Grilling JR - Yokozuna [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Yokozuna

Rodney Anoia was born October 2, 1966 and grew up in San Francisco 

Rodney is apart of the legendary Anoa'i family. They have such a rich and storied legacy in the wrestling business. Some members of the family include Rock, Rikishi, The Tonga Kid, Umaga, Manu, Jimmy & Jay Uso & Roman Reigns. 

When Rodney was a very young child, his uncles, Afa and Sika were already stars in the business.

Did Rodney ever talk to you about what it was like growing up in that family?

Rodney literally was born into wrestling, do you know when he started watching it and when he realized who his family was in the business?

Rodney started training with his uncles, Afa and Sika and broke into the business at only 17 years old

Did he ever talk to you about his training? How would Afa and Sika train someone, do you think they went harder on Rodney, because he's family?

Whose some other wrestlers that Afa and Sika trained? 

He started under the name Kokina Anoia, and later, The Great Kokina, in the summer of 1985 and already being about 400 pounds. He took after others from his family, and did the gimmick of the huge Samoan & working heel in some smaller territories in Alabama, the WOW, an outlaw Alabama promotion, and Continental Wrestling, where he was involved in a short feud with Lord Humongous (Sid Vicious under a mask) and also worked USWA for a short period early in his career.

He worked in the AWA from 1984-1991, in between international tours. In the AWA, he wrestled as Kokina Maximus. During his time in the AWA, he was managed by Sheik Adnan El Kassey, who'd later be known as General Adnan, in the WWF and manager of then heel Sgt. Slaughter. 

Did Rodney ever talk about his relationship with Verne Gagne and how he got into the AWA?

Rodney made 13 trips to Japan from 1988-1992. He debuted on the August 1988 tour, and was often used as a monster tag team partner for Big Van Vader.

They'd have a brief feud in 1996 in the WWF, which we'll talk about, but what a dream team, Vader and Yokozuna

On January 31, 1990 he & Vader would lose to IWGP tag team champions Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto. During the summer, they brought his cousin Samula Anoia in as The Wild Samoan, to form a regular tag team. On July 19, 1990, the two lost when challenging for the IWGP tag team title against Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono. 

In 1992, Rodney, then around 440 pounds, was introduced to Konishiki, a 580-pound Samoan sumo wrestler who at the time was one of the biggest celebrities in Japan because he was an Ozeki in sumo, which is the position right under Yokozuna.

Do you know if this meeting between Rodney and Konishiki had anything to do with the gimmick of Yokozuna in the WWF?

For those who might not know, Yokozuna wasn't just Rodney's name in WWF, Yokozuna is the title for the highest rank in sumo wrestling.

Around this time, Rodney was brought into the WWF, along with his cousins Fatu and Samu, they'd originally come in as the Samoans, but soon after would be renamed to The Headshrinkers.

On the August 17, 1992 episode of Prime Time Wrestling, the Samoans made their debut. Gorilla Monsoon made mention of another, larger Samoan that they would soon be seeing in the WWF 

Rodney would make his initial debut as Kokina in an untelevised match on September 1, 1992 at a Superstars taping in Hershey, PA, wrestling as Kokina, he defeated Ron Neal 

You can find a video floating around the internet of Rodney wrestling early in his WWF days with his hair down

You came back to the WWF around the same time that Rodney came in. Where you back yet when he actually came in and if so, do you have any memories of the early plans that Vince had for him?

Rodney would soon be given the gimmick of Yokozuna. He'd be billed from Japan, with Mr. Fuji as his manager.

Who came up with the gimmick of Yokozuna?

How did Rodney embrace it, especially when he found out that he was going to be billed from Japan?

He's obviously Samoan, was there any concern about billing him from Japan?

As apart of the gimmick, Rodney wore his hair up and in a tight bun-style, which is how sumo wrestlers wear their hair. He also wore the traditional sumo thong, but wore tights under those. When he came to the ring, he'd throw salt in the corner

He made his debut at the October 13th tapings in Regina, Canada, where he defeated Joey Maggs, who often worked as an enhancement talent in WCW.

That takes us to Yokozuna's pay per view debut, which took place at the Survivor Series 1992.

Yokozuna pinned Virgil in 3:34 after sitting on him. Yokozuna is going to be a money maker. This was exactly what it should have been. * 

The Banzai Drop was a very innovative move. Where did it come from?

It could've potentially been very dangerous also, especially if Yoko slipped when he landed and came down full weight on a guy. Did Yoko ever hurt anyone with that move?

Yokozuna soon after started working Randy Savage on house shows and beating Randy

That takes us to the Royal Rumble 1993. It took place on January 24th, in Sacaramento, California

Yoko entered #27 and eliminated Bob Backlund, Tatanka, Earthquake, Carlos Colon, Tito Santana, Owen Hart, and Randy Savage, to win the Royal Rumble match, and earn a World Title shot at WrestleMania 9. This was the first time in Rumble history that a World Title shot was given to the winner.

Creative finish, Savage and Yoko were the last 2 in the ring. Savage got Yoko down and did the elbow off the top rope, but went for the pin, and Yoko bench pressed him off of him, from the ground, over the top rope to win the match.

Even though Yokozuna was only in the company for a few months at this time, it's obvious he's already the top heel and being groomed for huge things. Talk about Vince's feelings on Yoko at this time, and why he decided to have him win the Royal Rumble

Did any vets have a problem with Yoko's fast push, or did everyone realize that Yoko was going to be the next guy

On January 31st, at a house show in Toronto, Canada, we saw a preview of WrestleMania 9 when Yokozuna wrestled Bret Hart.  Bret won the match by countout

On the February 6, 1993 Superstars, Duggan succeeded in knocking Yokozuna down, and then Yokozuna hit Duggan with a bucket of salt Mr. Fuji had brought to the ring, and then hit him with four Banzai drops, the fourth being with the American flag draped over Duggan. Jim also did a blade job, which was very rare at the time in the WWF

Some controversy came out of this. Meltzer reported -

KTTV (Ch. 13) in Los Angeles refused to air the Yokozuna vs. Jim Duggan match on Superstars this past weekend because of heavy protests from the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists (AAPAA), Japanese American Citizens League and Media Action Network for Asian Americans. A KTTV spokesman said the station refused to air the match because "We're not in the business of perpetuating stereotypes." (How self-righteous, because if that were the case, how could they even run WWF in the first place since stereotypical characters are what the company has always been built around?).

When contacted, Steve Planamaneta of Titan claimed to have not seen the Duggan-Yokozuna match but said that it wasn't the company's intention to offend anyone. Wendy Fujihara Anderson of AAPAA saw a tape of the match and said the scenes and commentary promoted very negative images of Asians and promoted Japan-bashing. "They made it into an East-West type of thing," Anderson said in an article in a Japanese newspaper in Los Angeles. She complained about the comments about Fuji and Yokozuna being sneaky and underhanded. "It just perpetuates the hate. The general American population is being educated wrong on who we are." 

Planamenta said Yokozuna had been very well received by fans since he was brought in and defended his company saying the WWF has another Japanese wrestler, Tenryu, who is a good guy. KTTV said that future matches of Yokozuna will be monitored and decisions made as to whether to air them will be made on a case-by-case basis. When the show aired Saturday, it was interrupted by Lord Al Hayes who said because of the graphic nature of the match (as opposed to the real reason), it couldn't air and they put the Flair-Hennig loser leaves town match in its place. 

