Yokozuna

[Exposer]

Yoko had limitations but he is someone who I have always wanted to explore in full. He was impressively agile for his size and weight. I’ve often thought he was one of the better big man sellers in wrestling and his teetering act was great every time. During the height of his career he had lots of interesting match-ups with guys like Bret, Taker, Savage, Duggan, Hogan, and was in a tag team with Owen for a long time. I’ve decided to go back and look at some of these matches and get a better look at Yoko’s work. He’s always struck me as someone who has had a decent body of work for what he could do.

 

Yokozuna vs. Tatanka (March to WrestleMania X 2/23/94)

I was expecting something watchable coming into this match. I came out seeing something more than that. There are problems with this but those problems come from everything around the match. The commentary is distracting at times. Johnny Polo is doing color with Vince and has a sound machine that he plays after every one of his terrible jokes. There is a commercial interruption in here too which hurts the flow a little bit. The match itself starts with Fuji stirring shit up on the outside and causing Tatanka to go over to the apron and deal with him. Yoko attacks him from behind and we get the match going from there. Cornette is in Yoko’s corner too so he’s out there getting into it with fans which helps build the heat up. Anyways, Yoko doesn’t have control for long as Tatanka gets a house of fire early and lays in his signature tomahawk chops. The crowd is off the charts for this and really hates Yoko by this point. That’s a testament to the booking of Yoko over the course of the previous year which was really brilliant. They go into this back and forth exchange where they both miss big mat moves and the sequence ends great with Yoko missing a standing splash and Tatanka hitting a tremendous top rope cross body for a near fall. The crowd exploded throughout this and really enhanced the sequence too. I thought that was a hell of a way to start this match. It exposes Yoko’s weaknesses early and gives the fans a reason to care even more about this one. Tatanka loses the control after the big opening sequence pretty quickly and Yoko sends him to the floor where Tatanka makes a nice thud on the ground. The commercial interruption happens it which is a shame because we have to miss the early moments of the heat segment but when we return Yoko give Tatanka an excellent body slam that was really impactful. Yoko goes to his normal base here which was the never hold but I think it fit him well considering his limitations and the fact that he weighs so much. That gives the illusion that all of his weight is pressed onto his opponent’s neck and upper back. They do some really nice work around the hold and most of it being hope spots. The crowd’s intensity helps this out a lot but each comeback is timed very well. Yoko ends the comebacks with a knee to the gut and an awesome clothesline. I do question the “U.S.A” chants for Tatanka as he’s a Native American and all of his ancestors were killed and relocated into segregated “reservations” in a massive invasive genocide by the United States of America but I digress. I suppose one could argue those chants are aimed towards Yoko and not for Tatanka. Tatanka’s eventually big comeback is excellent. His opening is a giant head smash into the top turnbuckle that was exposed earlier by Yoko. Yoko does his tremendous teetering sell and lands on his ass to an enormous eruption from the crowd. We get a ten count going and both guys get back up. Tatanka brings back his tomahawk chops to the mix and hits a big one from the top rope which allows us to see another incredible teeter sell by Yoko and his falls on his ass again. Tatanka gets an awesome near fall from that. However, he gets over confident and tries for his Samoan drop move but obviously Yoko’s too damn heavy for that so Tatanka changes his mind and goes to the ropes for something else. Yoko catches him off the ropes though and plants him with a nice belly-to-belly suplex. Yoko continues to sell the ass whooping he got a minute earlier which was great attention to detail and drags the prone Tatanka to the corner. Yoko hits the Bonzai drop and decisively gets the win. It was a really impressively worked match by both parties here I thought. Yoko looked especially good with some magnificent facial expressions and selling. The match was structurally strong and builds really nicely. I think it did what it was set out to do and that was to show Yoko had vulnerabilities but also make him look strong for Mania.

[Matt D]

Yoko had amazing timing. Amazing. Especially in cut offs. I'm February 1994 in my WWF watching (watching everything we have available online) but I'm behind on Buddy Rose stuff that's been posted and that's more of a priority. I'll add some stuff while I go.

 

You need to watch the Duggan vs Yoko match from Europe from 93 though. It's really great.

[Exposer]

Yoko had amazing timing. Amazing. Especially in cut offs. I'm February 1994 in my WWF watching (watching everything we have available online) but I'm behind on Buddy Rose stuff that's been posted and that's more of a priority. I'll add some stuff while I go.

