5 WWE Superstars who lost 100+ lbs

#2 WWE Hall of Famer Yokozuna

Widely considered to be one of the best WWE big men of all time, Yokozuna held the WWE Championship twice and headlined WrestleMania on two occasions in the 1990s.

Unfortunately, just four years after he signed with WWE in 1992, Yokozuna’s run with the company came to an end after the Survivor Series pay-per-view in November 1996.

WWE had already sent the 580+ lbs Superstar away to lose weight in April 1996 but, as WWE director Bruce Prichard said on his Something to Wrestle With podcast, Yokozuna’s 100 lbs weight loss was not enough to satisfy Vince McMahon and the New York State Athletic Commission.

“It was a heart-to-heart conversation, saying, ‘Rodney [Yokozuna], we want to help you. We want to get you in shape, and we want to fix you. But you know, we’ve been down this road. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get it done.'” [H/T 411mania.com]

Yokozuna teamed with Flash Funk, Jimmy Snuka and Savio Vega against Farooq, Fake Diesel, Fake Razor Ramon and Vader at Survivor Series 1996.

According to Prichard, Vince McMahon had “blind faith” that Yokozuna could perform at the level he used to, but the WWE Chairman knew after that match that he could no longer allow his Superstar to risk his health by stepping into the ring.

Yokozuna died at the age of 34 in October 2000 from pulmonary edema – a condition caused by excess fluid in the lungs.