Memories of that?

A few weeks later, Meltzer reported as a follow up -

More news stemming from that Yokozuna angle. The Quincy Patriot-Ledger reported in its 2/25 issue that Robert Burke, 54, filed a petition in U.S. District Court in Boston asking a judge to force the WWF to make a televised apology for mistreating the flag. Burke wrote a letter of complaint to Vince McMahon, which resulted in a phone call back from a WWF lawyer who said there would be no televised apology. Burke named five defendants--WWF, Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji, Duggan and McMahon saying they violated many provisions of federal law which prohibit using the flag as a costume or allowing it to touch anything beneath it such as the ground or floor and said it is illegal to use the flag in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled or damaged. Don't expect anything to come out of that. 

A few weeks before WrestleMania on TV, Bret Hart and Yokozuna did a contract signing, which ended with Yokozuna jumping Hart, splashing him and leaving him laying. 

Yoko started working house shows with Undertaker heading into WrestleMania. 

On the March to WrestleMania special on USA Network on March 28th, 1993, Yokozuna pinned Randy Savage

That takes us to WrestleMania 9. Yokozuna challenged Bret Hart for the World Title

Yokozuna pinned Bret Hart to win the WWF title in 8:55. Because of the huge size difference, it looked visually impossible for them to work a credible match, but they did. I was shocked that Hart didn't at least have his head taped to give the illusion of injury because of the angle they ran earlier in the day. It was WCW-like to not pay attention to detail. Campy spot of the match were the USA chants when the only American in the ring was Yokozuna. Heenan pointed out that neither of the two men were from the United States. Hart pulled off the padding from a turnbuckle and rammed Yokozuna into the exposed steel and put him in the scorpion. Mr. Fuji threw salt in Hart's eyes and Yokozuna covered him for the pin. *** 

That wasn't the only World Title match that happened that night.

At this point Hogan came out and Fuji challenged him immediately for the title. Hogan acted as if he were more concerned with Hart than getting the title (boy, if there ever was a more ultimate work), but Hart told him to take the match and the title (ultimate work No. 2). Fuji tried to throw salt, Hogan ducked, clothesline, leg-drop 1-2-3, and new champion all in 21 seconds. DUD 

That was the first time Yokozuna was pinned in the WWF.

Hulk has said this was his idea, with the eventual payoff being him dropping the title back to Yokozuna at King of the Ring. When did you first hear about this idea and who do you believe came up with it?

Bret wrote that a few weeks before WrestleMania, on March 8th , I managed to talk Yoko into lying on the dressing-room floor where, much to his surprise, I crouched down atop his twisted thick calves and was actually able to put on the sharpshooter. I didn’t picture beating him with it, but none of the fans would think it would be possible for me to turn him over; the move had the potential to be a great spot for WrestleMania IX. Vince was having him destroy all his opponents, and I was shaping up to be a huge underdog.

Bret went on to write on April 2nd in Vegas, (where WrestleMania was) Vince called Bret and asked him to meet him in his suite 

I knocked on his door and he answered it with that goofy grin. We sat down, and Vince said, “This is what I want to do. I want you to drop the belt to Yoko tomorrow.” This was not what I had expected. I sat there dumbstruck as he went on to explain how Fuji would screw me by throwing salt in my face, blinding me. After Yoko was handed the belt, Hogan would rush to my aid and in some kind of roundabout way Hogan would end up winning the belt from Yoko right then and there! Like I was handing Vince my sword, I told him I appreciated everything he did for me and I’d do whatever he wanted. 

Vince said, “Don’t get bitter. I still have big plans for you.” Sound bites flashed through my mind of Vince assuring me that I was the long-term champion, and not to worry about Hogan, who still hadn’t even spoken to me yet. As I stood up to leave, I asked, “Did you take the belt from me because I didn’t do a good enough job?”

“Of course not! I’m just going in a different direction. It’s still onwards and upwards for you. Nothing is going to change too much for you.” I was totally crushed

Bret said of the match - An exhausted Yoko stampeded like a runaway elephant, short-changing me on my comeback and editing out all my best spots. I was furious that he would take it upon himself to go home on his own.

I was always a little pissed off at him for going home on me and not letting me show Vince, Hogan and everyone else that we could tear the house down without their bullshit finish. Even so, it was the best match that Yoko ever had.

As far as you knew, did Yoko call the match to end early, as Bret said?

After WrestleMania, Yoko worked Duggan & Undertaker on a lot of house shows

That takes us to the King of the Ring pay per view. It took place on June 13th, 1993 from Dayton, Ohio. It was the first King of the Ring pay per view

Yokozuna pinned Hogan in 13:11 to win the WWF title. Hogan's reaction coming out greatly eclipsed any other response on the show. He is still to the masses the star of the show. How much of a drawing card he still is will be determined now, at the house show matches with Yokozuna, because he's in a viable program chasing the title and if these matches don't draw considerably bigger crowds than usual, than live WWF wrestling simply has a certain sized audience that no individual in the U.S. is on his own a draw anymore. Hogan gave him the entire match teasing his inability to either slam him or knock him off his feet. 

This was pretty much the typical Jerry Lawler vs. monster first match of a series from the old days in which Lawler can't do anything with the guy, then pulls down the strap, makes his comeback, but then gets screwed and loses. At one point they did a bearhug for 2:15. After kicking out of a belly-to-belly, Hogan did the superman comeback and finally knocked him off his feet after three boots to the face. Yokozuna kicked out of the legdrop, supposedly being the first person ever to do so (memories are short since Sid Vicious did the same thing at the 1992 Wrestlemania). Hogan punched Mr. Fuji, then the mystery photographer (who was obvious from the start of the match because of his fake wig and beard) jumped on the apron and flashes fire in Hogan's eyes, and Yokozuna got the pin with a legdrop. After the match Yokozuna gave Hogan the banzai and he had to be helped out. *1/2 

Who was the photographer?

This would make Yokozuna a 2 time World Champion and this would be Hulk's last appearance at a WWF pay per view, until No Way Out 2002. This was also the first time that Hogan was pinned in the WWF since his loss to Ultimate Warrior, at WrestleMania 6, in 1990

Did Hulk have a problem getting pinned with the legdrop?

I'm sure we'll talk more about this on a future show, but Meltzer speculated this was going to set up a rematch between Yokozuna & Hulk at SummerSlam. However, Bret has said for years that he was told by Vince that he would be wrestling Hulk at SummerSlam and beat Hulk for the World Title there. He's said he and Hulk even took promotional pictures for their match at SummerSlam, with each man holding the World Title by the one side.

What was the original plans for SummerSlam 1993 going into the King of the Ring?

On July 4th, aboard the USS Entrepid, we saw the Stars and Stripes challenge, where various athletes from several sports tried to bodyslam Yokozuna, who'd never been bodyslammed in the WWF up to that point.

From the WWF, The Steiner Brothers, Bob Backlund, Tatanka, Crush and Randy Savage all unsuccesfully tried to slam Yoko.