 

You need to watch the Duggan vs Yoko match from Europe from 93 though. It's really great.

Awesome Matt. I'll watch the Duggan match later tonight and post my thoughts. Most definitely add your thoughts on his stuff from 94 here.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna vs. Tatanka (WWF Coliseum Home Video 1/12/94)

The previous match was non-title but this one was for the gold. This match is a few months earlier and might be the first encounter between these two since Yoko put Tatanka out of action with the Bonzai drop. Tatanka gets things started right off the bat by charging the ring and throwing his fists at Yoko. The crowd was hot for this as Tatanka started to throw his tomahawk chops. Yoko caught with a big clothesline though and took control from there. They ended up doing a similar sequence to the later match where both guys go for big moves on the mat but they each move out of the way. Tatanka decides to go with a headlock instead of a high impact move though which was questionable. Gorilla called him out on it too but it’s fucking Gorilla and he’s an asshole. Yoko is really great on timing cut offs and it shows here with his back elbow and later clothesline that both look really impactful too. Yoko gets on offense after the back elbow and does his usual nerve hold but makes things a little bit more interesting by punching the nerve a few times in between the hold. The hope spots surrounding this are nice and Yoko looks great timing all of them. Tatanka’s big comeback isn’t quite as good as the later match but he does get a huge pop when he takes Yoko down with the top rope tomahawk chop. Fuji gets involved though and distracts the ref long enough to allow Yoko to recover and whack Tatanka with the oaken bucket of salt which leads to a disqualification and win for Tatanka. Yoko tries to put Tatanka out of action again in the post-match but Savage makes the save and knocks Yoko on his ass and sends him packing. This wasn’t as good as the later much because it didn’t have quite as much time to develop. There were a few tweaks in it that made it different too but I think for the worse rather than the better. It was still a really solid match though and is great example of Yoko’s strengths in the ring.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna vs. Jim Duggan (Global Warfare 4/8/93)

This was Yoko’s first big feud in the WWF and I think it’s a really underrated one. The segment on Superstars where Duggan knocks him down is classic and the events afterwards are what really made Yoko come across as a dangerous threat. Duggan is pretty hyped to start this thing and Yoko is relaxed and calm as Heenan points out which I think is important to the match’s story. Duggan wins the opening exchange and then tries to use the 2X4 but the ref grabs it. However, this results in Yoko taking the advantage. Yoko’s timing is off the charts here as well and really puts on a great performance with it. Duggan’s big clubbing punches got over huge and Yoko does a tremendous job of selling each blow. His positioning is outstanding though and he’s able to get in a really awesome cut off with a jab to Duggan’s throat. It was one of the better timed cut offs I’ve ever seen. This same sequence happens again but in a different part of the ring and that allows Yoko to get his jab from a different angle which looked great. It’s important to remember that the key to Duggan’s strategy is getting Yoko off his feet and then going from there. He uses his enthusiasm and crowd support to try and get there. Yoko sort of has tunnel vision and is only there to simply get the job done. It’s almost as if Duggan only wants to knock Yoko off of his feet whereas Yoko wants to defeat and hurt Duggan. They position themselves in the center of the ring and we get a bear hug from Yoko but it has some really unique hope spots with it like Duggan just clubbing Yoko in the head to try and get out. I loved Duggan’s facial expressions throughout the bear hug. He was tremendous here. His recovery is awesome to watch and the moment he puts his thumb up the fans erupt. Duggan breaks the hold and starts wailing away at Yoko. Yoko starts to stumble and wobble. Duggan runs the ropes and hits a couple of big clotheslines. The last one is successful and Yoko does his phenomenal teeter selling and crashes to the mat. The fans go crazy and Duggan goes to the corner and sets up for his corner charge. That proved to be a mistake as Fuji grabbed his leg which distracted Duggan and Yoko literally crushes his comeback with a splash to the back in the corner. Duggan wobbles and Yoko throws another thrust to the throat which was cool as it goes back to his cut offs earlier in the match. Yoko hits the Bonzai drop and definitively wins this one. It was an awesome match of dynamics. Duggan was there to knock Yoko off his feet. He makes a mistake by not capitalizing when he finally did and going after him while he was already down. Yoko was there to simply beat Duggan. They both had confidence and both succeeded. Yoko was just the one who got the victory.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna vs. 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Coliseum Home Video 5/25/94)

