About Yokozuna (wrestler)
Rodney Agatupu Anoaʻi (October 2, 1966 – October 23, 2000) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he wrestled under the ring name Yokozuna. He was also known for his appearances with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as Great Kokina. Anoa'i's character was portrayed as a champion sumo wrestler, with his ring name being a reference to the highest rank in professional sumo wrestling in Japan. While Anoaʻi wrestled as a representative of Japan, he was a Samoan American and was billed as hailing from Polynesia. However, he was managed by the Japanese character Mr. Fuji (in reality a Japanese American) who would follow Anoaʻi to the ring with a wooden bucket of salt while waving a Japanese flag. In the WWF, Anoaʻi was a two-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion and two-time WWF Tag Team Champion (with Owen Hart), as well as the winner of the 1993 Royal Rumble. He was the first wrestler of Samoan descent to hold the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the first Royal Rumble winner who (as a result of a direct stipulation) received a WWF world championship title shot at WrestleMania. He defeated WWE Hall of Famers Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan at consecutive pay-per-views in the main events of WrestleMania IX and the 1993 King of the Ring, to win his two WWF Championships, also headlining WrestleMania X against Hart. He was the third-fastest newcomer (after Brock Lesnar and Sheamus) to win the WWF Championship after his debut. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012. Having cemented his movement towards main-event status, Yokozuna was a competitor in the first-ever match in Monday Night Raw history, defeating the much smaller Koko B.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.