Mr. Fuji
Encyclopedia
Harry Fujiwara is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 former professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 and manager
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

, best known by his ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...

 Mr. Fuji. He was infamous for often throwing salt in the eyes of face
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...

 wrestlers. Although he was billed as Japanese, he is a Japanese-American born in Hawaii.

Early career (1964–1971)

Fujiwara made his professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 debut on December 15, 1965 in his native Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 under the ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...

 Mr. Fujiwara. He won his first championship, the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship
NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship
The NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title of NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions and was defended between 1952 until 1978 when it was abandoned. The title was later revived by the current incarnation of NWA Hawaii in 2000...

, with Curtis Iaukea on January 7, 1965. He shortened his ring name to Mr. Fuji and toured many territories, including Don Owen's Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 based NWA Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Pacific Northwest Wrestling is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The first such company was founded by Herb Owen in 1925...

 where he won many championships.

World Wide Wrestling Federation (1972–1974)

Fuji debuted in Vince McMahon, Sr.'s World Wide Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 in 1972 as a heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...

. He formed a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 with Professor Toru Tanaka
Charles Kalani, Jr.
Charles "Charlie" J. Kalani, Jr. was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, college football player, soldier, actor, and Martial Artist who, in fighting rings, was also known as Professor Toru Tanaka, or simply, Professor Tanaka.-Early life:He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the son...

 and the duo were managed by Grand Wizard
Ernie Roth
Ernie Roth , best known as The Grand Wizard of Wrestling, also well known as Abdullah Farouk, was a professional wrestling manager of many infamous heels...

. Tanaka provided his physical massive strength and Fuji brought his devious ring psychology to the team, which earned him the nickname "The Devious One". Fuji used to throw salt in his opponent's eyes, which earned him victories. They defeated Sonny King
Larry Johnson (wrestler)
Larry Johnson was a professional wrestler better known as Sonny King. He competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation , where he won the WWWF Tag Team Championship.-Professional wrestling career:...

 and Chief Jay Strongbow
Joe Scarpa
Joseph Luke Scarpa is a former professional wrestler who was best known by his famous ring moniker, Chief Jay Strongbow...

 on June 27, 1972 for their first World Tag Team Championship. They quickly ascended to the main event
Main Event
Main Event is Australia's only pay-per-view channel. It transmits through Foxtel, Optus Television and Austar, which jointly own the channel...

 status, defending the titles against WWWF World Heavyweight Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...

 Pedro Morales
Pedro Morales
Pedro Morales is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He began his wrestling career as a teenager in 1959 and continued through to the late 1980s...

 and Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...

 on several occasions, throughout the year. During the feud, Fuji earned a shot at the WWWF title against Morales on August 22 but lost by count-out. They reigned for eleven months, making them the third longest WWWF World Tag Team Champions in history. They would lose the titles to Tony Garea
Anthony Garcia
Anthony "Tony" Garcia is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tony Garea, who wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation , spending thirty-two of his thirty-five year career in the promotion...

 and Haystacks Calhoun
William Calhoun
William Dee Calhoun was a professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun. The gargantuan wrestler was one of the foremost drawing cards during the industry’s “Golden Age” of the 1950s and 1960s while sporting his trademark white T-shirt, blue overalls, and...

 on May 30, 1973.

They continued to feud with Garea and Calhoun for the titles before defeating them on September 11 in a rematch to win their second WWWF World Tag Team Championship. With their title recapture, their feud with Garea and his new partner Dean Ho
Dean Higuchi
Dean Higuchi is a retired American professional wrestler, known by his ring name Dean Ho, who competed in North American regional promotions including Pacific Northwest Wrestling, the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance, specifically the Hawaii-based Big Time...

 continued. On November 14, Fuji and Tanaka lost the titles to Garea and Ho. After failing in recapturing the titles from Garea and Ho, Fuji and Tanaka left the WWWF in 1974.