Here is an interesting match-up as it’s a much smaller guy up against Yoko. I wondered how they were going to work this before it started. By the end of it I really liked how they did it. Kid tries to uses his speed to his advantage at the get go but is hesitant because he doesn’t want to get wiped out early. He makes a mistake by running the ropes and just gets falls right away from a shoulder tackle by Yoko. Kid recuperates and slides under Yoko then starts throwing kicks all over the place. He hits Yoko in the arms, chest, stomach, and eventually head. Yoko wobbles and can‘t keep up with the educated feet and tumbles through the ropes and to the floor for a big pop. Kid’s found his game plan now and keeps at it for the remainder of the match. Yoko is really frustrated and shocked. His reaction is great here and it creates doubt for Yoko throughout the match. Yoko stops Kid’s next flurry with a thrust and puts his knee into his back while on the ropes. Yoko then tosses him to the floor where Kid takes a great back bump. We actually have ourselves a nice little King of the Mountain spot here with Yoko keeping Kid at bay on the floor. Yoko lays in a nice club to Kid’s spine and sends him on the apron. Kid retaliates though and comes back with a shoulder to Yoko’s gut and returns to the ring with an assortment of kicks. Again, Yoko can’t figure out what to do with Kid and his quick feet and is in trouble again. He is able to get back on offense briefly before Kid uses his feet again to gain the advantage. Yoko does his teeter selling excellently here and Kid goes up tope for a high cross body but it turns out to be a grave mistake and Yoko catches and absolutely crushes him with a belly-to-belly slam for the win. That was a truly awesome finish and a really good match too. It exposed a weakness of Yoko’s and his opponent didn’t stick with it and took too many risks and it cost him.

[Chess Knight]

I watched a bunch of Yoko recently.

 

 

 

Yokozuna v Virgil (Survivor Series 92)

Man Virgil was so energetic. I really wish the dude didn't start out as a manservant because he has all the fieriness of decent-level babyface, and I think he has an unfair rep for being a very small name. He's moving around touching his face trying to get ready for the enormous beast he's going to try to beat LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW (TUNE IN AND SEE ALLLLL YOUR FAVOURITE WWF SUPAHSTAHHHHS). The crowd seem to dig him too. This starts with Yoko doing his sumo-pose and both guys running at each other before Virgil takes this weird ass bump to the mat. Usually a guy will land flat (which he did here later), but Virgil kind of lopped to his front-side; looked like the kind of flooring that would break his hand if he landed more awkwardly. I mean that was probably accidental and he likely isn't purposefully taking those sorts of things like the Necro Butcher, but it's neat to see a different kind of bump on something so small. Made Yoko seem really powerful. Virgil takes MORE moves awkwardly and I dig everyone one of them. I mean he's not exactly taking the moves correctly, but in a good way. Some wrestlers don't take a move correctly because they don't want to be hurt. Virgil takes the moves the way he does because he seems to barely know HOW to take them, and they actually wind up looking more violent as a result. That one sidewalk slam looked better than most sidewalk slams I've seen, for example. His offense isn't terribly good, but he definitely has an energy to him and you just kind of find yourself rooting for him after a bit. Yoko is fucking great. There is no reason a man as obese as him should be able to take constant dropkick bumps and get up so fast that you don't even notice him getting up. And man, I'll say whatever about Virgil's weird selling bumps, but Yoko's offense just looks brutal sometimes. He may have the greatest leg drop ever. A leg drop usually has a wrestler arching his leg so there isn't really part connecting with the other wrestler, but when Yoko tries he just has all of this fat there anyway, so it looks vicious and life-threatening. I dig little shit like that, and it make the match more enjoyable. Wait, what have I been talking about? Awkward bumps? Vicious offense? Jesus CHRIST you want that? Virgil goes for a fucking roll-up on Yoko, and Yoko kind of just 'falls' butt-first...ON VIRGIL. Fuck sake, it was like a shoot Banzai Drop. Oh fuck I cannot imagine how much that could have hurt. It'd hurt having that much weight come down on you, but I don't know if it was planned, and I don't think Virgil expected it. He probably didn't get time for a deep breath and just....holy shit. Brutal, How have I never heard of this before? The ACTUAL Banzai Drop didn't look as bad, but Virgil was too far away from the ropes and it still looked more vicious than a regular Banzai (which is saying something). Man that match ruled.