Several professional athletes also tried to slam Yokozuna, including NBA player Scott Burrell, Bill Fralic of the Detroit Lions and Joe Morris and Peter Taglianetti of the Pittsburgh Penguins, all of them also were unsuccessful.

Then all of a sudden, a helicopter flies in and lands with Lex Luger, dressed in a red white and blue shirt gets out and walks to the ring. Up to this point, he was a heel, The Narcassit Lex Luger.

After a brief staredown with Yokozuna, he hit him with his bionic forearm (which has a metal plate in it) and then he bodyslammed Yokozuna. Which in the process gave Vince his new top babyface, since Hogan recently left the WWF, and immediately put Lex in an angle with Yokozuna, challenging him for the World Title.

Talk about how all of this happened. Where did the idea come from, who else was considered to slam Yoko, or was it always going to be Lex?

Do you think any of the guys that tried to slam him, could've legit slammed him?

After this, Lex started riding a bus across the country named the Lex Express. In one of our earliest shows, we did a full show on Lex Luger and the Lex Express, which is in our archives, if you want to hear all about that.

Touch on that though, where did that idea come from, and how did Lex feel about it

A week later on the July 12th Raw, it was headlined by Yokozuna vs. Crush. It had a good storyline in that Yokozuna is going berserk because of the slam, and gave Crush several Banzai's after pinning him. He then destroyed Tatanka and a few jobbers afterwards until Randy Savage and Tatanka pulled Crush out of the ring.

Yokozuna worked with Bret on several house shows during this time. Pinning Bret in many of them, and losing some by DQ

At the Yokozuna vs Lex Luger contract signing, Mr Fuji brought out Jim Cornette as the new spokesperson for Yokozuna. This was Cornette's debut in the WWF.

How did this all happen?

On July 29th,  the WWF did a European tour. This would be Hulk Hogan's final matches in the WWF before he officially left the company, and he'd challenge Yoko for the title every night during this tour

From July 29th through August 6th, they wrestled each other 8 times, with Hulk winning every match by DQ

Since Hulk was leaving and Yokozuna was the champion, why didn't Yoko beat Hulk clean in every one of those matches?

On the rest of the tour, Yoko wrestled and beat Randy Savage & Bret Hart

August 13th – Madison Square Garden drew 13,000 to see Yokozuna beat Bret in a steel cage match to retain the World Title

On August 23rd at a USWA show at the Mid-South Coliseum, the first ever Yokozuna vs Lex Luger match happened. It was a non-title match. Lex pinned Yoko after a bodyslam, clothesline and elbow drop

This was the same show that Vince played heel for the first time interfering in a Jerry Lawler vs Paul Neighbors match, by tripping Lawler. Vince did a heel promo leading up to the show and was in Neighbors' corner

Jim Cornette and Yokozuna were on with Regis and Kathy Lee the morning of SummerSlam. Meltzer said Cornette was told to be funny and not be a heel on the show, and everyone cheered for Yokozuna. 

That takes us to SummerSlam. It took place on August 30th, 1993 from the Palace of Auburn Hills, in Auburn Hills, Michigan

After Aaron Neville and Jimmy Suzuki sang national anthems for their respective country (Akio Sato, formerly of the Orient Express, was the one carrying the Japanese flag when Suzuki sung the anthem), a guy called Lex Luger, who lost so much weight he looked like he was really Stan Lane, showed up. Seriously, Luger looked right at 230, which is only about a 65 pound drop in the past year and 30 pounds down in the past few weeks. Yokozuna dominated most of the match and getting one near fall after another. 

Finally Yokozuna missed the banzai drop, Luger hit a bodyslam, punched Mr. Fuji, removed is protective elbow pad and hit Yoko with a clothesline sending him to the floor for the count out finish, enabling him to keep the title in 17:58. Balloons were let loose and the Steiners and Tatanka hit the ring. A great video played with Luger largely from his bus trip, and after the video was over, Yoko was still KO'\d and Jim Cornette was trying to revive him. They attempted to strongly not emphasize the idea that Luger hadn't won the title, although it was touched on in passing at the end of the broadcast. **3/4 

A lot of people were shocked that Lex didn't win the World title here. Was it ever in the plans?

Lex had huge celebration after the match, as if he did win the title, but he won the match by countout and not the title.

Meltzer wrote - There is a very logical business reason to not change the title. The biggest money match the company thinks it has for Wrestlemania is Yokozuna vs. Luger. But it can't draw a Wrestlemania buy rate with Yokozuna as the challenger. The scenario that seems to make sense is for Luger to be denied a title shot (since McMahon made a point of saying he'd be getting one and everything said in that manner is a set up for misdirection) because of the no return clause, and then being forced to win the Royal Rumble to get the shot at Mania, which he would. Whether it was a good or bad decision (and it was a decision made many weeks ago to not change the title) will be determined by the fall business. 

September 19th – House show – Steiner Brothers beat Yokozuna & Bam Bam Bigelow

September 24th in Chicago drawing just under 5,000, Madison Square Garden the next night doing 11,500 and $191,000, and the next night in Philadelphia doing about 6,000.  Yokozuna pinned Undertaker on all 3 of those shows, this would set up rematches between them in November, in non-title casket matches

On November 21st, Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji were on the Conan O'Brian show

That takes us to the Survivor Series 1993. It took place on November 24th, from the Boston Garden, in Boston, Massachustes

Lex Luger & Steiners & Undertaker beat Ludvig Borga & Yokozuna & Jacques Rougeau & Crush in 27:59. Borga pinned Rick in 5:05 to win the first fall. The finish was supposed to be Borga rolling through a crossbody off the top rope. What it actually was was so messed up it can't even be described. Savage came out and Crush jumped out after him, getting counted out for the second fall in 6:31. Luger pinned Jacques with the forearm in 2:28. During this fall Vince McMahon made the comment that Borga may be the wrestler of the 90s. God help us for the next seven years. Yokozuna pinned Scott in 2:53 with a legdrop. The most heated part of the match came when Undertaker finally tagged in three minutes into the fifth fall. Yokozuna kept doing moves and Undertaker would sit up. Undertaker even sat up after a banzai. Both men were then counted out in 6:29. This left Luger and Borga and Luger pinned Borga after the forearm in 4:36. Not bad, but hardly a memorable PPV main event. **1/2 

This match would plant the seeds to the upcoming Yokozuna vs Undertaker feud and after this match, they'd inmediately start wrestling each other on the house show loop, usually with Taker winning by DQ

It would lead up to them wrestling each other at the Royal Rumble 94, in a casket match

That takes us to the Royal Rumble. It took place on January 22nd 1994 from the Providence Civic Center, in Providence, Rhode Island

Yokozuna kept the WWF title beating Undertaker in 14:20 in a bizarre casket match. Yokozuna tried to use a chair but Undertaker got it and used it to Yokozuna's back and another to the head. Yokozuna then threw salt in the eyes and used the chair to the back and to the head. Yokozuna then tried to put Undertaker in the casket but he rose up. He immediately did a choke slam and DDT and tried to get Yoko in the casket but Crush ran in. Then Kabuki, Tenryu, Diesel, Adam Bomb, Head Shrinkers, Bigelow, Jarrett and just about every heel in the promotion came out. Somehow during this Mr. Fuji got the urn from Paul Bearer. I think Jim Cornette was vomiting during all this. Bearer got the urn back and hit Cornette and Fuji with it and Undertaker made a comeback against every heel in the promotion. 