Georgia Championship Wrestling (1975)

Fuji and Tanaka debuted in Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...

 in August 1975. On September 19, 1975, they participated in a four-team tournament where they defeated former WWWF rivals Tony Garea
Anthony Garcia
Anthony "Tony" Garcia is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tony Garea, who wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation , spending thirty-two of his thirty-five year career in the promotion...

 and Dean Ho
Dean Higuchi
Dean Higuchi is a retired American professional wrestler, known by his ring name Dean Ho, who competed in North American regional promotions including Pacific Northwest Wrestling, the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance, specifically the Hawaii-based Big Time...

 in the finals to win the vacant NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship
NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship
The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1968 to 1980, when it was replaced with the NWA National Tag Team Championship....

. They would lose the titles to Bob Backlund
Bob Backlund
Robert Lee "Bob" Backlund is an American professional wrestler with an in ring career that spanned over 30 years. Over that time, he went on to become a two-time WWWF/WWF Champion...

 and Jerry Brisco
Gerald Brisco
Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco is a former American professional wrestler, and prior to June, 2009, worked as a road agent for WWE on its Raw brand....

 a month later. Shortly after their title loss, they left GCW and toured other territories and won several titles.

Return to the WWWF (1977–1978)

Fuji and Tanaka returned to WWWF in 1977. They took on Freddie Blassie as their manager. On September 27, 1977, they defeated Larry Zbyzsko and longtime rival Tony Garea
Anthony Garcia
Anthony "Tony" Garcia is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tony Garea, who wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation , spending thirty-two of his thirty-five year career in the promotion...

 in the finals of a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 tournament to win their third WWWF World Tag Team Championship. They wrestled in many six-man and eight-man tag team matches during their third reign. They would eventually lose the titles to Dino Bravo
Dino Bravo
Adolfo Bresciano was an Italian-born Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his work as Dino Bravo, self-proclaimed as "Canada's Strongest Man".-Territories:...

 and Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci is an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is also an accomplished trainer, counting former World Heavyweight champions Mick Foley and Shane Douglas, as well as referee Brian Hildebrand, among his students.-Early career:...

 on March 14, 1978 edition of Championship Wrestling
WWWF Championship Wrestling
WWF Championship Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It aired from 1978 to 1986 and was the original television show of the WWF...

. Shortly after, they left WWWF again.

Touring the territories (1979–1981)

Fuji and Tanaka continued to tour the territories in 1979 where they won titles again. Later that same year, they stopped teaming and began wrestling individually. Fuji had success, winning several singles titles in many promotions including World Wrestling Council
World Wrestling Council
The World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....

, NWA New Zealand and Maple Leaf Wrestling
Maple Leaf Wrestling
Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto.-Queensbury Athletic Club:...

.

Teaming with Mr. Saito (1981–1982)

Fuji returned to World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1981, which had been renamed World Wrestling Federation in March 1979. He formed a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 with Mr. Saito
Masa Saito
is a former Japanese professional wrestler better known as Mr. Saito or . He wrestled for several years in various promotions operated by the National Wrestling Alliance . He later joined the World Wrestling Federation , where he teamed with Mr. Fuji to hold the World Tag Team Championship twice...

, which was managed by Captain Lou Albano
Lou Albano
Louis Vincent "Captain Lou" Albano was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, then he became a manager, until 1995....

. They began a feud
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...

 with tag champions Tony Garea
Anthony Garcia
Anthony "Tony" Garcia is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tony Garea, who wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation , spending thirty-two of his thirty-five year career in the promotion...

 and Rick Martel
Rick Martel
Richard Vigneault is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1980 and 1995 under the ring name Rick Martel...

, whom they defeated on October 17, 1981 edition of Championship Wrestling to win their first Tag Team Championship, though it was Fuji's fourth individual reign. They began feuding with The Strongbows (Chief Jay
Joe Scarpa
Joseph Luke Scarpa is a former professional wrestler who was best known by his famous ring moniker, Chief Jay Strongbow...

 and Jules
Jules strongbow
Frank Hill is a former professional wrestler, who is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Federation , where he used to wrestle as Chief Jules Strongbow or simply Jules Strongbow, the brother of Chief Jay Strongbow.-World Wrestling Federation :Jules made his wrestling debut in the 1970s...

