Honestly he is overrated by WWE and IWC. When he was champion you can see empty seats in the building. Vader and Bigelow were better big men.

 

His size was the only thing he had going for him. Vader was a much better overall big man.

 

Very overrated.

His era was the era of monsters primarily used for Hogan to go over. By today's standards, he was very overrated. He couldn't cut a promo, couldn't go in the ring and WWE got rid of him the first chance they got.

Getting into the WWE HOF isn't all that big of a deal. Donald Trump is in the HOF. So it means jack.

 

His era was the era of monsters primarily used for Hogan to go over. By today's standards, he was very overrated. He couldn't cut a promo, couldn't go in the ring and WWE got rid of him the first chance they got.

The weird thing is recently I saw an interview with him on a British show and he showed a very charismatic side to him that he never got to show on WWE TV.

 

Yokozuna gets heralded as a legend in WWF history: he's in the WWE Hall of Fame. But does he really deserve that sort of adulation?

His gimmick was a mess because he was clearly not Japanese.He was an awful wrestler who couldn't do anything in the ring. Even his opponents were limited in what they could do to him offensively. For this reason, Yokozuna never had a good match in his entire wrestling career.

He got over because of his size / fatness, but in the end, this same quality shortened his career and eventually killed him. WWF had to send him to a weight loss clinic at one point, but he kept sneaking out to eat more. By 1999, he was deliberately eating more and more to try to become the heaviest wrestler of all time. He was 760 pounds here at the Heroes of Wrestling PPV (see - https://ringthedamnbell.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/004.jpg ). Given the way his life ended, you wonder if it's right and proper for WWE to honor him? It wasn't like he died from a disease like Andre. He died from reckless, deliberate, irresponsible behavior.

To what extent did Yokozuna get inducted because he was a member of the Anoaʻi family, which includes The Rock and Roman Reigns?

You know that there exists popular professional sumo wrestlers that aren't Japanese, right? A Samoan in a sumo gimmick isn't a mess because non-Japanese sumo's exist at the highest level of the sport.

Even his very name isn't intended to make him a Japanese character, since Yokozuna literally translates to "Grand Champion of Sumo", and is a rank.

 

Lol wut

Yokozuna was billed from “The land of the rising sun,” and his manager was this guy. They were clearly trying to pass Yoko as a Japanese person :

 

You can't call a guy that big that could move that fast overrated. I didn't even have cable at the time and I was deathly afraid of that mf..!

 

He's been quoted by those he worked with in WWF as "light as a feather to work with".

I mean, take from that what you will.

He worked his style, his gimmick, perfectly. His moves had impact. You felt like no one could beat him. He was a great heel. In the end, isn't that what it's about? How it makes fans feel? If he put on technical wrestling clinics but fans perceived him as stoppable, it's not better than how he was presented in 92/93, which was, an absolute unstoppable monster. Believable, and just a really good worker.

 

He was great in 1992-93. A vicious fat bastard with a mean streak. Then the extra weight piled on and already by the beginning of 1994 he was sucking wind in his matches after about four minutes. The dreaded nerve pinch was a particular Yoko favourite for the rest of his career, or just leaning on the top rope for a bit of a rest. It’s no wonder by 1995 he was already forced to participate mainly in tag matches.

So yeah he was a valuable asset for about a year. Nowhere near a legend but just a pity his weight issues took over as he could’ve been a big time player for a few more years otherwise. He was still incredibly young when he passed.

 

“An awful wrestler that couldn’t do anything in the ring” makes me think this is a troll thread. He could move with ease and he could work a match that made it look like he was brutalizing his opponents but, unlike Vader, he wasn’t actually stiffing them. He was literally the definition of a good worker.

 

Nah. Yoko was one of the few serious acts at the time. He was pretty cool IMO and the banzai drop is one of the most believable finishers ever

 

He was the most successful character that Vince McMahon created between 1991 and 1996. By far. Yokozuna was credible and over enough to be the first long-term heel WWF champion ever, and main evented in 1993 and 1994. He made more money for the company than Razor Ramon (never a consistent headliner), Diesel (champion at the company's lowest point), or Tatanka - who I would say were the next most successful McMahon creations during that time.

His run is looked past because how it deteriorated in 1995 and 1996 for reasons that others have covered. But in 1993 and 1994 he was at least as credible as Vader was during his monster heel WCW run in 1993.

 

Uh no, Yoko drew nothing and while slightly better than Diesel and was not over as champion, he only got the belt at WM 9 to transition the belt from Hart to Hogan without them facign each other. Yoko had been in the company 6 months and was booked to lose to Bret until Hogan changed the finish the day before WM 9. Luger was a much better heel and had they gone with face Bret vs heel Luger liek the orginial plan was in summer 93 they would have done much better. The only time seats were filled up in 93 was either when Bret was champ or to see the Undertaker. He only got the belt at KOTR 93 because Hogan double crossed Vince and Bret by refusing to job to Bret at SUmmerslam 93 which was a condition of Hogan leaving with the belt at WM 9 in the first place.

 

No, Yokozuna shouldn't be removed from the Hall of Fame because he ate too much food.

He earned the Hall of Fame, and he's not overrated. No one puts him on the same level as Hogan, Piper, Austin, Savage, etc.

 

I didn't mind Yoko personally. But to be honest, I've never really ever heard of anyone ever rating him to begin with. So I'd say he isn't overrated.