 

 

Yokozuna v. The 1-2-3 Kid (Raw, the youtube guy "thinks" it's 1994)

There's gotta be a Yoko v. Waltman match that delivers everything it should deliver, but this isn't it. I, however, will not complain about this. The beginning has Yoko trying to grab Kid twice, and Kid dodging him, because, well, if he gets grabbed he practically dies. Yoko kind of take it easy on the first one, then on the second one he goes in harder and when Kid moves Yoko goes to Fuji and creates the grabbing motion with his hands, like, 'I just can't grab the little fucker'. Kid actually might have gotten more offense on Yoko than vice versa in the match, and yeah, Yoko kind of rules at selling that shit and not making himself look weak. It's really easy to make the babyface look like a superman who's just breezing through it all, but every hit Kid got in here looked well earned. Yoko even tumbles on the outside on a spin-kick and it didn't look ridiculous. Do I have to mention how good he is at the superweight 'weeble-wobble' selling? Because everyone should know by now. I love how the crowd eat that shit up, too. 'He's gonna do it.....HE'S GONNA DO IT!!!........HE'S GONNA KNOCK YOKOZUNA OVER!!!!!.....................Oh, wait....."*splat* 1, 2, 3.

 

Yokozuna v. The Undertaker (Milan, Italy 4/25/93)

Honestly, this was not good. This was sort of the reverse-Yoko match where instead of the opponent hitting all of the offense and Yoko shrugging it off in a cool way, it was Yoko hitting all of the offense and having it shrugged off, in a not-so-cool way. There's Undertaker Dead Man selling and then there's pretty much no-selling, and this was pretty much no-selling. The match didn't go long enough to get past that no-selling point which could have been the opening in any given match. Taker would do the sit-up thing on pretty much everything, and the best part of the match was right at the end. Yoko slams Taker, and then bends over and hits Taker in the face a couple times with a 'is he finally done? He's gonna do it again isn't he?' look on his face. When Taker doesn't get up, Yoko turns away and raises his arms up in the air 'Nup, he's done. I WIN.' He turns around, Taker sits up and Yoko slams him with a.....thingy. Like a basket or something. Yeah this wasn't much fun and tbph I pin most of that on Taker's gimmick.

 

Yokozuna v. Kamala (Raw 5/17/93)

My first thought when seeing the video for this was 'Holy fuck this could be awesome' and even if it wasn't legitimately awesome I have no disappointment from the 2.5 minutes of a match I got here. They run at each other like two fat fatty fatasses and their fatass bodies collide and Kamala wins the fatass jousts and Yoko's all 'ah shit my PHATASS is gonna fall over'. Yoko gets to work over Kamala for a minute after that and Kamala can be a crummy seller but it wasn't something that took me out of it at all. The crowd chant 'USA' and I'm not entirely sure if they were rooting for Kamala because he's a Ugandan savage who pretty much never spoke English in his career. There's a shitty ass chop by Yoko at the end but then hits the Banzai Drop on fucking Kamala. Give these guys six minutes.

 

Yokozuna v. Brian West (SuperStars 2/27/93)

I'm starting to think Yoko either worked stiffer with the jobbers, or worked stiffer the earlier his career was, because holy shit on a stick everything here looked brutal. "Everything" isn't saying much because there were a total of about five moves in this, but I dropped my jaw to the ground on the opening clothesline and it's currently stuck open from the rest of the moves. His running butt-splash of doom was nasty as shit, as he actually JUMPED directly into _jobber's name who I am not looking at right now_'s chest and crushed the shit out of him. Perfect two minute squash.

