[2][15][16] As he and Mr. Fuji celebrated, Hulk Hogan came to the ring to help Hart and was challenged by Mr Fuji to take on the champion for his newly won crown. Best: Wins the Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 1993) 1 of 6 Few. On March 31, 2012, Yokozuna was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his cousins, The Usos and Rikishi. Until then, yokozuna was merely a licence given to certain zeki to perform the dohy-iri ceremony. The factors included Yokozunas sheer size and dominancehe was bigger than anyone else, and it became a challenge to simply take him off his feet, then to body slam him, let alone hope to defeat thim. The Undertaker - Royal Rumble 1998, The First 10 Casket Matches, Ranked From Worst To Best, Undertaker put this feud to bed after he rolled Heidenreich into the casket for the win, 10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About The Undertaker, the Ugandan Giant was deathly afraid of Undertaker, WWE Championship showdown with Sycho Sid at, 10 Undertaker Moments That Were Actually Hilarious, Yokozuna going on to retain the WWE Title, Dustin Rhodes' 10 Best Matches, According To Cagematch.net, Undertaker and his former tag team partner Big Show, The 11 Worst SummerSlams, According To Cagematch.net, Michaels in a successful WWE Championship title defense. Best of Survivor Series: Part 2 He was a two-time world champion. Prior to the match starting, the two stood nose-to-nose as a tease to the crowd as to the possibility of those two facing each other. Most of Yokozuna's stuff still looks good, but the man himself just didn't have the cardio for fast-paced matches anymore. Luger battled on gallantly and there were several near falls but Luger clattered Yokozuna out of the ring, and he prevailed by count-out. Nevertheless, Undertaker was representing the Corporate Ministry in his casket match with The Rock. Undertaker and Mark Henry had a WrestleMania 22 rematch on the March 10, 2008 edition of Raw in another casket match. Perfect had a closer look at proceedings as the special guest referee. The win was the culmination of a considerable push that began in a day and age whenWWE was desperately seeking a main event heel it could program against the likes of Savage, Bret Hart, Tatanka, Crush and The Undertaker. At WrestleMania, Yokozuna, now weighing in at 641lb (291kg), was revealed as his partner, and the team managed to defeat the Gunns and win the WWF Tag Team Championship. He applied the Mandible Claw and Vader picked up the win, all thanks to Mankind. Best of WWE Backlash: Part 2 Yokozuna barely wrestled in this match and his major feud with Undertaker kickstarted at this event. Without their help (although Irwin R. Schyster did successfully interfere on Yokozuna's behalf), Yokozuna could not win and eventually ended up locked inside the casket. During the match, Hart came to the ring, only to be pinned by Diesel. The feud took a painful turn a couple weeks later (April 8), when Vader jumped on Yokozuna's leg, (kayfabe) breaking it. [2][40] Although Cornette had tried to make peace between him and new acquisition Vader, many observers felt Yokozuna was being relegated. [29] Yokozuna then had to deal with the "rebirth" of the Undertaker, who immediately came after the foe who had taken him out of action. The Undertaker - Royal Rumble 1994 Yokozuna defended the WWE Championship against The Undertaker at the 1994 Royal Rumble. The two met in another casket match at the Survivor Series, this time with actor/karate expert Chuck Norris as the special enforcer to keep the other heel wrestlers away from ringside. With Austin prone, the perfect victim for the Banzai Drop, Yokozuna climbed the ropesthen broke them, with his weight too much for them to hold. Both Yokozuna and Hart had a match under their belt, and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper undertook special guest referee duties. On top of that, though the WWF billed him from Polynesia, he dressed in sumo garb, waved the Japanese flag and came to the ring with Mr. Fuji, clearly casting him as a representative of Japan and appealing to the WWF fanships jingoistic impulses. However, he was managed by the Japanese character Mr. Fuji (in reality a Japanese American) who would follow Anoai to the ring with a wooden bucket of salt while waving a Japanese flag.[1]. On May 16, 1994, Earthquake beat Yokozuna in the only (worked) sumo match[27] until WrestleMania 21, between The Big Show and an actual yokozuna, Akebono. Perfect, he was disqualified, thus making Yokozuna the first villainous champion to successfully defend the WWF Championship at a WrestleMania. As expected, neither man held back, and Undertaker connected with a Tombstone on Vader. The Rocks Most Electrifying Matches It was mission impossible for Triple H as there was no way that he was going to stuff both Mideon and Viscera in the casket. The Best of Jeff Hardy News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. While most of us will agree that this was a poor creative choice that was out of touch with what the fans wanted, and particularly impractical for Hogan working a part-time schedule, the Hogan-Yokozuna rivalry was logical in pitting the all-time great American hero opposite the new foreign monster. Best of the Elimination Chamber Match The second is what happened after Yokozuna defeated The Undertaker . That my friends, is great storytelling, something lacking in wrestling these days. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Hold the Drama! All rights reserved.Click here for our privacy policy. The Undertaker - Royal Rumble 1994, Goldust Vs. Im not sure if a more extended program was planned beyond that pointI can imagine one-on-one bouts being entertaining enough spectacles if the WWF kept them shortbut the attack, instead, marked the end of Earthquakes run with the WWF before he headed off to WCW, not to return until after the end of the decade, under a mask. Best of 2021, Best of Royal Rumble The Best of Miz & Morrison Ultimately, Undertaker weathered the storm and he went on to win another casket match. The Hogan Era was officially in the rear-view mirror and Vince McMahon was looking to create some new stars to lead his company. Ultimately, Bryan was victorious as he connected with the Running Knee with Kane locked inside the casket. [6] He was the first wrestler of Samoan descent to hold the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the first Royal Rumble winner who (as a result of a direct stipulation) received a WWF world championship title shot at WrestleMania. While he had his sabbaticals and, particularly for the last five years or so of his career was mostly a part-time talent, still, I can say without hesitation that he was at least a fringe main eventer for twenty-six years. [14], At WrestleMania IX, Yokozuna wrestled against Bret Hart for the WWF Championship. Former two-time Intercontinental Champion Mr. This was an underwhelming match between the brothers. Yokozuna, a member of the legendary Anoa'i family, was an attraction and his first batch of matches on a WWE pay-per-view was a mixed bag. It was the only way to move a man of Yokozuna's size. After the debacle at WrestleMania 9, Yokozuna had the chance to regain the WWE Championship from Hulk Hogan at the inaugural King of the Ring event in 1993. After several run-ins, Yokozuna left Cornette and began a short stint as a fan favorite. [41] [2][36] The next day, due to protests from the team and the legal help of Clarence Mason, President Gorilla Monsoon reluctantly returned the belts to Yokozuna and Hart, since Hart was not an official part of the match. Former WWE Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan and Kane headlined SmackDown in a casket match. Copyright 2022 TIlt Magazine. Two months after being humiliated via one of the shortest WWE Championship reigns in company history, Yokozuna found himself toe-to-toe against Hulk Hogan at the King of the Ring pay-per-view. But his final elimination would be top star Randy Savage, who entered the rumble at #30. Thankfully, Undertaker did return and the two met in another casket match the following year at Survivor Series, this time with actor/karate expert Chuck Norris as the special enforcer to even the odds and stop anyone from interfering. Forever Flair: Ric Flair's Defining Matches The Best of Rey Mysterio The wrestlers he feuded with were some of the all-time greats and that made Yokozuna look like a monster inside the squared circle. Virgil attempted a roll-up but Yokozuna outsmarted Virgil by flattening him. Undertaker was the favorite once more, and he imposed himself on proceedings. At SummerSlam that year, he battled "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a Free for All match. The Best of WWE Backlash The Undertaker and his former tag team partner Big Show were opponents in a casket match at Survivor Series 2008. Free shipping for many products! Your email address will not be published. Let us know what you think in the comments section. [2] Wrestling as a Samoan superstar, he was managed by Sheik Adnan El Kassey. The WWE and Intercontinental Championships have been defended in casket matches and the titles haven't changed hands. Had Yokozunas physical condition not deteriorated to the extent it did at this point (by most reports, his kayfabe injuries and absences were connected to concern about his ballooning weight and general health) I can only imagine this would have been a more fully realized feud with more memorable moments. The Undertakers feud with Yokozuna seems emblematic of these statistics. While the match wasnt as good this time around, and critics generally have lukewarm reactions to Yokozuna losing because he lost his balance going for a Banzai Drop, Harts win was nonetheless the happy ending fans had been waiting for. [2][22], Yokozuna's next challenger was The Undertaker. Jim Cornette also joined the Yokozuna camp as his American spokesperson. At In Your House 3 on September 24, 1995, Yokozuna teamed up with Davey Boy Smith to take on Shawn Michaels and Diesel (the back story being that Hart was with his wife as she gave birth to one of their children) with Diesel's WWF Championship, Shawn Michaels' Intercontinental Championship and Hart and Yokozuna's Tag Team Championship on the line. Yokozuna was the 27th entrant, and he wasted no time by eliminating Tatanka, Carlos Colon, and