) in the fall of 1981. This culminated in a title match on June 28, 1982 at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

 (MSG) where Strongbows won the titles. On July 13 edition of Championship Wrestling, they defeated Strongbows in a two out of three falls match for Fuji's fifth and Saito's second WWF Tag Team Championship. The feud of these two teams ended after Fuji and Saito lost the titles to Strongbows on October 30 edition of Championship Wrestling. Shortly after, Saito left the WWF while Fuji continued to wrestle on his own.

Managerial career (1985–1996)

Fuji retired from wrestling in 1985 and became a heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...

 manager
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

. As a manager, Fuji would "blind" his opponents by throwing salt in their eyes. He would carry a little bag of salt in his tights. His first client was George Steele
George Steele
William James Myers , better known by his ring name George "The Animal" Steele is a former American professional wrestler and actor...

. However, Steele would go on to become a fan favorite
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...

 and left Fuji. Fuji's next client was Don Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...

. They both formed a popular duo and appeared in a video package called "Fuji Vice", which was a mockery of Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...

. Fuji and Muraco then began a feud
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...

 with Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood , better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He was one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his career...

, resulting in Steamboat defeating Fuji in several matches during the feud. Fuji briefly managed Jim Neidhart
Jim Neidhart
James Henry "Jim" Neidhart is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Jim is the father of WWE Diva Natalya...

, whose contract he later sold to Jimmy Hart
Jimmy Hart
James "Jimmy" Ray Hart is a professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South." He has managed many professional...

. In 1987, he bought the contract of Demolition
Demolition (professional wrestling)
Demolition is a professional wrestling tag team most prominent during the late 1980s / early 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation made up of Ax , Smash , and later Crush . In WWF, Demolition were three-time Tag Team Champions, and hold the records for both the single longest tag title reign...

 (Ax
Bill Eadie
Bill Eadie is a professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition and The Masked Superstar...

 and Smash
Barry Darsow
Barry Darsow is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully...

) from Johnny V
John L. Sullivan (wrestler)
John L. Sullivan is a retired professional wrestler better known as Johnny Valiant. He competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation , which became the World Wrestling Federation during his time with the promotion. He won the World Tag Team Championship two times...

. He then managed Demolition to the Tag Team Championship as well as bringing Killer Khan
Killer Khan
is a retired professional wrestler. Popularly known as Killer Khan, he was billed from Mongolia and had numerous high-profile matches with André the Giant in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1980s, including the first ever "stretcher match"...

 and Sika
Sika Anoa'i
Leati "Sika" Anoa'i is a former professional wrestler and a member of the Anoa'i family.-Career:Sika teamed with his brother Afa to form the tag team the Wild Samoans. They teamed in various promotions including WWF and Mid-South. In 1979, they signed with the World Wrestling Federation...

 back to the WWF. At Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1988)
Survivor Series was the second annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...

, he turned on Demolition and began managing Demolition's rival tag team, the Powers of Pain
Powers of Pain
The Powers of Pain are an on-and-off professional wrestling tag team. They are best known for their tenure in Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation.-Jim Crockett Promotions:...

 (Warlord
Terry Szopinski
Terry Scott Szopinski is an American professional wrestler. He is best known by his ring name The Warlord and for his tenures in Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of the Powers of Pain alongside The Barbarian.-National Wrestling Alliance / Jim Crockett...

 and Barbarian
Sione Vailahi
Sione Havea Vailahi is a professional wrestler best known in wrestling as The Barbarian.-Life and career:Born and raised in Tonga, Sione was one of five teenagers sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo wrestling in the mid 1970s. Tonga Fifita was one of the other teenagers...

).

At WrestleMania V
WrestleMania V
WrestleMania V was the fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on April 2, 1989 at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey...

