Another Friday is upon us. As such it is time to highlight yet another massively awesome man of mass. Or as I have taken to calling them, the Awesome Fat Guy of the Week. Originally I had planned on speaking about a comedian but, as usually happens, plans changed. This Sunday is Wrestlemania 28. The WWE inducts people into it's Hall of Fame the day after the big show. Hence today's subject. Yokozuna.
Yokozuna was born Rodney Agatupu Anoa'a, on October 2, 1966. Although his character was represented as a Japanese Sumo wrestler, Rodney was in actuality of American Samoan decent. Professional Wrestling ran in Rodney's blood. He came from a long line of wrestlers and was related to many men in the profession. In fact he was related to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. As such it was only a matter of time before the big man broke into the business. Especially since his uncles, the Wild Samoans, had been training him since a young age.
Rodney originally performed under many different names such as the Great Kokina, Kokina Maximus, and Wild Samoan Kokina. Like most of the great wrestlers of the time Rodney honed his craft in Japan and Mexico. His first major exposure in the US came in the AWA (American Wrestling Association) under the name Kokina Maximus.
It wasn't long before the WWE, then WWF, took notice of Rodney. He was contacted by Vince McMahon himself. Rodney, under the name Yokozuna and accompanied by Mr. Fugi, made his debut on October 31, 1992.
Rodney's ascent to the top was quick. Only a year after debuting he won the annual Royal Rumble event and was awarded a title shot at Wrestlemania. At the time Rodney was playing the role of a monster villain. He cemented his position by destroying the much loved "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan.
With a good head of steam propelling him to the top Rodney won the WWF Championship from Bret Hart at Wrestmania IX. Sadly his title reign was short lived. Very short lived. It only lasted a few minutes before Rodney was beat by Hulk Hogan in an impromptu match. I don't know why this decision was made but I assume Rodney had not yet won the confidence of the powers that be.
With Hogan leaving the company, for the supposedly greener pastures of WCW, Rodney was once again given the title. This time at the 1993 King of the Ring PPV. At this point Rodney was the biggest villain in the WWF. But what good is a villain with out a hero to fight. As such a "Bodyslam Competition", under the guise of a celebration and show of power by Mr.Fuji, was held. The true purpose of this was to create a new "Hulk Hogan" in Lex Luger. After performing the feat, the now patriotic, Lex Luger became Rodney's foil. Lex was not a huge success and Rodney need a better opponent.
First against Lex Luger then against Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Rodney won the first match due to disqualification. Making him the first villain champion to defend the title at Wrestlemania. However the night was not yet over. After a 280 day reign Rodney lost the title to Bret Hart.
After losing the title Rodney spent some time as a tag team wrestler with limited success. That is until the Undertaker returned and reignited their feud. The second feud ended in another Casket match. This time it was Rodney who would lose. After that Rodney took time off to gain more weight which would prove to be his downfall.
Rodney would return at Wrestlemania XI to team with Owen Hart. This would result in Rodney being one half of the tag champions with Owen. The two men remained a team for months and were very successful. All in all the two would win the Tag Team championships twice.
As time went on Rodney found himself floundering. Especially when, Jim Cornette who had taken the place of Mr. Fugi, brought Vader into the fold. This led to Rodney, who had only ever said a few Japanese words, speaking in English for the first time. While this may seem like a small change the effects were wide spread. Rodney soon became a fan favorite. Sadly Rodney's weight was out of control and he would soon find himself out of a job.
It is at this point were I have to go slightly off topic. When Rodney first joined the WWE he was asked to gain 100 pounds to fully portray the role of Yokozuna. It could be argued that this put the idea that bigger is better in Rodney's head. When he was no longer at the top of the business he gained weight. He believed that was what he had to do. I can't speak for him but it is widely known that the wrestling business does not suffer fools gladly, nor does it abide half measures.
With his WWE career behind him Rodney began working the Independent circuit. He found himself competing for the Heroes of Wrestling PPV. An event that has gone down in Pro Wrestling history as one of the worst shows of all time. At the time Rodney was at an estimated 760 pounds. More than he had ever been before. In fact he was intentionally gaining weight in the hopes of hitting between 850 and 900 pounds. Like I said he believed bigger was better. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened next. On October 23, 2000, at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, England Rodney died of a pulmonary edema.
I have spoken about a number of Professional Wrestlers for different reasons. Vader was athletic and powerful, Dusty Rhodes was charismatic and likeable, and Mark Henry is strong beyond belief. So what about Rodney? Well the man was strong, athletic for his size, but most of all he was a technically sound wrestler. He knew what he was doing in the ring and from what I've read was a really nice guy. There's a reason he is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. That reason should be obvious but I'll go ahead and spell it out. Rodney Anoa'i is an Awesome Fat Guy and the Awesome Fat Guy of the week.
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