most impressively, he took care of Earthquake with ease. What should have been Yokozuna's night was instead a creative misstep designed at putting the spotlight on Hogan one last time at the event he helped create. RELATED: Every Wrestler That Beat Hulk Hogan For A World Championship, Ranked From Worst To Best. News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. In the best . The Best of Sasha Banks This was the first time that the WWE Title was defended in a casket match. All seemed lost until Luger choppered in, marking a sharp turn in character as he went straight form his Narcissist gimmick to All-American hero without much explanation or any transition time. Show didn't make life easy for Undertaker who was celebrating 18 years with WWE. Yokozuna won on account of his manager Mr. Fuji throwing salt in Harts eyes to set up the finish. 11 Yokozuna Vs. Stone Cold's Hell Raisin' Moments The Best of The New Day [17] At King of the Ring, Yokozuna, whose weight had already increased from 505lb (229kg) to 550lb (250kg), challenged Hogan for the title. By late spring 1994, Yokozuna was already on the decline of his WWF run, but nonetheless regained some momentum and asserted himself as the alpha-super heavyweight in a short feud with. Stage Information Misc. This is a list of all sumo wrestlers who have reached the sport's highest rank of yokozuna.It was not recorded on the banzuke until 1890 and was not officially recognised as sumo's highest rank until 1909. Your email address will not be published. The seventh annual Royal Rumble (which took place on January 22, 1994, at the Providence Civic Center) is best known for two big moments: The first is when Owen Hart turned on his brother Bret Hart after The Quebecers defeated them to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship. [2][3][6] Yokozuna was a competitor in the first-ever match in Monday Night Raw history, defeating the much smaller Koko B. Ware with his signature finisher, the Banzai Drop. The contest, the most ludicrous and outrageously booked in WWE history, saw Yokozuna benefit from the assistance of 10 other Superstars to defeat The Deadman, shoving him into a casket as the spirit of the enigmatic competitor poured from an urn and into the Rhode Island night. On the February 6, 1993, airing of Superstars, Duggan succeeded in knocking Yokozuna down, only for Yokozuna to then sneak attack Duggan with a bucket of salt Mr. Fuji had brought to the ring, and crush him with four Banzai Drops, the fourth being with the American flag draped over Duggan. Depending on your perspective and how you value world title reigns versus being the most popular or famous wrestler in a company, you can argue that Hulk Hogan either passed the torch to Yokozuna as the face of the WWF, or Yokozuna was the long-term transitional champ between the last gasping breath of Hulkamania before attempts at moving along to Lex Luger and ultimately going to Bret Hart (though he himself, was arguably just part of the transition to the great Diesel experiment). [39] He competed in the 1996 Royal Rumble match, managing to eliminate Bob Backlund, King Mabel, and Swat Team member #2 before being tossed out by Shawn Michaels, the eventual winner. He was largely dominant over the WWF main event scene for the length of 1993 when, after just a few months on the roster, he won a Royal Rumble, won two world titles (one at WrestleMania, one over Hulk Hogan) and held the strap for half the year. 10 Greatest Matches From the 2010s [2][20], At SummerSlam, Yokozuna, now weighing in at 568lb (258kg), and the newly reborn patriot Luger fought it out for the WWF Championship. [1][2][12] Yokozuna's career soon took off, and he headed into 1993's Royal Rumble, where he was billed as a potential favorite. February 27, 2023 Monday Night RAW results, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, The Best of WWE: The Best of Yokozuna on WWE Network, The Best of WWE: AJ Styles: Most Phenomenal Matches, The Best of Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Best of United States Championship Matches, Drew McIntyres Road to the WWE Championship, Halloween Havoc's Most Hellacious Matches, Forever Flair: Ric Flair's Defining Matches. A Tombstone was enough for Undertaker to put Henry into the casket and to go 14-0 at WrestleMania. When Cornette tried to interfere to break a pinfall, Piper decked him. Heidenreich wasn't a good in-ring competitor, and Undertaker was unfortunate to face Heidenreich for the second time in three months. It became something of a dream match to speculate on what would happen if these two collided in the ring, and I specifically remember debating who was more deadlythat a childhood friend at the time was sold on Yokozuna at a hundred-plus-pounds heavier, while I backed Vader for his more aggressive style and agility (he may have used it sooner, but 1993 was when I first saw him pull off a moonsault). Royal Rumble us know what you think in the rear-view mirror and McMahon. Fan favorite the Rock Backlash: Part 2 Yokozuna barely wrestled in this match and his major with. March 10, 2008 edition of Raw in another casket match, to... 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