 

Yokozuna v. The Earthquake (WHO KNOWS I DON'T, probably 1993)

MORE FATTIES~ So yeah I tend to only watch short matches when I do this sort of thing, and despite that I am rarely disappointed by the ones I actually look forward to. I was really looking forward to this and despite how short it was, yeah, can you guess? I wasn't disappointed. They stare each other down for a bit and then Quake hits some fucking JUMPING KICKS to start the match. Not even real big jumps, just light shitty jumps and he's flailing his leg into Yoko during the process of jumping. Also he was aiming for Yoko. I am only noticing today how amazing some of Yokozuna's facial expressions are. I've already gotten "I just can't grab the little fucker", "is he finally done? He's gonna do it again isn't he?", "Nup, he's done. I WIN", and "ah shit my PHATASS is gonna fall over" today. In this match we got Quake outdoing Yoko in power and he wobbles with this 'woahhh, wait a second' face. Then Quake gets the upperhand on him again and he's all 'the fuck?'. Then he plants an elbow in Quake's face and wins after about 30 seconds. BUT it's the facial that really make you think Yoko could lose. And the weeble-wobble selling. I do adore weeble-wobble selling. FATTIES.

 

Yokozuna v. Diesel (1995)

I swear Nash almost tore his quad on the jumping lariat. HA! Nash goes for a jackknife and obviously doesn't hit it (but how fucking tremendous would that be?!!?!?!?!?!?!???), and then Yoko misses the Banzai Drop and gets pinned. This went for about forty seconds.

 

Yokozuna/Owen Hart v. Chuck Williams/David Thornberg (Wrestling Challenge 7/2/95)

Chuck Williams is one of those jobbers that has the annoying habit of 'kicking out' after every move. Not kicking out after a pin, but every time he's planted down, he'll kick his legs, as if he's in so much pain that his body just vibrates or some shit. I hate that kind of crap. Like when wrestlers fall down from something and randomly lift their head once. Why? Fuck you. This was really fun. Owen hits everything so crisply and makes it look so effortless. How many people can do a drop-toe-hold like that? Pretty much zero. David Thornberry (or W/eTF) getting in on Yoko was amazing. He comes in ready to fight but sees Yoko and goes 'what do I do?' all hesitant and just starts hitting random places on Yoko's body. Yoko sells none of that and simply slaps the dude in the head and makes him fall down. I fucking love the Owen Hart/Yokozuna team. Million out of ten.

 

Yokozuna v. Buck Zumhofe (Wrestling Challenge 11/29/92)

Buck Zumhofe was a supposedly awful AWA wrestler. He did a sucky sell of Yoko's first move, but Yoko's offense looked good enough after that. All four moves.

[Dylan Waco]

I really love some of the Owen/Yoko matches. Really an underrated team in hindsight. I may watch some of that soon

[JerryvonKramer]

I'd be interested to know when exactly he reached the stage where he was just too big and immobile to be effective. He was feuding with Vader in 1996, which on paper looks like it could have potential to produce some good matches but he was upwards of 700lbs at the time.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna vs. Vader (Raw 4/8/96)

Yoko has clearly gained weight in the few years he’s been in the company. He looks enormous here. The two start with the face off. Vader then slaps the shit out of Yoko. Yoko retaliates with a really nasty slap himself. Then Yoko throws some big punches and catches Vader off the ropes with a Samoan drop. Vader gets back up and clotheslines Yoko to the mat. Vader pounds on Yoko in the corner for a minute but then Yoko regains the advantage with a variation of the rock bottom and hits a big leg drop. Yoko is still good at selling here as he continues to sell Vader’s beating. Yoko goes for a corner splash but Vader moves and Yoko crashes to the mat. Cornette ends up holding Yoko’s leg on the bottom rope and Vader gives the leg a Vader bomb then gets disqualified for it. Yoko screams in pain and Vader does it a few more times until he is run off by officials. Yoko is screaming in agony here and the medics have to take him out on a forklift. Vader attacks Yoko backstage by the ambulance and beats his leg up with a chair while it’s in a splint. Vader talks shit, taunts, and leaves then Yoko gets pissed and throws a giant piece of wood at the camera. This was not really a match that we can point to at all because it’s really just an angle. Yoko was clearly on the decline though and his weight was becoming a major problem. I’m not sure how many great Yoko performances we’re going to be able to find between 96 and 98. I don’t think very many.

 

EDIT: Yoko didn't even make it past 96 in his WWF career because of his weight problems. He was still employed until 98 but didn't show up after late 96, early 97.

[stunning_grover]

Yokozuna's last WWF match was at Surivor Series 1996.