The least they could have done was show the babyfaces dressing room door locked to explain why it was 10-on-1 with nobody coming to help. Finally Yokozuna got the urn from Bearer, KO'd him and Undertaker with it and opened it with a green smoke bomb special effect coming out. Bigelow, Samu and Fatu all came off the top on Undertaker and they got him in the casket and started wheeling him down the aisle. Then the music played and the lights went back out and on the video wall came a message from Undertaker, direct from inside the casket, largely saying that he was about to die but his spirit would live on forever and that eventually he'd be back. He then closed his eyes as if to "die" and the video showed the Undertaker's spirit leaving his physical body and a special effect showed him levitating in mid-air, and finally raising to the heavens, with his arms spread wide ala the crucifixion. * 

Heading into the show, Meltzer speculated that Taker might win the title, and Yoko would turn babyface. Was that ever discussed?

On the February 28th 1994 Raw, Yokozuna wrestled Randy Savage in a great match, it ended in a DQ when Crush interfered

That takes us to WrestleMania 10. It took place on March 20th, 1994 at Madison Square Garden, in New York

There were going to be 2 World Title matches that night because of the controversial ending to the Royal Rumble match, where Bret and Luger were the last 2 in the ring and they both went over the top rope at the same time and landed on the floor at the same time. 

A coin flip was later done and Lex would wrestle Yokozuna for the World title first at WrestleMania 10, and Bret would wrestle the winner later that night for the title

In the first match at WrestleMania 10, Owen Hart pinned Bret Hart

Yokozuna retained the WWF title beating Lex Luger via DQ in 14:40. Mr. Perfect was the guest ref and played an expected role in the outcome. On the confidential run sheet before the show, this match was listed as being 25:00 (for the record, the finishes weren't listed and in the run sheet the main event was listed as Yokozuna-Luger winner vs. Bret Hart which shows just how much trouble they went through to keep the final result a secret) and thank God it didn't last that long. This was one nerve hold after another by Yokozuna. The guy has just gotten so heavy he has no stamina. He can work in a sense of his ability for somebody who is 580 pounds, but he needs to lose a lot of weight. Awful match. Luger made the comeback after Nerve Hold-a-mania by running Yokozuna into the unpadded turnbuckle (Yokozuna pulled the padding off early but never used it), three clotheslines, a bodyslam and the forearm for the KO. 

Luger then brought Jim Cornette in the ring and beat up Fuji, then covered Yokozuna. Perfect wouldn't count the fall and kept checking on Fuji. Finally Luger grabbed Perfect to count the fall and Perfect DQ'd him. They did a post-match argument backstage. The finish was a total screw-job but at least it had a purpose--that being the only thing in the match with any redeeming social value. Although this didn't come across on television, apparently this match didn't have much crowd reaction and was filled with "boring" chants. 1/2* 

There's been rumors for years and we might've even addressed them in the past, but rumor and innuendo has been that Lex was going to win the title from Yokozuna here, but he told a reporter in the night before that he was going to win, and Vince found out and changed it to this DQ finish. True or False?

Bret Hart pinned Yokozuna in 10:36 to win the WWF title in an anti-climactic match. Roddy Piper got a huge pop as guest ref but once the match started the crowd was spent from the previous match. Hart tried all he could but this was nowhere near as good as their match at last year's Wrestlemania or numerous house show bouts between the two. At one point Piper decked Cornette. There were several near falls that got good pops. But the finish was weak, with Yokozuna setting Hart up for the banzai, but slipping and losing balance and getting pinned. 

After the match about a half-dozen faces including Luger hit the ring for the celebration with McMahon, Pat Patterson and Gorilla Monsoon in as well, and Owen Hart came down the aisle for the final scene giving Bret a dirty look to end the show. **1/4 

Whether it was going to be Lex or Bret, was the plan always for Yoko to drop the title at WrestleMania 10? How did Yoko feel about losing the title?

Was there ever any consideration to Hulk returning and having Yokozuna vs Hulk at WrestleMania 10?

This ended Yokozuna's 280 day World Title reign. Yokozuna had been the man for about a year up to this point. He'd headlined two straight WrestleManias. In fact, he was the first heel to do that, up to that point. However, after WrestleMania 10, he kind of fell out of the main event picture. Why was that?

On May 7th, in Yokohama, Japan the WWF did a show. Undertaker & Tenryu beat Bigelow & Yokozuna in 18:17 when Undertaker pinned Yokozuna with a chokeslam after Bigelow accidentally squashed him 

Do you remember there being any problems with Yokozuna using the name Yokozuna in Japan? As we mentioned earlier, it was a very prestigious title for Sumo wrestlers in Japan and up to that point, only about 60 men in history had been named a “Yokozuna”

Yokozuna started working Earthquake on house shows and on the May 16th Raw, Earthquake beat Yokozuna in a sumo wrestling match.

Yokozuna then started working Mabel, 123 Kid & Typhoon on house shows

Did Yoko start to get depressed at all about being taken out of the main event picture and working on a lot of B team house shows?

Do you think it might've caused him to start to over eat at all?

That takes us to the King of the Ring pay per view. It took place on June 19th, at the Baltimore Arena, in Baltimore, Maryland

Yokozuna teamed up with Crush to challenge the Headshrinkers for the World Tag Team titles

Head Shrinkers retained the WWF tag title beating Yokozuna & Crush in 9:31 when Lex Luger's distraction caused Crush to get pinned in a finish that Ray Charles could see coming. Donovan came out with another line of the year here when he saw Yokozuna for the first time: "Gorilla, that man's legs are as big as most men's thighs." Almost as funny was when the crowd started chanting "USA, USA." Even though everyone involved is truly American, from a storyline standpoint, the only "American" involved in the match was Crush, although I guess in the strange world of wrestling, some cities in Northern and Southern California along with Hawaii are considered foreign countries. 

Pretty much an uneventful match. Mr. Fuji hit Fatu with the flagpole to start the spot where he was selling. Eventually he fell out of the ring. Samu came in and was on the top rope, but at the same time Fatu threw Yokozuna into the post and the resulting earthquake caused Samu to lose his balance and crotch himself on the turnbuckle. Crush delivered a superplex and Yokozuna dropped one of those legs that are as large as most men's thighs and the rest of their bodies combined and Samu appeared finished. Luger came out and Samu schoolboyed Crush but Crush kicked out. Crush clotheslined Samu but than Fatu hit Crush with a thrust kick for the pin. *1/2 

Did Yoko enjoy getting to work with his cousins on a pay per view?

Did they often travel together?

On the August 15th Raw, they started to tease another feud between Yokozuna and Undertaker. After Yoko won a squash match against Phil Apollo, Taker's music hit and Yoko acted scared

Meltzer reported about an August 17th Superstars taping- there was a screw-up on Yokozuna's ring introduction, so after he had destroyed Phil Apollo, Apollo had to get up like nothing had happened while they re-taped the open of the match. 

