yokozuna best matches
The Best of Money in the Bank Whether it was by design or pure happenstance, 1993 was the year of the super heavyweight monster heel, with Yokozuna in the main WWF main event scene and often as not holding the world title there, while Vader held WCWs top title for all but ten (non-consecutive) days of the year. A significant weight issuehad doomed his on-screen presence and relegated him to inconsistent programs. Hogan seemed to have the match won, but a photographer, planted at ringside among a legitimate Japanese wrestling press group, shot a blast of fire into Hogan's face. Celebrating Black History Watch every Premium Live Event and enjoy some of your favorite WWE content on Shahid. [7] His first major exposure in the United States came in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as "Kokina Maximus". Undertaker looked a dead cert to pick up the win but Mankind emerged from the casket. Copyright 2022 TIlt Magazine. CAGEMATCH Wrestlers Database Yokozuna Matches Yokozuna Also known as Great Kokina, Giant Kokina, Kokina Anoai, Kokina Maximus, Kokina The Samoan, Kokina Overview News and Rumors Articles Career Career highlights Titles Matches Match Statistics Matchguide Feuds Tournaments Tag Teams & Stables Entourage Awards Wrestling Games Movies Ratings This was a forgettable WWE Championship match, and there was a possibility that Luger could finally add the WWE Championship to his collection. Daniel Bryans Best Matches The All-Americans - Survivor Series 1993, Yokozuna Vs. Hulk Hogan - King Of The Ring 1993, Yokozuna Vs. Thus, there were few better candidates for Yokozuna to flatten on his way to the main event than Duggan, whose gimmick had become marginally less about carring a two-by-four, and more and more about waving an American flag and getting the crowd to chant USA with him. Money Matches and Moments [10] This would be the only time that Anoa'i wrestled under his former gimmick. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. [41] The Undertaker - Royal Rumble 1994, Goldust Vs. Is it disappointing that Yokozuna (accompanied by Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) took full advantage of the no-disqualification rule and used everything in his reach to inflict damage on his opponent? Aiden English got his nose involved in proceedings, but Undertaker sealed both men's fate by dumping them into the casket. Scream Queens Stage Information Misc. The Undertaker was originally scheduled to face Chris Jericho in a blockbuster casket match, but Rusev replaced Y2J. RELATED: Dustin Rhodes' 10 Best Matches, According To Cagematch.net. Tito Santana, Yokozuna's future WWE Tag Team Championship winning partner Owen Hart, Repo Man, and Bob Backlund were Yoko's next victims. RELATED: The First 10 Casket Matches, Ranked From Worst To Best. Afterward, Paul Bearer gave Undertaker a hammer and nails to seal Kamala's fate. Best of Ruthless Aggression This was an intense brawl and Undertaker managed to hit the Ortons with a steel chair. [52][53] At the time, it was widely reported that he died of heart failure or a heart attack, but this was later found to be incorrect due to his lungs showing severe signs of fluid blockage.[53]. Best of John Cena Information Japanese Version Information Location Information Contents 1 Restriction 2 Battleground 3 Strategy 4 Walkthrough 5 Reference Restriction Unit Restriction: "Summer Break Cats" Insect Units Battleground Before the match began, Undertaker snuck up behind Goldust to gain the upper hand. 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. He spoke English to the fans, had Mr. Fuji wave an American flag during his matches, and challenged Vader to numerous matches. The Big Red Machine was no stranger to casket matches, and he dominated proceedings with power moves. At SummerSlam that year, he battled "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a Free for All match. Austin attained the victory. When fans look back at the early to mid-1990s, few Superstars towered over the New Generation of WWE the way the massive Yokozuna did. The Undertakers feud with Yokozuna seems emblematic of these statistics. Undertaker and Kama Mustafa's casket match at SummerSlam 1995 were superb with Undertaker having a good match against one of his real-life good friends. While the resulting matches werent great, and there are ways in which the meat of their rivalry (the turn from 1993 to 1994) felt like a placeholder before we returned to Luger-Yokozuna, the story was sound and I give this rivalry the nod over Lugers because it did get a proper resolution. 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. It was presented by the independent promotion World Xtreme Wrestling, although matches included wrestlers from multiple promotions. Anoai took on the name of the "Great Kokina" while wrestling overseas in Japan. 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). On October 23, 2000, three weeks after his 34th birthday,[51] Anoai died from pulmonary edema in his room at the Moat House Hotel on Paradise Street in Liverpool while on a wrestling tour of the UK for All Star Wrestling. Next Randy Orton and The Undertaker's feud dominated SmackDown in 2005. Yokozuna got tired, and the match finished prematurely. 