[thebrainfollower]

I was a fan at the time and would add to this, but the thing is I cannot, cannot rate Yokozuna matches objectively. My best friend and I were both huge WWF marks from 88 on (86 for me) and would talk wrestling for hours a week. But the moment Yokozuna bench pressed Randy Savage (his favorite) out of the Royal Rumble, his days as an active wrestling fan were done and 20 years later he hasn't come back (though we watch anything pre 93, but he only likes WWF stuff mostly).

 

So Yokozuna is someone I really hate (as a wrestler not a person) for those personal reasons. My other objection is generic to every big man, it's not that he can't bump or do cool stuff, it's that he's so fat that guys arsenals are really really limited. He and Taker had a good 4.5 minute mini match at Royal Rumble 94 but with someone like Taker you're very limited because his best moves are impossible. Luger it was even more obvious that all Luger could do was punch, clothesline, semi bodyslam to Yoko. Maybe that's more a limitation of what I consider good wrestling than one deserved to Yoko I don't know.

[Guest Nell Santucci]

Yokozuna's last WWF match was at Surivor Series 1996.

There were rumors that went around for a long time that he was going to join the Hart Foundation in 1997. That was around the time Jim Neidhart was brought in instead. That would have been a bad pairing in hindsight, though I'm not so sure it would have been a worse pairing than Brian Pillman, given that he was the odd man out and that I don't remember Pillman's Stampede history being mentioned.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon (WWF Coliseum Home Video 5/24/94)

We go back a few years here to when Yoko could go a little longer. This match is a fresh match up and something I was interested in seeing. Yoko attacks Razor from behind due to a Fuji distraction and takes him down with a clothesline. That seems to be a regular beginning to Yoko matches on Coliseum Video because that’s happened pretty much every CHV match I’ve watched of Yoko’s so far. Razor fights back quickly though and his Yoko with some big punches then nails him with a discus punch that sends Yoko through the ropes and to the floor. That bump was always one of him more impressive bumps because it’s a guy who’s well over 500 pounds taking a bump through the ropes like that. It probably isn’t as dangerous as it looks but it he definitely made it look dangerous. Yoko is frustrated a little bit and Razor follows after him on the floor. Cornette leaves his racket on the apron for Yoko and Yoko uses it on Razor with a couple of shots to the head and body. Yoko takes control and does his thing here. When Yoko’s on offense it’s all very basic because of his obvious limitations but it all works and makes sense. He puts in his signature nerve hold but it always looks believable because of Yoko’s weight. The stuff they work around it is really good. Yoko hits his big leg drop which always looks great and catches Razor on a comeback with a beautifully timed elbow. Yoko goes for a big splash but misses and takes a great bump off it. The crowd is really into it now and we get a great sequence where Razor nearly takes Yoko off his feet with some big punches and gets him to the corner with a big flurry but Yoko catches him with a throat thrust. That was awesome timing there. Yoko bites Razor’s head which was cool then goes for some punches but Razor blocks them and then we get the awesome wobble selling from Yoko. Razor hits three big clotheslines before knocking him down then signals for the Razor’s Edge. He actually tries for it and as he’s about to lift him, Crush comes out and attacks him from behind resulting in a disqualification. Luger comes out and saves Razor to even the odds. This was a really well worked match I thought. Yoko’s heat section was strong again and the last couple of minutes had some great exchanges and very well timed spots from Yoko. I think this match is another good example of Yoko excelling within his limitations. It’s not a great match but it’s a perfectly solid one and it fits Yoko really well.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna vs. Mr. Perfect (WWF Coliseum Home Video 10/19/93)