Would anything be explained to the live crowd when something like that happened

On house shows around this time, Yoko was putting over Undertaker and Luger 

At Superstars and Wrestling Challenge tapings on August 30th and 31st, Undertaker beat Yokozuna in the casket match when Yokozuna tried to hit Undertaker with a chair but Undertaker got the chair, knocked Yokozuna out with it and put him in the casket 

Throughout September, Undertaker beat Yoko on the house show loop in a lot of casket matches

Why was it decided to have Yokozuna and Undertaker renew their feud from about a year prior? It would lead up to a Royal Rumble rematch at the Survivor Series

That takes us to the Survivor Series. It took place on November 23rd, 1994 in San Antonio, Texas

Undertaker beat Yokozuna in a casket match in 15:24. Chuck Norris, who guarded the aisle to keep any heels from interfering, got the biggest pop thus far in the show. They turned the lights down and did a thunder & lightning storm type ring entrance for Undertaker that was the special effects highlight of the show. Match was much better than their house show matches. Yokozuna put Undertaker in the casket after a uranage and legdrop but Undertaker blocked closing the lid. At one point Undertaker decked Jim Cornette. After a clothesline off the top, Undertaker tried to roll Yokozuna into the casket. At this point Bundy and Bigelow came down and IRS ran in from the other side as they had Norris distracted and put Undertaker in the sleeper. Undertaker was put in the casket by IRS but everyone was occupied by the Norris situation and Yokozuna spent 4:00 selling the flying clothesline. When he finally recovered and went to close the casket, Undertaker grabbed his throat. Jarrett then ran down to be Norris' fall guy taking a weak looking kick and selling it huge. Jarrett ran away, Undertaker hit another flying clothesline, a DDT and the tombstone, broke Fuji's Japanese flag, and put it over Yokozuna in the casket. **1/2

This gave Taker his win back from the Royal Rumble casket match. Memories of Chuck Norris' involvement at this show?

Meltzer reported at the end of November 1994 - It's no secret WCW is interested in Yokozuna,since Hogan needs his revenge at some point. 

Was there ever any concern that Yoko might want to leave because of how he was being used at this time?

Was there ever any talks of changing his gimmick or even turning him babyface around this time?

After this, we wouldn't see Yokozuna on TV for awhile.

Meltzer reported in February of 95 - Yokozuna represented Titan at the NATPE convention so put all rumors out to pasture of him retiring or going to WCW. He's simply been ordered to lose weight for his own health before going back on the road. 

What was Yokozuna weighing around this time and what was he doing during this long time off?  What weight did the company want him at?

How did Yoko fly on planes? Were there any arrangements made for him on long flights, like to different countries?

That takes us to WrestleMania 11. It took place on April 2nd, 1995 from the Hartford Civic Center, in Hartford, CT

Yokozuna would make a surprise return as Owen Hart's mystery partner, to challenge the Smoking Gunns for the tag team titles

Owen Hart & Yokozuna won the WWF tag title from Smoking Gunns in 9:42. Yokozuna looks to have actually gained weight since he was last seen, particularly in the lower body. Both Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji managed the new champs. Hart was good but not spectacular. He mainly sold but Yokozuna got in and legdropped Billy. Hart rammed Billy's back into the post. Hart tried a dropkick from the top but Billy moved and Yokozuna got hit. Billy tagged out briefly to Bart, but quickly tagged in and Yokozuna hit him with a belly-to-belly. Bart ran in to help but Cornette pulled down the ropes as Bart tried to rebound so he took a backwards bump over. Yokozuna gave Billy the banzai drop, Hart tagged in, teased going for the sharpshooter but instead scored the pin. ** 

Owen got on the house mic to introduce his mystery partner, and before saying Yokozuna's name, he said his partner did what Owen always wanted to do, and that was beat Bret for the World Title.

It was cool to see Owen hug Yokozuna when he came out. You didn't often see heels hug each other, even partners, but you could see Owen's true personality coming out when he did that

How long was in this works for, and were there any other ideas for Yoko's return?

Owen had a nice main event push for quite awhile. How did he feel about being put into this team with Yokozuna?

In the main event of this show, we saw Diesel retain the World Title by beating Shawn Michaels.

During this time, there was 2 groups backstage that the average wrestling fan didn't know about at the time. Of course the Kliq, which has become almost mythical over the years with the stories about them. However, there was another group, The BSK.

There's been a lot of debate over the years what BSK actually stood for. Was it Bone Street Krew? Undertaker has a BSK tattoo

The BSK consisted of Yokozuna, Undertaker, Godfather, Rikishi (who was Fatu then), Savio Vega, Henry Godwin, Mideon, Crush, Paul Bearer, Mr. Fuji

Talk about the BSK and how they formed

How did they get along with the Kliq?

“I hear stories that there were wars between us and The Kliq,” The Godfather said in an interview with WWE.com. “I don’t remember any problems with any group. I don’t think The Kliq would have messed with The BSK in the first place.”

“We all hung out at the same places, anyway. We were friendly,” Shawn Michaels said. “At some point, the rumor started that The BSK started because of The Kliq, but I don’t know who started the stirring of the pot that we didn’t get along.”

We often have heard lots of stories about the Kliq, but we never really have heard too many about the BSK. Why do you think that is?

Owen and Yoko started working the house show loop against The Allied Powers, Lex Luger and British Bulldog

That takes us to the In Your House 1 pay per view. It took place on May 14th, 1995 in Syracuse, New York

Owen Hart & Yokozuna beat Smoking Gunns to retain the WWF tag titles in 5:44. Fast-paced but way too short. Yokozuna ran into the ringpost knocking him out on the floor. They did a few double-team moves for near falls on Hart until Bart missed a tackle and went to the floor. Yokozuna legdropped him on the floor and threw him in where Owen pinned him. Somewhere in there Billy punched Jim Cornette. ** 

On the June 12th Raw in a King of the Ring qualifying match, Yokozuna beat Lex Luger  The finish saw Mr. Fuji steal an American flag and as Luger went to chase him, Jim Cornette got involved and took his obligatory bump. This allowed Yokozuna to come from behind and throw Luger into the post where he was counted out. 

These guys wrestled in World Title matches at SummerSlam and WrestleMania, and here there were wrestling in a King of the Ring tournament qualifying match

At this time, they were billing Yokozuna at 641 lbs. Do you think that was accurate?

That takes us to the King of the Ring pay per view. It took place on June 25th, from the Core States Spectrum, in Philadelphia

Vega beat Yokozuna via count out in 8:24. It's very hard to work with Yokozuna because of his size and physical condition. After Vega missed a spin kick, Yokozuna went to a lengthy nerve hold. Vega got out but was thrown over the top rope. Yoko missed a legdrop. The fans then started chanting "USA, USA." Go figure. Vega came back with four clotheslines that didn't budge Yoko, but a spin kick knocked him down. He then punched Jim Cornette. Razor Ramon, at ringside for all Vega's bouts, wound up chasing Cornette. Owen Hart, who was at the show doing the 900 line segment, ran to the ring and attacked Ramon. 

