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Post by Stu on Nov 23, 2005 1:17:31 GMT -5
All of this unfortunate discussion about wrestlers passing away before their time made me think of another lost man: Yokozuna. I know, for the most part, the IWC isn't too fond of hosses, but it seems like the big guy fell under the radar. Either that, or it's because his run in the business happened before the IWC came into power. Anyway, aside from the fact he was portrayed as Japanese when he was really Samoan, I didn't think he was all that bad. And I always thought it was admirable that he first appeared on WWF television around Nov. 1992 and won the title at (ugh) Wrestlemania IX after being champion for only a minute or so, and still remained a genuinley level-headed guy, despite being the youngest champion at the time. I also liked his team with Owen Hart. Thoughts?
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Nov 23, 2005 1:20:50 GMT -5
I always thought Yokozuna was great in his monster heel role, esp. so when Owen brought him in as his 'mystery partner' in one of the only times that has ever worked. It had that holy shit feel. so yeah, RIP Yoko
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Post by LaParkaYourCar on Nov 23, 2005 1:24:05 GMT -5
If you like really long nerve holds then he's your man. That shoulder move he did always looked like his hand locked up while giving his opponent a shoulder massage and he'd sit there for a good 5 minutes doing that and looking pissed.
If you can't tell I tended to find him boring, but I will say this much they managed to get him over without him ever saying a single word. Although he did talk later in his career, but it was winding down by that point. Shows what you can do when you put a really good manager with someone who isn't necessarily good on the mic.
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Post by Stu on Nov 23, 2005 1:53:24 GMT -5
Yeah, when Vader showed up, there wasn't room for two big men in the company. Three for that matter, since that's around the time Mabel also disappeared.
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Post by Rorschach on Nov 23, 2005 1:55:44 GMT -5
I really did figure him to be unstoppable, till Hogan came along with the career derailing squash.
RIP, Yokozuna. You could have been one of the all time greatest.....I hope the WWE at least includes Yoko as a legend in an SVR game in the near future.
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Amaru
Don Corleone
Amaru means "Thankful to God"
Posts: 2,055
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Post by Amaru on Nov 23, 2005 4:51:32 GMT -5
his belly to belly suplex and his legdrop were devastating, he could really move around pretty big for a man of his size.
liked the match where ahmed johnson slammed him, that was an impressive thing to see. and he always jobbed to smaller guys without complaining
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Post by hakushi on Nov 23, 2005 5:21:00 GMT -5
See they said from the "ISLE OF POLYNESIA" so they didn't call him Japanese really.
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Post by andrew on Nov 23, 2005 5:24:17 GMT -5
I always thought Yokozuna was great in his monster heel role, esp. so when Owen brought him in as his 'mystery partner' in one of the only times that has ever worked. It had that holy crap feel. so yeah, RIP Yoko I agree. I was like "Uh oh". Granted I was only 7 and a half at the time but still, one of the only mystery partner things to work and it helped that they won the belts first time together too. Using Yoko to get at Bret was a good idea too.
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Hiroshi Hase
Patti Mayonnaise
The Good Ol' Days
Posts: 30,755
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Post by Hiroshi Hase on Nov 23, 2005 8:54:38 GMT -5
I thought he was a great monster heel back in the day, especially when he had a stranglehold on the WWE title. I really thought he was going to lose to Taker at RR94, but him and his cronies stopped all that. R.I.P Yoko
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Post by skyday1402 on Nov 23, 2005 9:13:15 GMT -5
I hated Yoko back when I was younger. Circa 93, I didn't think ANYONE could stop him. Even after the Hogan squash, Yoko got his heat back. I have a bunch of old Raw and Nitro shows on WWE 24/7 and right now on Raw they are around the time when he was feuding with Vader. He did move damn good in the ring for a big ass dude and could possibly still be a brought back as a monster today, had he not passed away untimely. I know I miss him.
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Scott
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 3,577
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Post by Scott on Nov 23, 2005 17:30:47 GMT -5
If you like really long nerve holds then he's your man. That shoulder move he did always looked like his hand locked up while giving his opponent a shoulder massage and he'd sit there for a good 5 minutes doing that and looking pissed. ooooh baby...that's the spot
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Post by vampirebadger on Nov 23, 2005 17:36:16 GMT -5
yoko is great i really miss him
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Efren
Dennis Stamp
?Andale! ?Andale!
Posts: 3,674
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Post by Efren on Nov 23, 2005 17:38:30 GMT -5
I marked out badly for Yoko as a kid.
Later on ive had the chance to see tapes of back when he wrestled here in Mexico(as Kokina) and he was actually quite athletic for his size(fairly less fat than on the e tho) but im inclined to belive he was told to wrestle slow to keep the monster heel persona.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Nov 23, 2005 17:39:20 GMT -5
I watched that match on 24/7 the other day.
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Post by Citizen Snips Has Left on Nov 23, 2005 18:25:54 GMT -5
Yoko had one of the top 5 theme songs of all time. I loved that song.
I totally agree with the above post praising his belly to belly and leg drop. Especially the big leg. THAT looked like it just squashed the guy. Kudos to Yoko.
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souper
Mephisto
Punch, kick, jump, beef mode.
Posts: 730
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Post by souper on Nov 23, 2005 18:36:27 GMT -5
i was never a huge mark for the guy. although as a young kid, i did like his feud with bret hart, just because it looked like bret was so overmatched. When he lost the belt at wrestlemanian 9 i was devastated, and then i was so excited when he won it back the following year. so i guess yoko filled his role well...but he wasn't all that special in my book.
and what was the deal with that diaper...errrrrrrrr thong that he wore to the ring. i hated that thing.
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ape
Unicron
Aunt Blabby Tells All.
bea wants all you sweathogs to take a look at what a REAL man is supposed to look like
Posts: 3,223
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Post by ape on Nov 23, 2005 18:37:03 GMT -5
back in '93, my friend and i always argued who was better...yokozuna or tatanka. yoko was my favorite at the time and his was tatanka. he would claim tatanka was undefeated and i would claim that 'zuna was, too...PLUS yokozuna had won the royal rumble, too. when zuna won the world title for a few seconds at wrestlemania 9, it was hard to argue for his undefeated streak...but when he won the belt back at the king of the ring and held it for 9 months...i think i won the argument. before yoko passed on, i heard a rumor that they were planning on bringing him back to team with rikishi...if that was, in fact, the case, then i wonder what might have happened. rip yoko
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Post by penis on Nov 23, 2005 18:43:09 GMT -5
The Samoan Natural Disasters? Sounds like a winner.
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Post by yoshiki on Nov 23, 2005 19:54:20 GMT -5
I always liked him but if he stayed in WWE they probably would have ruined his character and made him a rapper like Rikishi or something. I don't really think he is that forgotten because wrestlers like Bret Hart and Hogan always refer to him a lot.
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Post by vrjustin01 on Nov 23, 2005 23:03:00 GMT -5
I thought Yoko was good, but then he started to gain too much weight. The funny thing is, they used to put him over whenever he got fatter and fatter (always announcing a new weight)...but then what was a mobile big man was slowing down as the pounds were packed on.
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