WWE Icons: Who Is Yokozuna and How Did He Die?
The first of the "WWE Icons" series will tackle the legend of Yokozuna, his life as a wrestler and the breakthroughs he enjoyed before his death.
WWE Network proudly presented the first look at the upcoming series, which will first highlight Yokozuna's wrestling career.
The official YouTube channel of WWE shared what fans can expect on the new documentary about Yokozuna, titled "WWE Icons: Yokozuna."
The 72-second trailer showed a combination of archived videos of the late wrestler, as well as commentaries from his WWE colleagues.
It will arrive on WWE Network on Sunday, January 31.
Yokozuna's Wrestling Career
Yokozuna, whose real name is Agatupu Rodney Anoa'i, began his wrestling career in 1984.
His actually came from a family of wrestlers. In fact, The Wild Samoans, Afa and Sika who famously performed on the ring, personally trained him in the business.
Before he named himself Yokozuna, he went by the name of Great Kokina when he started wrestling in Japan. He also stayed in Mexico, where he learned the best techniques in the said sport.
Yokozuna eventually marked his first significant appearance in the US by joining the American Wrestling Association as Kokina Maximus.
He was no novice at that time, as he was the culprit behind Greg Gagne's broken leg that caused him to end his career.
In 1991, he officially became the biggest Samoan wrestler in history.
Just a year later, he joined the World Wrestling Federation through Vince McMahon.
In October 1992, he debuted on Superstars and flaunted a sumo wrestler outfit while wearing mawashi to recognize his Samoan roots.
Yokozuna immediately rose to fame as he headed to Royal Rumble in 1993.
After spending his early years on WWF, he continuously raked trophies from different championships and fights.
In 1993, he instantly ranked No. 5 in the 500 best single wrestlers in the PWI 500. However,his rank decreased years after his death and ended up being no. 145 in 2003.
Yokozuna was also a one-time UWA World Trios Champion (with Fatu and Samoan Savage), two-time WWF Tag Team Champion (with Owen Hart), and two-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion.
How Did Yokozuna Die?
Unfortunately, his decades-long career ended on October 23, 2000 when he untimely passed away.
During that year, he died due to pulmonary edema in his hotel room at Moat House Hotel. He was on an independent wrestling tour in Europe at that time, shocking his fans with his sudden death.
Initially, reports suggested that he died either of heart failure or a heart attack. A few years later, when it was corrected, his cause of death was determined as the fatal lung disease.
Yokozuna weighed 260kg at the time of his death.
