10 Stupidest Reasons WWE Wrestlers Turned Babyface

4. Yokozuna (Old Managers Stopped Him From Speaking)

Yokozuna 1996
WWE.com

It's always weird when WWE cast a character as hailing from a certain country for years then suddenly drop that pretence when they feel like it. It happened with "Jamaican" Kofi Kingston, and it happened before that with "Japanese" Yokozuna. The big sumo heel turned babyface in 1996 and shed his kayfabe heritage.

You won't believe his excuse.

The reborn Samoan explained that he could always speak English, but that managers like Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette had prevented him from doing so on the off chance people liked him. They were to blame for his cruel, heelish behaviour over the past four years or so, and he wanted to make up for lost time by getting to know the fans.

That was it - that was Yoko's reason. Around four years of character work and two World Title reigns were palmed off as something that happened against his will. How stupid is that? Here's a guy who had won the Royal Rumble, and yet he couldn't say no to Cornette?

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.