Vega went out to save Ramon. As Yoko went to attack Vega from behind, Vega moved and Yokozuna ran into the ringpost and Vega got back in the ring to beat the count. 3/4* 

Mabel would go on to win the King of the Ring Tournament, and start to be known as King Mabel and would go on to main event SummerSlam against Diesel for the World title. Diesel would win the match and retain the title. Do you know if it upset Yokozuna at all to see Mabel, another super heavyweight get this main event push, and not him?

After this, Owen & Yoko continued to work with the Allied Powers on the house show loop

Which takes us to the In Your House 2 pay per view. It took place on July 23rd, 1995 from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, in Nashville, Tennessee

Owen Hart & Yokozuna retained the WWF tag titles beating Lex Luger & Davey Boy Smith in 10:54 in something of an upset. Hart & Yokozuna teased a split early when Yoko fell on Owen's foot and Owen sold it big. Hart was great and pretty much a one-man match and Smith was great when in with Hart. Luger didn't do a thing and Yokozuna is so limited by his weight that what he does looks great but he can't do much. At one point McMahon speculated that Luger & Smith might turn out to be a better tag team than Smith's old team with Dynamite Kid. Hey, compared to what was being said this weekend on WCW television, that was mild. Finish saw Luger & Smith do a double back suplex on Yokozuna and Luger had him pinned. Hart came off the top onto Luger and put Yokozuna on top. **1/2 

Kind of like with Lex and Yoko about 2 years before, where everyone expected Lex to beat Yoko for the World title, a lot of people also expected Lex & Davey Boy to win the tag team titles here, but that didn't happen. Why not?

The next night on Raw, Owen & Yokozuna first lost to Vega & Ramon when Ramon pinned Hart, and were announced as new champions, but the decision was rescinded and the match re-started because Hart wasn't the legal man. After they went off the air, they ended the match in the building with Yoko & Owen simply walking out to be counted out. 

On Raw, they announced that "next week" they would re-start the match. That was taped later in the show and ended with Yokozuna legdropping and pinning Vega.

Yokozuna and Owen didn't wrestle at the SummerSlam 95 pay per view, however After the Diesel vs King Mabel match, Gorilla Monsoon announced the next In Your House on September 24th  would be headlined by Yokozuna & Owen Hart defending the tag titles against Diesel & Shawn but that if the heels win, then whomever scores the pin gets whatever title belt of the guy who was pinned. 

Lex had recently left and went to WCW and Bulldog turned heel the week before SummerSlam by attacking Diesel. Was it originally planned for Yoko & Owen to defend the titles at SummerSlam against Bulldog and Lex, before Lex suddenly left?

Meltzer reported at the beginning of September - Mr. Fuji, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Undertaker, Paul Bearer, Yokozuna and King Kong Bundy did some promos for ESPN Sports Center's new season. The gimmick is that they all try to bribe ESPN Sports Center for more pro wrestling coverage and ESPN gets over its show on the idea that they would never cover something like pro wrestling. 

September 17 – Toronto – Smoking Gunns beat Yokozuna & King Kong Bundy

That takes us to the In Your House 3 pay per view. It took place on September 24th, 1995 from Saginaw, Michigan

Diesel & Shawn Michaels beat Smith & Yokozuna in 15:42 when Diesel jackknifed Owen Hart for the pin to apparently win the tag titles. They ran a storyline through the show that Hart didn't show up. Gorilla Monsoon ordered Jim Cornette to either send Yokozuna in their alone or pick a new partner. They teased the new partner would be Sid or Mabel, but wound up with Smith. The next night on Raw, they aired a taped segment where Monsoon ruled that since the pin was counted on someone not in the match, that the tag titles go back to Yokozuna & Owen, so the guarantee hyped for the past few weeks that at least one title would change hands was broken, with the idea being that it was okay to false advertise because in the end babyfaces were going to get the belts. Yokozuna has gained so much weight he's got to be pushing 700 pounds legit.

When you consider that weight, he's an incredible worker, but if he doesn't start losing weight fast, I feel very sorry for him because his life will get even harder as he ages. Diesel was barely in enabling Michaels to put on a very good, but not great one-man show. Michaels did a splash off Diesel's shoulders, took a lot of great bumps including a high backdrop. After Yokozuna missed the banzai splash, Michaels hot tagged to Diesel at 13:30. They went to a four-way and first the faces whipped the heels into each other, than they both whipped Smith into Yokozuna, who fell on top of Smith. Michaels superkicked Yokozuna out of the ring. Smith powerslammed Diesel but Michaels came off the top with an elbow to break up the fall. Hart then did a run-in, and was immediately power bombed by Diesel and the pin was counted. *** 

Dave mentioned Yoko's weight here, Was there any concern about Yoko's weight at this time

The titles were given back to Yoko & Owen and the next night on Raw, they lost them back to the Smoking Gunns. Was Yoko's weight a reason that they lost the titles here, or was that always the plan?

On the October 9th Raw, Owen & Yokozuna & Bulldog beat Diesel & Michaels & Undertaker in 15:07. Bulldog pinned Diesel after a powerslam, after Yoko first delivered a legdrop. 

That takes us to the In Your House pay per view, it took place on October 22nd 1995 in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada

Yokozuna went to a double count out with King Mabel in 5:12. Mabel was said to have weighed a legit 580 for this match, and if that's the case, Yoko must be pushing 700. Horrible match with a horrible finish and a strong candidate for worst match of the year. -** 

Why was it decided to have these two wrestle? It didn't result in anymore matches between them, seemed just like a one off, or was the original plan for them to have another match, but it was changed after this match happened?

The next night on Raw, Ramon beat Owen via DQ in the title match when Yokozuna interfered. 1-2-3 Kid went to make the save but Yokozuna destroyed him. Ahmed Johnson then came in and bodyslammed Yokozuna,

Do you think at this time, Yokozuna was the heaviest wrestler ever to be bodyslammed?

At that time, the only wrestlers ever legit heavier than Yokozuna were the McGuire twins in the mid-70s (legit mid-700s) and Happy Humphrey in the 60s (billed at 802, no idea what he was legit)

The slam didn't really amount to anything as it did when Lex slammed Yokozuna. It seemed natural to see a Yokozuna vs Ahmed Johnson feud after that, but that never happened. Why not? Was it ever planned?

After this, Yoko got a few title matches against Diesel on house shows, but Diesel won those matches

How come we never saw a match between them two on Raw or a pay per view for the title?

That takes us to the Survivor Series 1995 pay per view. It took place on November 19th, from the USAir Arena, in Landover, Maryland

In the wild card match, Shawn Michaels & Ahmed Johnson & Davey Boy Smith & Sid  beat Yokozuna & Owen Hart & Dean Douglas & Razor Ramon in 27:24. This was a good match, particularly when Hart was in with either Michaels or a brief spot with Smith. Johnson is pretty green but they are going to push him to the moon. He wasn't over as much as you'd think given his recent push on TV, but this match was part of the process to get him over. Yokozuna is a great worker for his size but he's got to drop weight because he's got no stamina. 

When he was in, he immediately went to a nerve hold. Sid tried but was also pretty bad. When Douglas and Ramon had words, Michaels pinned Douglas with a schoolboy in 7:30. Ramon pinned Sid in 8:48 when a Michaels superkick on Ramon was ducked and Sid took the brunt of it. Sid power bombed Michaels on his way out, but when Ramon tried to pin him, Michaels kicked out. After Hart destroyed Michaels, Michaels made the hot tag to Johnson who pinned Hart with what is being called a Tiger bomb (Tiger-driver or Liger-bomb in Japan) in 5:31. 

