5 Superstars who Vince McMahon would not let wrestle for WWE again

#3 Vince McMahon would not let Yokozuna wrestle for WWE again

Yokozuna was a member of the Anoa'i family

Yokozuna is widely considered to be one of the greatest big men that has ever competed in WWE. Unfortunately, that turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. He once put on so much weight that Vince McMahon never allowed him to wrestle for WWE again.

Back in April 1996, Yokozuna took time away from WWE to lose weight. Although he lost over 100 lbs, the weight loss was still not enough to satisfy the New York State Athletic Commission. Vince McMahon also had concerns about Yokozuna’s weight but, according to Bruce Prichard, he had “blind faith” that his Superstar would be okay.

Prichard, who was Vince McMahon’s right-hand man around that time, discussed Yokozuna’s career on his Something to Wrestle With podcast. The WWE director said Vince McMahon decided to end Yokozuna’s in-ring WWE career after Survivor Series 1996.

“Well, it should have been the end [of Yokozuna’s career] before that. It’s just another example of in the day, Vince kind of having that blind faith and wanting to continually help. ‘By God, they’ll come around. No, they’ll do it, they’ll be all right.’” [H/T 411mania]

That event saw Yokozuna team with Flash Funk, Jimmy Snuka, and Savio Vega against Farooq, Fake Diesel, Fake Razor Ramon, and Vader. However, as Prichard recalled, the two-time WWE Champion could not perform at his previous level, prompting Vince McMahon to make a tough decision.

“And then when it’s in front of you, you’re feeling it, it just takes that last step sometimes. So you know, this was it. It was that, ‘God dammit, man. He can’t get in the ring again. Not on on our watch.’ And it should have been done before that.”

Four years later, Yokozuna died at the age of 34 in October 2000 due to a condition caused by excess fluid in the lungs.