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. It was during this feud that Yokozuna teamed up with Ahmed Johnson and Jake Roberts in a six-man tag-team match at WrestleMania XII, facing off with Vader, Owen Hart and British Bulldog. After dropping the belt, Yokozuna's main event status began to fade away. Heidenreich wasn't a good in-ring competitor, and Undertaker was unfortunate to face Heidenreich for the second time in three months. He was a top heel in the New Generation Era, and he was under the tutelage of Mr. Fuji. Not only was Yokozuna forced to accept the first of their two Casket matches, but once it was revealed that the unstoppable Yokozuna had a fear of coffins, The Undertaker used that knowledge to gain a psychological advantage over the big man. This should have been the start of a decent WWE Championship run for Yokozuna but Hulk Hogan intervened, and he challenged Yokozuna to an impromptu WWE Title match. Editors Note: This article is part of anongoing series. UK Classics [17] At King of the Ring, Yokozuna, whose weight had already increased from 505lb (229kg) to 550lb (250kg), challenged Hogan for the title. These are the matches that exemplify the greatness of the United States Championship. Previous And while the rivalry between the two men began at Survivor Series 1993, it was the Royal Rumble in 1994 that featured the original rebirth of the Undertaker and kickstarted one of the five greatest feuds in Mark Callaways career. It was during this feud that Yokozuna teamed up with Ahmed Johnson and Jake Roberts in a six-man tag-team match at WrestleMania XII, facing off with Vader, Owen Hart and British Bulldog. 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. Their clash was marginally better than their WrestleMania 9 match. [54], Teaming with Owen Hart and departure (19951998). Former two-time Intercontinental Champion Mr. His victory undid the wrongs of WrestleMania IX and set him up for a reign of dominance that would encapsulate WWE and have every major babyface in the company gunning for him. I didnt pull the trigger, however, for what I imagine are similar reasons to why the WWF never pulled the trigger on Luger taking the world titlehe just wasnt quite over or good enough in the ring to justify it. All rights reserved.Click here for our privacy policy. Triple H interfered and he clocked Rock in the arm with a sledgehammer. When Undertaker returned, he would avenge his defeat, beating Yokozuna in another Casket match and ending their feud once and for all. The Best of Jeff Hardy The Yokozuna Memorial Show was held in Allentown, Pennsylvania in November 2001, shortly after the first anniversary of Anoai's death. The two heavy-hitters went at it, but there was always going to be one winner. Taker and Yokozuna would wind up responsible for each others eliminations in a double countout brawl that set up their Royal Rumble Casket Match for the titlethe aforementioned instance in which Yokozuna and company recruited much of the heel locker room to help them bury The Dead Man and put him out of action for months. At WrestleMania 10, Yokozuna pulled double duty, and he put the WWE Championship on the line against Lex Luger, who was co-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble match. That my friends, is great storytelling, something lacking in wrestling these days. Nonetheless, Undertaker executed the Tombstone on Goldust, but Mankind was a thorn in Undertaker's side, and he applied the Mandible Claw and aided Goldust in a successful title defense. Mickie James Former Editor-In-Chief of Sound On Sight, and host of several podcasts including the Game of Thrones and Walking Dead podcasts, as well as Sound On Sight. Best: Wins the Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 1993) 1 of 6 Few. Required fields are marked *. He fell backward, smacked his head and was pinned by the Texas Rattlesnake. outside, where Yokozuna seemed to be completely over-matched. Clash of Champions Anoai's career in professional wrestling began as he grew up in a family full of wrestlers, the Anoai family. [2], The next night on Raw, Yokozuna faced then WWF Champion Shawn Michaels for the title, teasing turning heel again. The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. Vader vs. Yokozuna: Raw, April 8, 1996 WWE 93.3M subscribers Subscribe Share 178K views 10 months ago Two powerhouses pummel each other when they face off in the ring during Raw! Forever Flair: Ric Flair's Defining Matches The Best of Miz & Morrison His title reign would be short-lived, though, in what still ranks as one of his worst moments. All the remaining participants tried to eliminate Yokozuna but he powered through them with ease. In the night's marquee match, Yoko overcame a spirited onslaught by The Hulkster and benefited from a fireball attack by a Japanese photographer to regain his title. The Undertakers kayfabe record of success with WWE is nothing if not unique. "Banzai!". [25] To obviate the risk of outside interference, both title matches were scheduled to have special guest referees. Entering at #27, Yokozuna scored seven eliminations during his time in the Rumble, including that of Bob Backlund, Earthquake, and future tag team partner Owen Hart. Stream WWE on. The Best of WWE Backlash The feud took a painful turn a couple weeks later (April 8), when Vader jumped on Yokozuna's leg, ( kayfabe) breaking it. In 1996, Yokozuna was on his final legs as a WWE performer. 7 WWE Champion For Several Minutes [3] The two first squared off against each other as parts of their respective teams at Survivor Series. Undertaker sported his Phantom of the Opera-like mask, and he was determined to put King Mabel away. Yokozuna was bidding to become the first heel to walk out of WrestleMania as WWE Champion. Plus, get every WWE Premium Live Event and the worlds best TV and movies. 11 Yokozuna Vs. Yokozuna had a refusal to stay down, and he powered out of Hogan's leg drop which rarely happens. Even today, some 24 years later, the decision ranks as one of the worst in WWE history for all the bad it did to Hart, Yokozuna and the company's attempt to push forward with its New Generation initiative. )[11] He made his pay-per-view debut at Survivor Series, easily defeating the much smaller Virgil with his huge weight advantage. Yokozuna defended the WWE Championship against The Undertaker at the 1994 Royal Rumble. This feud makes the cut for the memorable, if unsavory images of these two engaged in sumo combat, as Yokozuna faced his one believable rival in that context, and went on to decimate him after the match. 182 minutes Tully . Your email address will not be published. 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