Both Sid and Kid came out as Ramon had Smith pinned. Kid tripped Ramon and Ramon punched Kid. This gave Smith the chance to get Ramon from behind and hit the running powerslam for the pin in 2:19. This left Michaels & Johnson & Smith all with Yokozuna, which is weird booking on the surface. Johnson bodyslammed Yokozuna to the expected big pop but Smith broke up the pin, saving his opponent. Johnson and Michaels then double-teamed Smith, knocking him out of the ring. Michaels gave Yokozuna a superkick and Johnson pinned him with a splash. ***1/2 

After this match, Yoko went back to teaming with Owen against the Smoking Gunns on house shows, and also had some matches with Undertaker on house shows

That takes us to the Royal Rumble pay per view. It took place on January 21st 1996 at the Selland Arena, in Fresno. CA

Yokozuna was in the Rumble match for the first time since he won it, in 1993. He entered at #9. He eliminated Bob Backlund, King Mabel, Squat Team Member #2, before being eliminated at the same time with Vader, by Shawn Michaels. Yoko and Vader then fought each other on the floor.

This would plant the seeds for the Yokozuna vs Vader feud, and Yokozuna's babyface turn. 

The next night on Raw, Yokozuna turned face in a tag match teaming with Davey Boy Smith losing via count out to Diesel & Shawn Michaels. Cornette was furious at him for losing and fired him. Afterwards Smith and Owen Hart attacked Yoko, but Yoko beat both of them up. 

How did Yoko feel about making the turn?

When he turned face, he started speaking English, out of nowhere, with no explanation. Why was that done?

That takes us to In Your House, Rage in the Cage. It took place on February 18th 1996 from the Louisville Gardens, in Louisville, KY

Yokozuna beat Davey Boy Smith via DQ in 5:05 when Jim Cornette hit Yokozuna with his tennis racquet three times. Smith did about as good as one could do given Yoko has no conditioning and can't do a singles match. Now as a face, Yokozuna spoke for the first time, and Mr. Fuji seems to have disappeared, I guess so somebody else can win his award. Yokozuna didn't sell any of the racquet shots and stalked Cornette, until Vader came running in. Vader and Smith did a double-team on Yokozuna, with Vader finally pulling out handcuffs and cuffing Yoko to the corner. The two continued to beat on Yokozuna, who made several comebacks before being beaten down, until finally all the agents (including for the first time on a PPV, the former George Steele) and the noted Clarence Mason ran in to break things up. * 

It was announced on TV that at WrestleMania 12, it was going to be Yokozuna vs Vader. However, that was quickly changed to a 6 man match, Yokozuna, Jake Roberts & Ahmed Johnson vs Owen Hart, Vader and British Bulldog and if Yoko's team won, he'd get 5 minutes with Jim Cornette. Why was that change made?

On the March 11th Raw, we saw Yokozuna & Undertaker team up for the first time to beat Owen & Bulldog by DQ

That takes us to WrestleMania 12. It took place on March 31st, 1996 from the Pond, in Anaheim, CA

Vader & Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith beat Jake Roberts & Ahmed Johnson & Yokozuna in 12:51 when Vader pinned Roberts with a Vader bomb. Roberts gave Hart a DDT with the ref distracted. Jim Cornette then came in with his tennis racquet but Roberts beat him to the punch and set him up for the DDT. Vader ran in and destroyed Roberts from behind leading to the pin. 

As expected, the heels had to carry this thing. Roberts isn't nearly as over as he was when he first came in, and works smart (nobody has ever accused him of being a dumb worker) but is very limited physically because of age and injuries. Johnson is still really green but it was impressive to see a guy his size do a tope. Yokozuna looked good considering his weight limitations. There were pops for the signature points of the match and for Vader-Yokozuna, but not sustained heat. **1/2 

The next night at the Raw tapings, Vader beat Yokozuna by coming down on his knee. They took  Yokozuna out on a forklift 

Was this done to get Yoko off of TV, so you guys could send him to a weight loss clinic?

How receptive to that was he?

What was the target weight that Vince wanted him at?

Yoko returned to the company on May 12th in Kuwait, where he wrestled in the Kuwaiti Cup tournament. He lost to Owen in the tournament. Ahmed Johnson would eventually win the tournament

Upon his return, he started working the house show loop with Vader, losing most of the matches

Meltzer reported around this time - Yokozuna returned, having lost by his own accounts, 33 pounds. At his size, it's hard to really notice. He suffered some sort of a calf bruise immediately upon returning but he's able to work with it. After the PPV, he's supposed to go back to Duke weight loss clinic for another four weeks. 

What did the weight loss program that he was on at Duke entail?

Before he went there, what was a typical daily eating habits consist of?

That takes us to the In Your House Beware of Dog pay per view. The first night was on May 26th, but because of the power outage that happened, it was redone on May 28th.

Yokozuna wrestled Vader on both of those shows. Yoko won the first time in 3 minutes with the Banzai Drop, but lost in the rematch by pinfall to the Vader Bomb

At the May 27th Raw tapings, Owen pinned Yokozuna in a King of the Ring qualifying match when Yoko missed the Banzai drop and Owen used the ropes for leverage to get the pin

Meltzer reported in the middle of June - Yokozuna is booked through the end of this month but will be given a lot of time off after the end of the month to get his weight problems under control. They did an interview to start of storyline of him being gone after losing to Owen Hart on Raw where he was despondent and said he wasn't himself anymore. 

Yoko was out for most of July, did he go back to Duke?

Meltzer reported - A play was made to bring the entire Samoan clan in, with Afa (who had been friends with Hogan dating back to the late 70s) as the leader, with Yokozuna, Fatu (whose contract was also expiring). McMahon got wind of it, and before Scott Hall and Kevin Nash made themselves into bigger stars and turned WCW around with their jump, McMahon quelled this one and offered Yokozuna and Fatu major pushes as singles babyfaces. They were given roles, but neither got over in role and the big pushes never materialized. 

Is there any truth to that?

That takes us to SummerSlam 1996. Yokozuna didn't wrestle on the pay per view, but he did wrestle Steve Austin in the free for all, before the pay per view

Steve Austin pinned Yokozuna in 1:52 when Yokozuna went up for the banzai, and the gimmicked ring ropes broke and he fell into the ring and was pinned. The reverse camera angle on the replay clearly showed Yokozuna pulling the gimmicked turnbuckle apart so the ropes would collapse. DUD 

Austin had just won the King of the Ring tournament in June and really picking up steam. Yoko was a 2 time World Champion, why wasn't this match on the pay per view? 

Innovative finish with the top rope breaking as Yokozuna was getting on the second rope, you could see Yoko pulling it, but it was still very innovative. Where did that come from?

The next night on Raw, Yokozuna out of no where was managed again by Jim Cornette, apparently turning heel again. He challenged Shawn Michaels for the World Title and Michaels won

This didn't last long and no explanation was given for it, what was the plan for this and why was it quickly dropped with Yoko going back to babyface?

