29 Wrestlers Who Died In 2019
17. Wally Yamaguchi (9 March)
Yusuke 'Wally' Yamaguchi, known amongst western wrestling fans as the charismatic manager of Japanese stable Kai En Tai, died in March following a lengthy illness.
Yamaguchi, who suffered a serious stroke in 2017, was 60 years old.
Although Yamaguchi is best remembered by Attitude Era adherents for the infamous skit in which he supposedly performed an impromptu penectomy on porn star Val Venis - after uttering the immortal line, "I choppy choppy your pee pee!" - the manager played an influential role promoting wrestling in his homeland.
During the height of the Japanese wrestling boom, Yamaguchi was one of the key figures behind the weekly Gong magazine, and also helped set up legendary hardcore wrestler Atsushi Onita's FMW promotion. He was a close friend and contact of The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, who depended on Yamaguchi for much of his Japanese coverage in the '80s and '90s.
When WWE brought the Michinoku Pro group Kai En Tai to the company, they drafted Yamaguchi in as their suited figurehead. The run reached its apex with the aforementioned angle, a consequence of Venis allegedly having an affair with Yamaguchi's wife.