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Post by What? on Sept 25, 2012 19:37:37 GMT -5
...because, the man deserves one after seeing him let the Samoan out during this WWF (english speaking) promo. The man gave me the Rikishi vibes here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYKALe5pkTUI also found an old match of his from 1988. Odd seeing him that "light": www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUs7ydT9WpgDoes anyone else think Yoko would've eventually dropped the Japanese bit for a more 'hip-hoppish' Rikishi/Samoan gimmick had he remained on WWF tv through the Attitude Era? I miss the guy. If anyone has interesting info/facts, pictures, or videos of Rodney Anoaʻi, please share!  |
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Post by Spankymac is sick of the swiss on Sept 25, 2012 19:40:47 GMT -5
One of my favorite big men, period. I wish he could have kept to his prime Kokina Maximus weight, as that was when he was the most mobile. Also, I love hearing stories about fans meeting him. Apparently he went out of his way to be as nice as possible, especially to kids, so they wouldn't freak out about how big he was. Sounds like a hell of a guy.
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Post by What? on Sept 25, 2012 19:48:29 GMT -5
One of my favorite big men, period. I wish he could have kept to his prime Kokina Maximus weight, as that was when he was the most mobile. Also, I love hearing stories about fans meeting him. Apparently he went out of his way to be as nice as possible, especially to kids, so they wouldn't freak out about how big he was. Sounds like a hell of a guy. I've never heard any stories of anyone having heat with him, either. Was he pretty cool with all the wrestlers as well? I wish he had a nice run, where his own personality got to shine, like Taker 2000-03. |
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Post by nickcave on Sept 25, 2012 20:23:09 GMT -5
One of my favorite big men, period. I wish he could have kept to his prime Kokina Maximus weight, as that was when he was the most mobile. Also, I love hearing stories about fans meeting him. Apparently he went out of his way to be as nice as possible, especially to kids, so they wouldn't freak out about how big he was. Sounds like a hell of a guy. I've never heard any stories of anyone having heat with him, either. Was he pretty cool with all the wrestlers as well? Bret said in his book that Yoko became kind of a privileged asshole when became the WWF champion but that's about the only bad thing I've ever seen someone say about him. |
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Post by Spankymac is sick of the swiss on Sept 25, 2012 20:40:50 GMT -5
I've never heard any stories of anyone having heat with him, either. Was he pretty cool with all the wrestlers as well? Bret said in his book that Yoko became kind of a privileged asshole when became the WWF champion but that's about the only bad thing I've ever seen someone say about him. And in all fairness, the source is Bret Hart, who seemed to be able to get slighted by anyone, regardless of intent, so I'm gonna 50/50 that one. |
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Post by fuzzywarble, squat cobbler on Sept 25, 2012 20:59:00 GMT -5
They should have given him a cooler gimmick, like a savage Samoan one.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2012 21:07:18 GMT -5
Listen to the first couple Konnan appearances on the MLW podcast at www.mlw.com/ for some good Yokozuna talk from Konnan. He mentioned how he was a legit gangsta and would smuggle drugs through security at airports in his fat rolls. I think it was before there was a separate "Konnan show," I think it was one of the ones with Konnan and Teddy Hart together. |
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Jimmy
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Post by Jimmy on Sept 25, 2012 21:22:46 GMT -5
 He looked good in 1992/1993, and probably had his best matches during that time as well. I think his WWF Title reign was overly long though, especially for a guy who you couldn't throw out there every night for matches the crowd would surely be into. I do think though that the WWF could have gotten a bit more out of him after his title loss at WM X instead of just having him do tag team work and wrap up his feud with Taker. |
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Post by jason1980s on Sept 25, 2012 21:43:03 GMT -5
I was watching the home taped version of Wrestlemania XI, not sure if they had this on the Coliseum Video or DVD, but they had the superstar line where fans called in and one was Yokozuna and Owen Hart. The two things that stuck in my mind were Yokozuna was wearing a sarong (like the Samoans) which was cool since he was Samoan but it wasn't played on TV and the other was I wonder how Yokozuna and Owen interracted with the fans. As professionals I would think they would keep kayfabe with Yokozuna saying very little and Owen being the angry brother and bragging victor but read that Yokozuna had a nice reputation and hearing some good fan stories about Owen I wonder if they were nice to the callers.
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Post by OGBoardPoster2005 on Sept 25, 2012 21:51:13 GMT -5
A Rikishi/Yokozuna tag team would've been legit. I could also see Vince using him as part of the Corporation in 1999.
