colonial Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 Akebono was getting a lot of attention in some U.S. media outlets as early as 1992 when he was closing in on his promotion. I swear I recall the Washington Post interviewing his family in Hawaii. And outlets like SportsCenter and George Michael Sports Machine would mention sumo from time to time on its telecasts. As far as Yokozuna the wrestler, his Wiki mentioned that when Samu and Fatu had their first WWE TV match as "The Samoans" in 1992, Gorilla Monsoon mentioned that a "much larger Samoan" would be joining them soon, so it sounds like there was a thought of Yoko working as Kokina Maximus (or something similar) when he debuted. Found the French-language version of said match (Samu/Fatu vs. Jim Brunzell/Phil Apollo), but I'm not sure if the match ever aired for U.S. viewers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zendragon Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 I believe Rodney broke his leg so he ends up coming later as a solo act 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Didn't know that. Was WWF planning on having a trios title or something? Given how great Yoko looked when he came in and definitely how he was presented, I think they knew it would've been easier to slide him into one of the vacant slots up at the top since 1992 going into 1993 was pretty hectic. They also never presented Afa as one of the top managers or as a real mouthpiece. Plus, in the first year or so, the Headshrinkers aren't pushed above a certain level despite absolutely murdering jobbers every week. That is when Yoko is pretty much pushed as WWF champion or the guy about to challenge for the WWF title. Would they have gotten a bigger push if Rodney is in the mix? It's also funny that when Samu quit a couple years later, one or two of the shows tapings weren't fully caught up. So there is one week where Fatu is with Sionne who had just been inserted into the mix. Then, the next week Fatu is with Samu in his last televised match as a Headshrinker. Either the same week or the next week, he is then back with Sionne. I believe the official explanation is (or explanations are) LOL IT'S A TRIO, Samu ate some bad fish, and also Captain Lou wants it to be a surprise which tag team it will be. However, obviously, you never see all three together. The thing is...it makes absolutely zero sense. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 This popped up for me tonight. Better late than never. https://youtu.be/fPyj6A-lDYs?si=O7s5LSQbGUagBIcE 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka-to Posted April 29 Share Posted April 29 Jason Knight posted that Billy Reil passed away. I was backstage at a Fat Frank show when Frank said "hey go ref this match" to me for a match with Billy. It happened twice and those were the only two matches that I ever refed. Billy always remembered that whenever I saw him. I gladly shared my homebrew with him. He was way too young for this to happen. Boo! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted Tuesday at 01:30 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 01:30 PM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabremike Posted Wednesday at 07:51 AM Share Posted Wednesday at 07:51 AM 18 hours ago, RIPPA said: Trent was No Good Kid Mikey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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