Yokozuna

Agatupu Rodney Anoai (October 2, 1966 – October 23, 2000) was an American professional wrestler.

He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he wrestled under the ring name Yokozuna.

He was also known for his appearances with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as Great Kokina.

Anoaʻi's character was portrayed as a champion sumo wrestler, with his ring name being a reference to the highest rank in professional sumo wrestling in Japan.

While Anoaʻi wrestled as a representative of Japan, he was a Samoan American and was billed as hailing from Polynesia.

However, he was managed by the Japanese character Mr. Fuji (in reality a Japanese American) who would follow Anoai to the ring with a wooden bucket of salt while waving a Japanese flag.

He debuted in 1985.

He spent the early years of his career performing for promotions such as International World Class Championship Wrestling, Texas All-Star Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, the Continental Wrestling Association, and the Continental Wrestling Federation under a variety of ring names, including "Giant Kokina", "Great Kokina", "Kokina", and "Kokina the Samoan".

In December 1988, he wrestled for the Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) in Germany, unsuccessfully challenging Otto Wanz for the CWA World Heavyweight Championship.

In August 1988, Anoaʻi began making appearances in Japan with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as "Great Kokina".

In August and September 1988, he took part in the "Sengoku Series" tour, where he faced opponents such as Super Strong Machine and Tatsutoshi Goto, and teamed with fellow gaijin including Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow and Scott Hall.

Anoaʻi made his next appearances with NJPW in June and July 1989 as part of its "Summer Fight Series".

During this tour, he repeatedly teamed with Big Van Vader and Mike Kirchner, with his opponents including Kengo Kimura, Masa Saito, and Riki Choshu.

In October and November that year, Anoaʻi made a third tour of Japan as part of NJPW's "Toukon Series"; during this stint, he again repeatedly teamed with Big Van Vader, while his opponents included Choshu, Kimura, Masahiro Chono, and Osamu Kido.

In 1989, Anoaʻi received his first major exposure in the United States when he joined American Wrestling Association (AWA) as "Kokina Maximus".

Managed by Sheik Adnan El Kassey, he depicted a disheveled Samoan wild man, and was billed as the biggest Samoan wrestler ever.

In late-1989, an angle was booked in which he repeatedly delivered a big splash to Greg Gagne, marking the end of Gagne's career.

Anoaʻi wrestled a fourth stint with NJPW in January and February 1990 as part of its "New Spring Gold Series".

During this tour he once again teamed with Big Van Vader, as well as teaming with his future World Wrestling Federation tag team partner Owen Hart.

On the final day of his tour, he and Vader unsuccessfully challenged Masa Saito and Shinya Hashimoto for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

He returned to NJPW for one week in July 1990 during the "Wrestling Scramble", teaming with Wild Samoan as the Samoan SWAT Team and unsuccessfully challenging Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

He had a short sixth stint with NJPW in September 1990 during the "Explosion Tour", once again teaming with Wild Samoan.

Anoaʻi made his final appearance with the AWA in April 1990, losing to Yukon John Nord in a lumberjack match at SuperClash IV.

In February 1990, Anoaʻi began wrestling for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) in Mexico as "Great Kokina".

He initially wrestled primarily in two-out-of-three falls matches.

Anoaʻi returned to NJPW for a seventh stint in April 1991 during that year's "Explosion Tour".

This stint saw the Samoan SWAT Team primarily wrestle six-man tag team matches, teaming with Scott Norton or Pegasus Kid.

He made a sixth stint with NJPW in July 1991 as part of the "Summer Crush" tour and a seventh stint in September 1991 as part of the "Battle Autumn" tour, again teaming with Wild Samoan.

At the end of the Battle Autumn tour, Anoaʻi took part in the "Memorial Battle in Yokohama" event at the Yokohama Arena, teaming with Wild Samoan, Pegasus Kid, and Brad Armstrong to defeat Black Cat, Kengo Kimura, Osamu Kido, and Shiro Koshinaka.

In October 1991, Anoaʻi and Great Kokina took part in the Super Grade Tag League; they defeated Kim Duk and Tiger Jeet Singh but lost their other five matches, ultimately placing in joint last place with two points.

Anoaʻi made a ninth stint with NJPW in March 1992 as part of the "Big Fight Series", once again teaming with Wild Samoan as the Samoan SWAT Team; the main event of the final day of the series saw the Samoan SWAT Team and Big Van Vader lose to Keiji Muto, Masahiro Chono, and Riki Choshu in the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

In June and July 1992, the Samoan SWAT Team wrestled on the "Masters of Wrestling" tour.

Anoaʻi made his final appearances with NJPW in September 1992 as part of its "Battle Autumn" tour.

His last match took place at the "Battle Hold Arena" event at the Yokohama Arena, where the Samoan SWAT Team lost to Raging Staff (Super Strong Machine and Tatsutoshi Goto).

In the WWF, Anoai was a two-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion and two-time WWF Tag Team Champion (with Owen Hart), as well as the winner of the 1993 Royal Rumble.

He was the first wrestler of Samoan descent to hold the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the first Royal Rumble winner who (as a result of a direct stipulation) received a WWF world championship title shot at WrestleMania.

He defeated WWE Hall of Famers Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan in consecutive pay-per-view victories in the main event of WrestleMania IX, and the 1993 King of the Ring, to win his two WWF Championships, also headlining WrestleMania X against Hart.

He was the third-fastest newcomer (after Brock Lesnar and Sheamus) to win the WWF Championship after his debut.

He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.

Anoaʻi grew up in a family full of wrestlers, the Anoaʻi family; his uncles, the Wild Samoans (Afa Anoaʻi and Sika Anoaʻi) trained him from an early age.