The “Happy Days” television series has given us many fun and unique characters and moments that we nostalgically look back on as the “golden years” of TV. Whether you’re a fan of the show or not, it gave us a nomenclature for the precise moment in which a television series has sunk to its lowest point. The term “jumping the shark,” aptly named after the stunt “Authur Fonzarelli,” or the “Fonz,” as he’s called on the streets, where he jumped over a shark on water –skis. Ask your parents, they’ll fill you in with the rest of the details.
Over the years “jumping the shark” has been applied to other mediums, and people. Pro-wrestling is filled with moments, gimmicks, storylines, and even individuals where the shark was not only jumped over, but dropped an elbow on from the stratosphere. This is an attempt at deconstructing these moments in wrestling, and maybe see if anything could’ve been done to save face of the individuals involved. Heh… save face while wrestling a shark. Eh-hem.
The professional wrestler known to fans as “Yokozuna” squashed his way into the WWE in November of 1992. Born Rodney Anoa’I in October of 1966 into the famous wrestling family that spawned the “Wild Samoans,” Afa and Sika; Rodney being their nephew, “Yokozuna” was an impressive sight in his debut. Weighing in at the 500-plus pound mark, dressed in sumo gear complete with a pre-match, sumo-style ceremony, and lead by the villainous “Mr. Fuji,” who was Yoko’s manager and translator, waving a Japanese flag, “Yokozuna” made short work of his first opponent, crushing him with his finisher; the “Banzai Drop.” The “Banzai Drop,” talk about a scary finisher. Think about the fattest person you know, double that, and then picture their ass crashing down on your face and chest. Yep, it was that scary.
Anoa’i not only looked the part, he played it well too. Saying little, and letting his massive-size do his talking for him in the ring, with “Mr. Fuji” talking for him out of the ring, fans were amazed and terrified by this huge sumo. Showing no mercy in the ring, “Yokozuna” quickly became not only the most feared man in the WWE, but also the number-one contender for the WWE Championship after an impressive showing at the 1993 “Royal Rumble.” His weight and low-center of gravity, won him the Rumble over “Macho Man” Randy Savage. This lead to “Yokozuna” main-eventing “Wrestlemania 9” against Bret “The Hitman” Hart for the WWE Championship, which he won, only to lose it minutes later to “Hulk Hogan.”
“Yokozuna” would not only win the title back from “Hogan” at the first “King of the Ring” pay-per-view, but many would argue that he was the man who ran “Hogan” out of the WWE. “Yokozuna” would continue to be a dominate champion having feuds against “Lex Luger” and the “Undertaker.” He would later lose the title to Bret Hart at “Wrestlemania 10,” but remained a dominate force in the WWE, and would go on to win the WWE tag team titles with Owen Hart at “Wrestlemania 11.” They would drop the titles to “Two Dudes with Attitudes,” not making that name up, Shawn Michaels and “Diesel” at the third “In Your House” pay-per-view, with the “British Bulldog” substituting for Owen. This would be “Yokozuna’s” last pay-per-view main-event.
Not long after “Yokozuna” would receive a WWE title shot against “Diesel.” This was a match a lot of fans wanted to see as these two were some of the biggest men to ever step into the squared-circle. Too bad not many would see this match, not that it was great by any means, but that it was released on a Coliseum Video release called “Confirmed Hits.” Thank the gods for “Youtube.” Still this was a match against two behemoths for the big belt; what carnage and destruction would be left in their wake?
“Yoko” was squashed in less than two minutes. The entrances were longer. After an embarrassing loss like this you would normally expect the heel to retaliate in some fashion, and set up an intense feud. Nope. “Yokozuna” laid on the mat after falling on his huge butt from a missed “Banzai Drop” like he was hit in the head with a cinder-block. You would think that with such a large posterior he wouldn’t have even been hurt at all, let alone stunned long enough for “Diesel” to get the win. “Yokozuna,” a two-time WWE champion who rose to the main-event in less than a year since his debut, had wrestled a shark, and lost.
Now something needs to be said about Anoa’i’s weight progression. “Yokozuna” was meant to be a huge sumo that used his weight and power to destroy his opponents. For his match against “Diesel” his announced weight was 641 pounds. Whether this was fabricated by the WWE is questionable, but as his career progressed so did his weight, and his immobility. Over the last two years of his WWE career he regularly had to lean on the ring-ropes to help support his weight, even before his matches began. He was passed up for other, more mobile, big men for the main-event spot. How terrible is it that he wasn’t able to move like “King Mabel?” He would flounder in the mid-card for the rest of his career.
This “back-monkey” would lead to “Yokozuna’s” eventual termination from the company as he was repeatedly told to lose weight. After failing a physical by the New York State Athletic Commission, his wrestling license was revoked, and he was let go from the WWE at the end of 1996.
In 1996 “Yokozuna” would turn face in an attempt to freshen up his character, and had a feud with the recently signed “Vader.” He was getting good face reactions from the crowds, and could have made a comeback had he gotten his weight in check. Unfortunately Rodney Anoa’i would pass away due to heart failure on October 23, 2000. He weighed 580 pounds.