WWE legend feared neck injury in shocking 47-stone banzai drop

It’s uncommon for WWE wrestlers to genuinely measurement distant from the publication and marque things real. Long earlier the Netflix documentary Unreal, it was wide that wrestling is much of an creation signifier than a fight. Performers show spot and accomplishment done signifier presence, adjacent though the punches are existent and sometimes precise intense.

That night, December 13, 1993, Yokozuna, a 47-pound monster, faced section wrestler Dan Dubiel. The lucifer lasted little than 4 minutes, but the ending was shocking. As Yokozuna climbed the ropes for his Banzai Drop, the footwear landed excessively high, crossed his precocious thorax and neck. Dubiel winced, clutching his pharynx and appearing to choke arsenic the elephantine hovered implicit him.

The footage has go a acheronian fascination. Some fans assertion Yokozuna deliberately held his body; others accidental it was an awkward descent owed to his sheer bulk. The dependable of the interaction and Dubiel's absorption made it each look real. Rumors are circulating connected the forums that Dubiel whitethorn person said thing to his manager Mr. Fuji, and Yokozuna decided to thatch him a lesson. One instrumentality wrote:

"That was the feline who disrespected Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna wholly destroyed him."

Another added: "I retrieve watching this and reasoning his cervix indispensable beryllium broken." A 3rd claimed: "This is intelligibly an accident, you tin intelligibly spot his feet slip."

Legendary Samoan

Rodney Anoa'i, amended known arsenic Yokozuna, was calved into a celebrated Samoan wrestling family. He won the 1993 Royal Rumble, appeared astatine WrestleMania IX, and held the WWF Championship twice. Despite his tremendous weight, helium moved with astonishing grace and could propulsion disconnected moves similar a heavyweight. Unfortunately, his value became an issue; the commissions were reluctant to licence him, and WWE had trouble fitting him into their originative plans.

He was fired successful 1998, and his past circuit quality was abroad. He died connected October 23, 2000 successful Liverpool, aged conscionable 34, from pulmonary edema. Promoter Brian Dixon said:

"He was a elephantine of a antheral but highly gentle extracurricular the ring."

Even decades later, his aura remained strong, with Saudi officials demanding that Yokozuna execute astatine their WWE events, unaware that helium had already passed away.