After that on a tour of South Africa, Yoko beat Hunter Hearst Helmsley twice and lost to Austin twice

We wouldn't see Yokozuna on TV again until the Survivor Series pay per view.

It took place on November 17th, 1996 from Madison Square Garden, in New York

Faarooq & Razor Ramon & Diesel & Vader went to a double disqualification with Flash Funk & Jimmy Snuka & Yokozuna & Savio Vega in 9:48. Snuka, 53, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame the previous night, came in as the mystery partner. Faarooq came out with a new outfit which looks a lot better, flanked by PG-13 as his rapper sidekicks in the Nation of Domination (NOD, as a 90s version of LOD). Snuka got no pop as the surprise partner when he came out, but got a reaction when he tagged in for the first time. It was totally dead for Ramon & Diesel. Funk came out with two women dancers called the Funkettes. The main thing he did was a moonsault off the top rope to the floor on Vader, which elicited a loud "ECW" chant. 

Yokozuna, who looked to weigh about 720 pounds and could barely walk without blowing up, used a uranage on Vader and Vader landed on his shoulder and was injured to the point he couldn't work the next night. Fans booed Diesel as he did the old Diesel mannerisms and this wasn't heat in any kind of a positive way. Vader did a good job protecting Snuka's legendary status by selling for him and going up for a slam for him. Finally Diesel pinned Vega in 8:39 with a jackknife after Vader rammed his back into the post. Snuka did the splash off the top at :49 on Ramon for the second fall. At this point everyone hit the ring and began swinging chairs and it was ruled a double DQ at :20 and the match was stopped. It appeared to be a rush job to end the thing as the show was running long. Match itself was fair but the finish really sucked. * 

Dave speculated that Yoko's weight was 720 lbs, what would you say it was at this time?

This would be Yokozuna's last match in the WWF. 

We wouldn't see Yokozuna on TV after that.  What went on with him at the Survivor Series?

Meltzer reported in February of 1997 - Yokozuna is said to have lost 310 pounds, which I'd assume could have only come from some sort of cosmetic surgery. 

A few weeks later, he reported - Yokozuna hasn't had liposuction yet but has already lost more than 200 pounds through an amazing loss of fluid retention, which amounted to an immediate 100 pound drop. They are hopeful after lipo that he can return at a manageable weight in the fall. 

He reported in May - Yokozuna was contacted about coming back with all the injuries but he's on blood thinning medication so if he were to suffer an accidental cut, the blood wouldn't clot and it could be really disastrous. No word on when he'll get clearance to return. 

On August 10th, 1997 at a WWO (World Wrestling Organization) event, Yokozuna returned to the ring in a 6 man tag match. Konnan & Mil Mascaras & Mascara Sagrada b Yokozuna & Nikozuna & The Evil Clown (Matt Bourne, original Doink)

That was Yoko's first match since the Survivor Series 1996

Meltzer reported about a week later - Yokozuna is still under contract but they want him to get down to 400 pounds and it just isn't happening. He had a recent heart scare but his heart recovered after changing his medication. 

Around the end of September/beginning of October 97, Yokozuna moved to Stamford. Talk about why that happened & what he did when he got there

Meltzer reported in October - Yokozuna, who is said to be down to 500 pounds, starts back on the road in November. The preliminary plan is for him to be a heel and he may work a program with Vader. 

Unfortunately that didn't end up happening. But was that the plan?

Around this time, Yoko filmed a Coca-Cola commercial

Meltzer reported at the beginning of November - Yokozuna won't be returning after all. He was scheduled to start back originally this past weekend, but underwent tests to get a license in New York and failed the physical due to obesity and an irregular heartbeat. He was said to still weigh in excess of 600 pounds. Because commissions honor other commission suspensions in the United States, because his license was pulled in New York, that means he'd be unable to wrestle in about 20-22 states that are left still regulating pro wrestling and coming on the heels of the Pillman situation, it's doubtful if even that wasn't the case, that WWF would want to risk putting someone in the ring with any kind of heart problems. 

On May 28th, 1998 for Southern California Championship Wrestling, Yokozuna & Jess Hansen beat Honky Tonk Man & Cincinnati Red

When do you recall Yoko being officially released from WWF?

Meltzer reported in October of 98 - Yokozuna was asked to do a run-in in the Hall vs. Nash match in Las Vegas to attack Nash. He was offered $10,000 just for the run-in and turned it down because he said he was too busy. Hall called him up, he's now living in Las Vegas and training at a wrestling school there, and started yelling at him to get his butt down to the building but he didn't come 

This would've been for the Halloween Havoc 98 pay per view in WCW

Meltzer reported a few weeks later - 

Yokozuna worked several indie dates this past week in the New Jersey and Maryland area. He's said to still be gigantic. He's told people that he was never offered the spot to do the run-in in the Hall vs. Nash match, but several in WCW insist it was the case and Hall was calling him up trying to convince him it was an easy $10 grand. What probably makes the most sense is Yokozuna still has designs on getting back into WWF, and working for WCW wouldn't put him in good stead with WWF, but WWF has said they want him only if he can get down to around the 400 pound range, and figure he's nowhere close to today 

In early December of 98, Yokozuna showed up as a guest on an indie show in Palmdale, CA weighing an estimated 600 pounds. He was supposed to do a run-in and do his Banzai, but said his back was in really bad shape and instead delivered a few clotheslines 

Did you keep in touch with Yoko at all throughout 1999?

Was there ever any discussions between Yoko and Vince or any other officials about possibly coming back or checking up on him to see how his weight was doing?

Yokozuna's last appearance on pay per view was at the Heroes of Wrestling pay per view, on October 10th, 1999 in Bay St Louis Mississippi

Jim Neidhart & King Kong Bundy beat Jake Roberts & Yokozuna in 16:34.  It was billed as Roberts vs. Neidhart and Yokozuna vs. Bundy 

Meltzer reported at the time - Yokozuna has been telling people he starts after Wrestlemania to feud with Steve Austin, but the situation with him is no different now than before. He’s banned in all states where commissions regulate wrestling, which is somewhere between 19 and 24 states including New York, due to his license being revoked in New York for failing a physical due to heart irregularities and obesity and unless he gets his weight under control. WWF has its hands tied. Without a huge weight loss, that isn’t happening. 

Was that possible feud ever discussed?

Was there any discussions to try and help Rodney with his weight and get him back in the WWF in the year 2000?

On October 23, 2000, Rodney Anoaʻi died from pulmonary edema, in his room at the Moat House Hotel in Liverpool, while on an independent wrestling tour of Europe. 

He was 580 lbs at the time of his death.

What was your reaction when you heard that Rodney passed away?

On March 31st, 2012 Rodney was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his cousins, Rikishi and his kids, The Usos. Do you think he should've been inducted long before that?

Speaking of Rikishi, his gimmick was somewhat similar to Yokozuna's for the most part, as far as appearance at least. Rikishi came in, in 1999. Do you know if Yokozuna had a problem with Rikishi doing that gimmick and wearing the sumo thong, just like he did?

What was Rodney like backstage? We saw him as this silent, monster heel for most of his WWF career, but what was his real personality like?

What's your favorite Yokozuna match and memory?

What do you think is Rodney Anoa'i's legacy in professional wrestling?