Like many of the entries on the list, Yokozuna's actual nationality (and in his case, ethnicity) has become public knowledge since his wrestling days but in 1993, it was hard to imagine that the fearsome Sumo champion who defeated Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship could represent anything other than the Japanese flag his manager, Mr. Fuji, proudly waved. Yes, he was billed as being from "Polynesia," but such subtleties were lost on young viewers as he screamed "Banzai!" at us. Of course, Yokozuna was actually Rodney Anoa'i, the San Francisco-born nephew of Wild Samoans Afa and Sika and member of their legendary wrestling family. Mr. Fuji, born Harry Fujiwara in Honolulu, Hawaii, made a career out of exploiting stereotypes during wrestling's xenophobic days (you know, from the early 1900s to today). Teaming with Toru Tanaka, and later, Masa Saito, Fuji would hold the WWF World Tag Team Championship five times. He kept up the foreign heel role as a manager, leading Don Muraco, Demolition, and of course, Yokozuna, to gold. Not bad for a career based on a lie but then, that seems appropriate for pro wrestling, doesn't it?
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
