decade. Being the guy who put Hogan out of the WWF was a huge feather in the cap of Yokozuna, and he went on to enjoy a nine month title reign where he also became the first truly dominant heel champion in company history.
His first challenge came in the form of Lex Luger, whom the WWF had rapidly tried to reinvent as a flag waving Hogan clone. Mr Fuji announced that Yokozuna would celebrate his victory over Hogan on America's birthday, July 4th, on the deck of the USS Intrepid in New York Harbor. He would host a bodyslam challenge and invite any American athlete who thought they could do what Hogan couldn't and try to bodyslam the big man. Everyone from the Steiners, to Crush, to Tatanka, to Randy Savage, to football players, and even a horse jockey tried to slam Yokozuna, but they all failed. Yokozuna thought he had scored another win over America, but then Lex Luger landed on the Intrepid in a helicopter, took up the challenge, and bodyslammed Yokozuna to the cheers of all the other contestants who were on hand.
This led to a ridiculous build for the title match which would now take place at Summerslam, as Luger spent the summer riding around on a tour bus called the Lex Express to build grassroots support for his match with Yokozuna. Yokozuna, in the meantime, was brutally destroying everyone who got in the ring with him, defeating Randy Savage, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Bret Hart some more, and also Crush, who he then made an example out of by hitting him with four Banzai Drops and putting him out of action for months.
Yokozuna came into Summerslam looking a lot stronger than Luger did, and even though Luger again slammed Yokozuna and hit him with his loaded forearm, Yokozuna was knocked to the floor and got counted out. Balloons fell from the ceiling, the music played, and everyone celebrated as if Luger had won the title, which he hadn't.
Instead, Yokozuna had held onto the WWF Title and, while the Summerslam finish was designed to build to a rematch at Wrestlemania 10, it instead made Luger look like a choker who failed to win the title in the biggest match of his career, and like a moron for acting like he had. He was pretty much dead in the water after that, but Yokozuna would keep rolling and build momentum with more big wins, which I'll cover later this week in Part 2!
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