I was excited to see this because I was wondering if these two ever got to work a match together. After watching it I realized how athletic Yoko was because he was bumping all over the place, running the ropes, and changing up his offense too. This of course was much earlier into his WWF career but he was incredibly agile for his size. The match starts with Yoko trying to sneak attack Perfect with a splash but Curt moves out of the way and Yoko takes a big bump into the corner. They then do this tremendously fast paced sequence where Yoko keeps up remarkably well and he ends up missing a big elbow drop resulting in another big bump and then getting drop kicked to through the ropes in yet another huge bump. That was three massive bumps from Yoko in about fifteen seconds. That was a tremendous opening sequence. Yoko does “stumble” into the ring post long after the sequence had finished which I thought was silly but that was really the only mark I can take off for this match. Yoko is pissed and talks strategy with Fuji because he realizes he can’t keep up with that pace for too long. As he’s strategizing, Hennig lifts the second rope under Yoko and crotches him. Yoko sells is greatly by sort of hopping around and making a great facial expression. Curt throws some big punches and goes for another dropkick but Yoko stumbles back from the punches and Curt misses it. That was awesome as Yoko sold the punches but his stumbling ended up causing Curt to miss the dropkick. Yoko takes control now with a big chop and clothesline. Curt bumps big for him here too. Yoko goes for his nerve hold here. Curt ends up pulling his ponytail over his face so Yoko has to release the hold and ends up choking Hennig instead. Yoko changes up his offense here and relies on his strikes more. He hits a couple of really big chops and they have a really nice sequence with Curt on the apron. Yoko smashes his head on the turnbuckle but Curt counters the second attempt and smashes Yoko’s head into it. However, Yoko catches Curt with a big throat thrust in a perfectly timed cut off. That ruled. They take it back into the ring where Yoko pounds on Curt in the corner. He goes for another charge and misses again taking another big bump and Curt gets his big comeback. Curt hits Yoko with several punches then goes to the second rope and hits a flying clothesline which takes Yoko down. That was another awesome bump from Yoko. He’s been tremendous in this match. Curt is really getting on a role and goes to another corner to set something else up but Fuji grabs his leg and that distracts Curt for a big avalanche from Yoko to his back in the corner. Yoko then hits Curt with another throat thrust and nails the Banzai drop for the win. This was a fucking awesome Yoko performance. I think this match is a really great example of how Yoko could change up his offense and heat section and work some different sequences. It shows that Yoko didn't work the same match over and over again and that he could tweak his formula and works it in different ways. This is the best example that I've seen of that so far.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna & Ahmed Johnson vs. New Rockers (5/9/96 Kuwait)

This is joined in progress but Yoko looked really good in this even as his weight problems were extremely evident. The video came in when Yoko got tagged into the match and Marty and Cassidy did this really fun sequence with trying to knock Yoko down. Yoko just stood there as Marty and Cassidy bounced off of him. He then gave them a double clothesline and sent both of them to the floor before slingshot them back into the ring. Ahmed got tagged in and he did a comedy spot with Marty before getting double teamed for a minute. He ended up making the hot tag to Yoko and Yoko cleaned house with big chops. Marty got sent to the floor and Ahmed gave Cassidy the Pearl River Plunge. Yoko won the match for his team with the Banzai drop on Cassidy. This was a fun five minutes and Yoko looked great in this setting as the big face that nobody get knock down. This just shows that Yoko could still bring the goods in certain settings even as his limitations grew more and more due to his weight problems.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna vs. Koko B. Ware (Raw 1/11/93)

This is the first Raw match ever. Koko is still very over at this point and he gets the crowd to clap along before things got underway. They go to a lock-up and Yoko just tosses him across the ring. Koko tries it again and meets the same fate. Koko ends up going to the air instead and it works for a minute as he gets Yoko to stumble from a dropkick but Yoko catches him off the ropes and drops him chest first on the top rope. Yoko then gives him an avalanche then a throat thrust. He hits the Banzai drop for the definitive finish. This was a fun little match. It’s nothing special but it shows how the minimum can work really well. Yoko is really great at working with the minimum amount of time and even energy in some respects although he was pretty agile at times. I liked this as a competitive squash that shows how Yoko can make a three minute match fun.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna vs. Diesel (WWF Coliseum Home Video 9/26/95)

This match lasted about fifty seconds but ruled regardless. They did a brief stare off before exchanging blows and Diesel got the upper hand. He hit a couple of big clotheslines off the ropes but couldn’t take Yoko down. Yoko did his awesome teeter selling and Nash went back to the ropes and hit a flying clothesline that finally did Yoko down. He then went for the fucking jackknife but Yoko countered it with a back drop. Yoko then gave Nash his huge leg drop which looks great all the time. He dragged the prone Nash over to the corner and went for the Banzai drop but Nash moved and Yoko took a crazy bump on his ass. Nash pinned him to retain the WWF title. That was one of the better fifty second matches I’ve ever seen. It got in Yoko getting knocked down, Yoko taking advantage and teased title switch, then the crazy finish. That was a lot of fun. Yoko is the king of fat men in five minute matches or less.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna vs. Adam Bomb (Raw 7/25/94)