, Fuji teamed with the Powers of Pain in a 3-on-2 handicap match against Demolition for their Tag Team Championship. Fuji and Powers were defeated after Ax pinned Fuji. Fuji sold the individual contracts of Powers of Pain to managers
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

 Slick
Ken Johnson (wrestling)
Kenneth "Ken" Johnson better known to wrestling fans as "Slick - The Doctor of Style", is a former American professional wrestling manager with the World Wrestling Federation...

 and Bobby Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...

 and brought The Orient Express
The Orient Express
For the full article on Badd Company see Badd CompanyThe Orient Express was a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation in the early 1990s composed of Pat Tanaka and Akio Sato, who was later replaced by Kato....

 (Pat Tanaka
Pat Tanaka
Patrick "Pat" Tanaka is a semi-retired American professional wrestler best known for his work in the American Wrestling Association as one half of Badd Company and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of The Orient Express...

 and Akio Sato) to the WWF. Orient Express got involved in a feud with The Rockers
The Rockers
The Rockers were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty that teamed from 1985 to 1992. The team worked for Central States Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, Continental Wrestling Federation, Continental Wrestling Association and the World...

 (Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...

 and Marty Jannetty
Marty Jannetty
Frederick Marty Jannetty is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation as part of tag team The Rockers with partner Shawn Michaels, and later as a singles competitor. While in the WWF, he became a one time Intercontinental Champion and a one time...

). Orient Express got involved in Demolition's feud with Legion of Doom
Road Warriors
The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling, and the name Legion...

 (Hawk
Road Warrior Hawk
Michael James Hegstrand was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as the Road Warriors or The Legion of Doom , with Road Warrior Animal.-Early life:While living in Chicago, Hegstrand met Joe Lauranaitis, who would be later...

 and Animal
Road Warrior Animal
Joseph Aaron "Joe" Laurinaitis is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior...

). Fuji reunited with Demolition (who by this time had a third member, Crush
Brian Adams (wrestler)
Brian Keith Adams was an American professional wrestler. Adams gained fame in the 1990s while performing for the World Wrestling Federation , under the name Crush, and for World Championship Wrestling under his given name.Trained in Japan by Antonio Inoki, Adams was a two time WCW World Tag Team...

) at that point. Demolition was phased out while the Orient Express took on Legion of Doom in matches. Fuji briefly managed The Berzerker
John Nord
John Nord is a retired American professional wrestler. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.-Career:John Nord started wrestling in late 1984 as "The Barbarian" for Mid-South Wrestling under manager Skandor Akbar...

 from 1991 to 1993.

Fuji's greatest success and popularity as a manager came later that same year in November 1992 when he introduced the mammoth Yokozuna
Rodney Anoa'i
Rodney Agatupu Anoa'i was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation where he wrestled under the ring name Yokozuna. The term yokozuna refers to the highest rank in professional sumo wrestling in Japan...

 to the WWF. Under Fuji's tutelage, Yokozuna won the 1993 Royal Rumble match
Royal Rumble (1993)
Royal Rumble was the sixth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 24, 1993 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. The main event was a Royal Rumble match, a battle royal in which two wrestlers...

 and two WWF World Championships
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...

, first from Bret Hart
Bret Hart
Bret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...

 at WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 1993 and was the first WrestleMania event held outdoors...

, and again from Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

 at King of the Ring. Later that year, Fuji was joined by "spokesman" James E. Cornette
Jim Cornette
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...

. In late 1993, Fuji once again began managing Crush after he turned on Randy Savage
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...

.

Yokozuna fired Cornette in March 1996 after becoming a fan favorite
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...

. Fuji was last seen accompanying Yokozuna as a fan favorite to the ring for a six-man tag team match involving Yokozuna against "Camp Cornette" at WrestleMania 12. Cornette continued to feud with Yokozuna and his teammates while Fuji left the WWF shortly after.

Although Fuji wore a traditional Japanese kimono
Kimono
The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...

 while managing Yokozuna, he is best known for wearing a tuxedo and bowler hat, akin to the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 series character Oddjob.

Retirement

After leaving wrestling, Fujiwara retired to the city of Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

. In 1997, he sued the makers of the video game WCW vs. nWo World Tour, claiming that the character "Master Fuji" was based on him. Though the base of this character was actually Japanese wrestler Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Yoshiaki Fujiwara
is a Japanese actor, and professional wrestler who has worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, and UWF.-New Japan Pro Wrestling and Universal Wrestling Federation :...