 

Yoko got too fat and out of shape but he was pretty good in 92 and 93

I honestly liked his tag team with Owen Hart.

 

Yoko wasnt as good as Bigelow or Vader but he was much better than Mable or Giant Gonzalez or Kama.

 

Was he better than Khali? No, right? … but Khali gets ripped apart whereas Yoko gets in the HOF

 

Yoko wasn't over and dint get cornette until Aug 93 and so he had no mouthpiece. Back then faces usually got 8-12 months with the belt and Bret had only had it for 6. No heel had ever left champion and with Vince coming off a sex and steroid scandal no way Vince was lettign Yoko leave champ to upset the fans.

 

I loved him for his size tbh,he got out of control though and ruined his life career. He was a good wrestler and I loved how he would sell falling down like a tower.

 

Yokozuna is overrated, the only decent matches he had were against bret and the undertaker and that was more down to them carrying him to a good match. Not japanese,neither is Mr Fuji,but at least he was believable as being billed from japan,just not believeable in the ring.

 

No, he was not.

He was exactly what the company needed when he main evented. He was actually very light and agile in the ring at this time and had such a presence, he didn't even need promos to get himself over. He was very scary for kids and very believable as a champion for adults. Without him as a heel at the point, it would have been difficult for the company to fully segue into the depths of the New Generation Era, his contribution in getting it started shouldn't be overlooked. To be fair, the only great wrestler he faced in his run was Bret. Undertaker was fun, entertaining and brilliantly watchable but was still pretty green.

The only issue with Yokozuna was the way he was booked. He was booked as a monster crushing everything in his path but could only beat jobbers fairly. He had Fuji's help in blinding Duggan before he took him down. Yes, Duggan. He'd lost to Bret at Mania 9 before Fuji threw salt and got him the victory. He was Hogan's bitch in about two minutes. He won the title back by Hogan having salt thrown in his eyes. Luger slammed him. Luger knocked him unconscious out of the ring. He needed every heel on the roster to help him beat Taker. He needed Savage to inexplicably try and pin him in a Rumble match. He beat Luger due to Perfect's refereeing and disqualification. He lost to Bret after inexplicably falling off the ropes. I don't think he ever cleanly beat anyone that mattered.

That wasn't on him though, he did a good job of selling the gimmick.

Obviously afterwards, he well and truly went down to his weight issues but no, for his main event run, he's not overrated and had the greatest finisher ever because you not only do not kick out of it, you cannot.

 

He was the first long term heel champion that Vince really invested in, which ultimately made Bret's title win at Mania X more satisfactory.

Also, I dug his stuff with Undertaker. They had good chemistry due to Yoko's massive size and Taker's mystique.

 

In order to be overrated you have to be rated highly. How many people talk about Yokozuna here? He's not in anyone's top 100, not really discussed as one of the best big men. I think he's rated pretty fairly.
He was an ok big man, had a decent character. Didn't elevate the product but didn't sabaotage it either. 93-94 is at least seen more favorably than 95. 1994's WM did better than 93 and 95 and he secured Bret as the guy so his run wasn't a total failure.

I think adding Cornette was a mistake.

 

He was overrated 100%

 

for his weight he was already very agile

 

Yoko was a terrific worker and played his role perfectly. A big man that knew how to use his size eg making it special when he would finally get knocked down.

Watching as a kid I thought he was Japanese.

I thought it was all real so believing someone was a certain ethnicity was not a stretch.

 

What is this thread!! Yoko was one of the best heels of the 90s, especially when he had Cornette as his mouthpiece!! Not overrated at all!!

 

I have next to no idea what could have inspired OP to make this thread about a monster heel many don't really talk about as a GOAT to begin with. All the same, the comments of him being overrated are patently absurd when considering he was far better than other men around his same size as well. While obviously not on Bam Bam's or Vader's level, he was a competent and believable power worker with impressive speed/agility for his size. Being as heavy as he was, he was also rather easy to buy into as a dominant and imposing threat to pretty much anyone on the roster.

He may not have actually been Japanese, but that should hardly be a death sentence for the man's credibility as a performer. Bottom line, he was a dominant monster heel and a good power worker. His main flaw was not being allowed to go over top babyfaces without a ton of ass pulls of assistance from his manager. Seriously, the dude's easily over 500 pounds and possesses surprising agility for his size. He shouldn't need a salt throw in the eyes of his opponent to win any matchup whom isn't vs a no name jobber he'd destroy in like 10 seconds!

 

I have next to no idea what could have inspired OP to make this thread about a monster heel many don't really talk about as a GOAT to begin with.

he’s in the WWE Hall of Fame, he was a 3x champion, he headlined Wrestlemania, he won the title within a year or so of his push (I think). He doesn’t get rated as the #1, yet he doesn’t get rated among the bottom as he should. Yokozuna gets ranked like Mark Henry or Big Show when he is really on the same level as Khali

 

Very overrated, his title reign was a chore to watch,,and any " wow look at the size of time" awe moment died with his runs after the title reign, jobbed to Taker, put in some mid card tag team with owen hart, was apart of cano cornette then dumped by Camp Cornette, out in a uneventful fued with Vader, and slowly forgotten about by the fans and let go by vince, went from the top of the business in ine of the least good years in wwe history (1993), to jobbing to Austin in a pre show 3 minute match at Summerslam 96.