#3 Lex Luger bodyslams Yokozuna
Yokozuna is, in this writer's humble opinion, one of the most underrated WWE Superstars of all time. The WWE has built a reputation of themselves as the land of the giants, and have traditionally relied upon babyface wrestlers stepping up and defeating larger than life villains, all in the name of the American way of life.
Yokozuna fitted into this narrative perfectly. He was an all conquering heel, able to (literally) squash opponents, and would constantly threaten to tear apart the hopes and dreams of all the young American boys and girls across the country. Along with his manager, Mr Fuji, he would wave the Japanese flag high above the WWF ring, tempting all would-be challengers to come and take his crown.
In actual fact, the Yokozuna character was portrayed Rodney Agatupu Anoa’i, a member of the historic Samoan wrestling family. Back in 1993, Anoa’i would secure his very first WWF Championship at Wrestlemania 9, defeating Bret Hart in the main event. The man went on to have one of the most dominant years in WWF history, all while weighing an incredible 568 pounds. And contrary to expectations, Yoko was no slouch in the ring.
He was able to carry out near impossible flexibility and athleticism despite his size and would put on matches that lasted well over 10 minutes. While a lot of people credit Bret Hart for wrestling two matches at Wrestlemania 10 a year later, most people forget that Yokozuna also endured two matches on that night, both for the WWF Championship itself.
In 1993, as the Summerslam period was approaching, Vince knew he needed a new babyface in a position to take on his monster heel. Hulk Hogan had now officially left the company altogether, and the pool of talent McMahon had left to choose from was fairly thin. He would, therefore, have to create somebody, practically from scratch. In an unexpected turn of events, Vince turned to Lex Luger, a Superstar mainly known for being a heelish member of Bobby Heenan’s faction, and decided to create a new Hulk Hogan for the 90s.
Mr Fugi was becoming so confident that nobody on the roster would be able to defeat Yokozuna for the WWF Champion, that he issued an open challenge to the entire locker room to attempt to bodyslam his Japanese giant. To add insult to injury, the event would take place on 4th July, America’s birthday, onboard the USS Intrepid. Numerous Superstars such as Crush, Randy Savage and Bob Backlund all attempted to slam Yoko but ultimately failed.
When all hope appeared to be lost, out stepped the re-packaged Lex Luger who, to the sheer delight of the viewing audience, picked Yoko up and slammed him to the ground. The scene was clearly an attempt to re-live the magic of Wrestlemania 3 when Hogan bodyslammed Andre, and while Luger’s attempt cannot be spoken about in the same light as Hogan’s, it was still pretty special in its own right.
Luger would go on to enjoy relative success for the remainder of the year but was never quite able to break out into the WWF’s upper echelons, despite Vince’s best efforts.