, it was actually close enough to Mr. Fuji that the lawsuit was settled in Fujiwara's favor.

Fujiwara operated a training dojo out of Jefferson City, Tennessee
Jefferson City, Tennessee
Jefferson City is a city in Jefferson County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Morristown, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,760 at the 2000 census. The city was originally named Mossy Creek, but was changed in 1901 to honor Thomas Jefferson...

, and Dandridge, Tennessee
Dandridge, Tennessee
Dandridge is a town in Jefferson County, Tennessee, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County. It is part of the Morristown, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 until 2001.

Mr. Fuji was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...

 on March 31, 2007, by his former charge and Fuji Vice co-star Don Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...

. Mr. Fuji was in a wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...

 at the time of the induction, due to nine knee operations. Since then, in a running gag, John Morrison and The Miz
John Morrison and The Miz
John Morrison and The Miz were a professional wrestling tag team and former WWE Tough Enough contestants. The team worked for World Wrestling Entertainment on its ECW brand, but also appeared on the SmackDown and Raw brands due to ECW's talent exchanges with those brands during their tenure as a team...

 would often take time out of their WWE.com show, The Dirt Sheet, to cite Mr. Fuji as an old school favorite. On occasion, they would throw salt into an unsuspecting victim's face, and show old stock footage of Fuji laughing evilly. They would also claim to hang out with him at the "Palace of Wisdom".

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • Cobra clutch
    • Kamikaze Clothesline (Running lariat)

  • Signature moves
    • Diving leg drop
    • Shoulder claw

  • Managers
    Manager (professional wrestling)
    In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

    • Lou Albano
      Lou Albano
      Louis Vincent "Captain Lou" Albano was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, then he became a manager, until 1995....

    • Fred Blassie
      Fred Blassie
      Frederick Kenneth Blassman , better known as "Classy" Freddie Blassie, was an American professional wrestling villain and manager born in St. Louis, Missouri. Renowned as "The Fashion Plate of Professional Wrestling" , Blassie was a master at antagonizing the crowd, and inspired legendary animosity...

    • The Grand Wizard
      Ernie Roth
      Ernie Roth , best known as The Grand Wizard of Wrestling, also well known as Abdullah Farouk, was a professional wrestling manager of many infamous heels...


  • Wrestlers managed
    • George "The Animal" Steele
      George Steele
      William James Myers , better known by his ring name George "The Animal" Steele is a former American professional wrestler and actor...

    • Magnificent Muraco
      Don Muraco
      Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...

    • "Cowboy" Bob Orton
      Bob Orton, Jr.
      Robert Keith Orton is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Cowboy" Bob Orton. He is the father of wrestler Randy Orton, who is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment...

    • Moondogs
      Moondogs
      The Moondogs were a professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation and in two Memphis promotions: the Continental Wrestling Association and the United States Wrestling Association...

    • Killer Khan
      Killer Khan
      is a retired professional wrestler. Popularly known as Killer Khan, he was billed from Mongolia and had numerous high-profile matches with André the Giant in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1980s, including the first ever "stretcher match"...

    • Jim Neidhart
      Jim Neidhart
      James Henry "Jim" Neidhart is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Jim is the father of WWE Diva Natalya...

    • Sika
      Sika Anoa'i
      Leati "Sika" Anoa'i is a former professional wrestler and a member of the Anoa'i family.-Career:Sika teamed with his brother Afa to form the tag team the Wild Samoans. They teamed in various promotions including WWF and Mid-South. In 1979, they signed with the World Wrestling Federation...

    • Kamala
    • Demolition
      Demolition (professional wrestling)
      Demolition is a professional wrestling tag team most prominent during the late 1980s / early 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation made up of Ax , Smash , and later Crush . In WWF, Demolition were three-time Tag Team Champions, and hold the records for both the single longest tag title reign...

       (Ax
      Bill Eadie
      Bill Eadie is a professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition and The Masked Superstar...

       and Smash
      Barry Darsow
      Barry Darsow is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully...