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bob
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Post by bob on Sept 25, 2012 22:04:34 GMT -5
He was the first heel I ever liked as a kid.
BANZAI!
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Post by Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite on Sept 25, 2012 22:17:17 GMT -5
As a little kid I legit hated him/thought he would NEVER lose the title.
I was worried for all my favorite babyfaces who went up against him
RIP to Virgil
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Post by Spankymac is sick of the swiss on Sept 25, 2012 22:18:00 GMT -5
As a little kid I legit hated him/thought he would NEVER lose the title. I was worried for all my favorite babyfaces who went up against him RIP to Virgil C'mon, fess up, that's story's not entirely true. NOBODY'S favorite babyface was Virgil. |
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Post by What? on Sept 25, 2012 22:25:51 GMT -5
As a little kid I legit hated him/thought he would NEVER lose the title. I was worried for all my favorite babyfaces who went up against him RIP to Virgil C'mon, fess up, that's story's not entirely true. NOBODY'S favorite babyface was Virgil. WRESTLING SUPERSTAR Virgil  As a kid, I remember hoping that the Warrior would return and take the title from Yoko. That was back when the internet wasn't around (obviously)...I'd go to Walmart and scour the PWI magazines to hopefully find out where he was, and if he was returning. Took 4 years, then he was gone after 3 months lol. But anyway, I could see Yoko being a "hired gun" in Vince's Corporation. BUT, for the love of continuity, I'd have him leave with Shamrock, Test and Show due to his long history with Taker, once the Ministry merger happened. |
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Post by HMARK Center on Sept 25, 2012 22:32:07 GMT -5
It's amazing to consider, but he may have been the first heel champion to really get a long, sustained run at the top of the WWF. Other heels had held the WWWF/WWF title beforehand, but most did not hold it for long (relative to the era they wrestled in, when multi-year reigns weren't so rare). Yoko was THE champion for nearly a year.
Funny to consider that and see where WWF went from there concerning heel champs.
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Post by Spankymac is sick of the swiss on Sept 25, 2012 22:34:59 GMT -5
It's amazing to consider, but he may have been the first heel champion to really get a long, sustained run at the top of the WWF. Other heels had held the WWWF/WWF title beforehand, but most did not hold it for long (relative to the era they wrestled in, when multi-year reigns weren't so rare). Yoko was THE champion for nearly a year. Funny to consider that and see where WWF went from there concerning heel champs. Adjusting for the era, certainly, yeah. Superstar Graham held his for longer, technically, but again, that was back in a time where a long reign was expected of a champion. Savage technically beats him, but didn't he spend most of that first reign as a babyface? |
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Post by What? on Sept 25, 2012 23:14:43 GMT -5
It's amazing to consider, but he may have been the first heel champion to really get a long, sustained run at the top of the WWF. Other heels had held the WWWF/WWF title beforehand, but most did not hold it for long (relative to the era they wrestled in, when multi-year reigns weren't so rare). Yoko was THE champion for nearly a year. Funny to consider that and see where WWF went from there concerning heel champs. Adjusting for the era, certainly, yeah. Superstar Graham held his for longer, technically, but again, that was back in a time where a long reign was expected of a champion. Savage technically beats him, but didn't he spend most of that first reign as a babyface? Yeah, pretty much. Savage went from April 1988-February 1989 being a face. He only spent less than 2 months as a heel at the tail end there. |
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Post by celticjobber on Sept 25, 2012 23:19:53 GMT -5
As a kid, I hated Yokozuna when he put Hogan out to pasture at KoTR 93. And I really believed he was Japanese. I posted this in another thread, but seems fitting here as well. Yoko in his last match against Mil Mascaras.  |
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Post by kamero00 on Sept 25, 2012 23:56:48 GMT -5
Ironically the best Japanese (themed) wrestler in North American history.
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Post by What? on Sept 25, 2012 23:58:03 GMT -5
As a kid, I hated Yokozuna when he put Hogan out to pasture at KoTR 93. And I really believed he was Japanese. I posted this in another thread, but seems fitting here as well. Yoko in his last match against Mil Mascaras. This might make you feel SLIGHTLY better. It's their King of the Ring re-match. July, 1993. It's a house show, so the quality isn't exactly HD. Must have been one of Hogan's final matches before leaving the WWF. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZ88YgsGHQ |
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helped $lim jinx NXT. Woops
