Wrestlers Who Were Able To Body Slam Yokozuna
There have been many giants who have entered the squared circle throughout the decades in wrestling, but one that rose to fame for his sheer size was Yokozuna. Yokozuna was born into the Anoa'i family, and the Wild Samoans are his uncles. The Wild Samoans trained him at a young age to enter the wrestling business. In the WWF, Yokozuna was billed at six foot, four inches, and clocked in at a weight of 589 pounds, but that number fluctuated throughout his career. Yokozuna played the character of a sumo, wrestler even though he never actually competed in any sumo matches during his career.
Sometimes the big men of wrestling are simply sideshow acts and don't make it past the mid card, but this was not the case for Yokozuna. Yokozuna won the WWF Championship from Bret Hart at WrestleMania IX, with the help of his manager, Mr. Fuji. Yokozuna held the WWF Championship for two years because his size and ability made him extremely hard to beat. Power offense, like body slams, were nearly impossible to land on Yokozuna due to how bulky he was. However, over his career, there were a few men that were able to actually get the big man off his feet, over their heads, and slam Yokozuna to the mat. These are all the competitors who have ever body slammed Yokozuna in wrestling history.
Ron Simmons
Before Yokozuna debuted in the WWF, he was wrestling in other parts of the world, gaining experience. On August 12th, 1987, he made a one off appearance for Jim Crockett Promotions under the name Samoan Kokina. The match took place at a house show, but was later aired on the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) television show on October 3rd, 1987. The match saw Ron Simmons scoop Yokozuna up and body slam to the mat for the first time in history.
Simmons followed up the body slam with a shoulder block off the second rope to score the pinfall victory at the one minute and 49 second mark. Although Ron Simmons body slamming Yokozuna for the first time was an impressive feat of strength, it is important to note that Yokozuna was much slimmer at this early point of his career.
Ron Simmons hit the inaugural body slam on Yokozuna, and only a few more would follow in his footsteps years later.
Lex Luger
After Yokozuna won the WWF Championship at WrestleMania IX, he feuded with Hulk Hogan. At King of the Ring 1993, Yokozuna defeated Hulk Hogan to retain his WWF Championship and, in the process, "ran" Hogan out of the WWF. As a means of celebrating, Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji scheduled a "body slam competition" aboard the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, on the Fourth of July in 1993. The winner of the challenge would be the next competitor to face Yokozuna for his WWF Championship.
A mix of athletes and wrestlers appeared on the USS Intrepid and tried to slam Yokozuna, but failed. It seemed as if the event was over until Lex Luger entered the scene on a helicopter with the determination to body slam the over 600 pound Yokozuna on Independence Day. Aside from the annual hot dog eating contest, what is more American than that?
On Sean Waltman's podcast, "Pro Wrestling 4 Life," Lex Luger talked about how nervous he was that day. He mentioned that the WWF didn't let him practice the body slam because they were afraid he would injure himself beforehand. Luger recalls how Yokozuna helped him pull off this incredible feat of strength: "I didn't have good footing when I got in that ring there. I had cowboy boots on, and Yoko calmed me down and said, 'Don't worry, I got this. Just get a wide base.'" Luger pulled it off and got himself a WWF Championship match at SummerSlam 1993.
Mabel
In 1987 and 1993, Yokozuna had been body slammed by the quintessential wrestling "muscle man" physique of Ron Simmons and Lex Luger. In 1994, Yokozuna found himself crossing paths with a competitor that was almost his size ... almost. Mabel, later known as Viscera and Big Daddy V, clocked in at a billed weight of 487 pounds. Yokozuna and Mabel clashed a few times on pay-per-view. The first instance was when the two had a match at In Your House 4, and later, Yokozuna eliminated Mabel from the 1996 Royal Rumble.
However, before any of these behemoth style clashes on pay-per-view, the two faced off at a house show in 1994. The footage of the match was shared with WWF audiences through Coliseum Home Video. At the start of the match, Yokozuna picked up Mabel with ease and slammed him to the mat. Watching Yokozuna pick up a man over 450 pounds and body slam him was impressive enough, but Mabel returned the favor. After getting back to his feet, Mabel picked up Yokozuna for a body slam, also making it look easy. Both men showed impressive displays of strength against each other and although the two met up in future matches, this was the only time Mabel would body slam Yokozuna. If only Mabel had been on the USS Intrepid a year later, he could have won himself a WWF title shot.
Ahmed Johnson
Sometimes a single move can put a wrestler over, and that is exactly what happened when Ahmed Johnson body slammed Yokozuna on his WWF debut. On the October 30th, 1995 episode of "Monday Night Raw," Razor Ramon defended his Intercontinental Championship against Owen Hart. The match ended in disqualification when Yokozuna interfered and attacked Razor Ramon. Yokozuna hit a headbutt and devastating leg drop on the 1-2-3 Kid, who had come in to help Razor before Ahmed Johnson entered the ring. Yokozuna's back was to Ahmed so he didn't realize someone was behind him at first.
Eventually, Yokozuna turns around right into a body slam from the jacked up Ahmed Johnson. This body slam got an immediate reaction from the crowd, which is exactly what a debuting superstar wants. The physique of Ahmed Johnson, along with his impressive showing of strength, really helped establish Johnson as a major player in the WWF. Ahmed Johnson joined the very small list of wrestlers who were able to body slam Yokozuna and the even smaller list of wrestlers who were elevated quickly thanks to body slamming the near 600 pounder.