Ultimate Warrior, Yokozuna Apparently Requested For WWE Greatest Royal Rumble
They did not show up.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio earlier today, Dave Meltzer made the remarkable revelation that the "Saudi Prince" (presumably current Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman) apparently implored Vince McMahon to bring a host of wrestling's top stars to the Kingdom - amongst them The Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior, and Yokozuna.
Yes, you read that right. The Ultimate Warrior and Yokozuna.
The chairman was unwilling to comply with the request, on account of both men being deceased. Warrior passed away in 2014, just days after being inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame. The timing and magnitude of his death saw the news reach the mainstream media.
Yokozuna died eighteen years ago in Liverpool, during an independent tour of Europe.
The Undertaker - also dead, sort of - did however make an appearance last Friday.
It's Meltzer's belief that Hiroki Sumi - a name so obscure that even WWE themselves ran an article asking who he is - was included in the 50-man contest as a proxy for the ersatz Samoan sumo. Whether this was an attempt to pull the wool over the Prince's crown or just an acceptable substitute isn't clear.
Supposedly, the Prince also asked the company to bring "the guy with the crown" and the "guy in the black hat". No, not King Mabel and Blackjack Mulligan, but Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross, who are very much alive. Just a pity Sgt. Slaughter is secretly dead, or else the "army guy" could have came too.