I don’t want to get too excited about Yokozuna but this guy was pretty good. Here, he gets a really fun match out of Adam Bomb. Bryan Clark isn’t someone I go out of my way to watch matches. Yoko really made Clark look good on this occasion. Adam Bomb just turned face so Yoko was set to be the guy to make him look good and he succeeded. The match starts with the usual stare-off when it’s Yoko and another big guy. Yoko slaps the shit out of him and then chops the shit out of him. I love Yoko’s chops. He doesn’t do them a whole lot but when he does they’re real nasty. Clark retaliates though with some big clotheslines and a flying shoulder block that sends Yoko through the ropes and to the floor. We got to break and it comes back with Clark challenging Yoko to a test of strength. Yoko’s reaction to this is great and he talks with Fuji about it. Yoko goes up to Clark for the test of strength but chops the fuck out of him instead which ruled. Yoko then choked and chopped Clark really hard a few more times. He got Clark down on the mat and put in the nerve hold. The crowd really was for Clark here and he fought of the hold and went for a big move off the ropes but Yoko showed off his extraordinary timing with a clothesline to Clark. Yoko regained control with the nerve hold and Clark battled out of it again. Clark got Yoko staggering with some clotheslines then went for another one but Yoko bent down to avoid it. However, Clark caught him with a jumping DDT instead. He then went up top and hit Yoko with a flying clothesline that took him down again. Harvey Wippleman and Kwang showed up though and distracted Clark. Clark went out there and beat up Kwang and Wippleman but was counted out. The whole purpose of this match was for Yoko to make Bryan fucking Clark look good and he did. He bumped big for all of his offense and made people believe Clark could beat him.

[Exposer]

Yokozuna & Owen Hart vs. Bob Holly & 1-2-3 Kid (Raw 4/17/95)

I’ve been avoiding Yoko tags for the most part because I want to get a good glimpse of how he worked singles matches which is often the best way to analyze a wrestler’s work. I decided I’d jump into more of his tag work and especially his tag team with Owen. I picked a great match to start with. This was the Yoko/Owen tag’s first title defense after they won it from the Smoking Gunns at Mania. Owen and Kid start the match off with fast paced mat work and swift counters. Holly then came in and did the same with Owen. These were some nice exchanges to open things up and let us know they’re giving this a lot of time. Owen tags in Yoko who throws a nice big punch to Holly’s face. Holly fights back and pulls Yoko on his ass by his ponytail off the ropes. The crowd pops big and Holly goes to the ropes again but Owen holds them down and Holly takes a big bump to the floor. Owen ends up slamming Holly’s back into the ring post as Yoko distracts the referee. We go to commercial break and when we get back Owen and Yoko are working over Holly’s back and spine area. Owen hits a suplex and pulls Holly’s arms back and jams his knee into his back. Holly starts to fight out of it and turns it around but Owen recovers and gets him back on the mat. Owen changes into a chin lock and tags in Yoko. Yoko comes in and throws a couple of strikes on a prone Holly and mocks him. He tags Owen back in for a minute to do some more damage. Yoko tags back in and puts in his nerve hold. Holly fights out of that and goes to the ropes but Yoko side steps him and throws him over the top rope. That was a good bump from Holly there. Yoko distracts the ref and Owen gets a hold of Holly and body slams him on the floor. We then get a couple of really awesome spots between Owen and Holly including a great near fall and hope spot from Holly on a small package. Owen gets a good near fall of an enzuguri. He tries for a superplex but Holly counters it into a cross body for another near fall. Both guys get in a nasty collision off the ropes and tag their partners. Kid is awesome on the hot tag here and Yoko can’t keep up with his quick feet. Kid gives Owen a spinning heel kick then knocks Yoko off his feet with another flying heel kick after some great staggering selling from Yoko. Kid then hits a somersault plancha on Owen and a cameraman on the floor which ruled. He then went to the top for a cross body on Yoko but that ended up being a big mistake and Yoko caught him and fucking crushed him with a belly-to-belly slam for the win. This match was really, really good. The in peril segment was very good from Holly. The finishing run was fantastic. As far as Yoko goes he wasn’t in nearly as much as Owen but he definitely played his role very well and was excellent in the last few minutes.

[MartelFan38]

WWF 93-95 had good TV