      )
    • Powers of Pain
      Powers of Pain
      The Powers of Pain are an on-and-off professional wrestling tag team. They are best known for their tenure in Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation.-Jim Crockett Promotions:...

       (The Barbarian
      Sione Vailahi
      Sione Havea Vailahi is a professional wrestler best known in wrestling as The Barbarian.-Life and career:Born and raised in Tonga, Sione was one of five teenagers sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo wrestling in the mid 1970s. Tonga Fifita was one of the other teenagers...

       and The Warlord
      Terry Szopinski
      Terry Scott Szopinski is an American professional wrestler. He is best known by his ring name The Warlord and for his tenures in Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of the Powers of Pain alongside The Barbarian.-National Wrestling Alliance / Jim Crockett...

      )
    • The Berzerker
      John Nord
      John Nord is a retired American professional wrestler. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.-Career:John Nord started wrestling in late 1984 as "The Barbarian" for Mid-South Wrestling under manager Skandor Akbar...

    • The Orient Express
      The Orient Express
      For the full article on Badd Company see Badd CompanyThe Orient Express was a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation in the early 1990s composed of Pat Tanaka and Akio Sato, who was later replaced by Kato....

       (Pat Tanaka
      Pat Tanaka
      Patrick "Pat" Tanaka is a semi-retired American professional wrestler best known for his work in the American Wrestling Association as one half of Badd Company and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of The Orient Express...

      , Akio Sato, and Kato)
    • Crush
      Brian Adams (wrestler)
      Brian Keith Adams was an American professional wrestler. Adams gained fame in the 1990s while performing for the World Wrestling Federation , under the name Crush, and for World Championship Wrestling under his given name.Trained in Japan by Antonio Inoki, Adams was a two time WCW World Tag Team...

    • Yokozuna
      Rodney Anoa'i
      Rodney Agatupu Anoa'i was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation where he wrestled under the ring name Yokozuna. The term yokozuna refers to the highest rank in professional sumo wrestling in Japan...

    • Owen Hart
      Owen Hart
      Owen James Hart was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling , World Championship Wrestling , and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation , where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The...

    • Davey Boy Smith
      Davey Boy Smith
      Davey Boy Smith was a British professional wrestler, better known as "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, who was born in Golborne in North West England, United Kingdom. Smith is known for his appearances with Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling...


  • Nickname
    Nickname
    A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

    s
    • "The Devious One"
    • "Uji Uji"

Championships and accomplishments

  • Continental Wrestling Association
    Continental Wrestling Association
    The Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...

    • AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
      AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
      The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship from its inception through 1977, when it was renamed the AWA Southern...

       (1 time) – with Toru Tanaka

  • Georgia Championship Wrestling
    Georgia Championship Wrestling
    Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...

    • NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship
      NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship
      The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1968 to 1980, when it was replaced with the NWA National Tag Team Championship....

       (1 time) – with Toru Tanaka

  • Maple Leaf Wrestling
    Maple Leaf Wrestling
    Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto.-Queensbury Athletic Club:...

    • NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Toronto version) (1 time)

  • Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
    Jim Crockett Promotions
    Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...

    • NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship
      NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship
      The NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship is the tag team title currently defended in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Mid-Atlantic territory. The championship was originally created in the summer of 1968 and was originally named the NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship...

       (1 time) – with Genichiro Tenryu
      Genichiro Tenryu
      Genichiro Tenryu , real name Genichiro Shimada , is a Japanese professional wrestler. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling...


  • NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions
    National Wrestling Alliance
    The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...

    • NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship
      NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship
      The NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title of NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions and was defended between 1952 until 1978 when it was abandoned. The title was later revived by the current incarnation of NWA Hawaii in 2000...

       (2 times) – with Curtis Iaukea (1) and Karl Von Steiger (1)

  • NWA New Zealand
    National Wrestling Alliance
    The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...

    • NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (New Zealand version)
      NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version)
      The New Zealand version of the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Dominion Wrestling Union from 1929 to 1953 and in All Star Pro Wrestling from 1968 to 1990...

       (1 time)

  • NWA San Francisco
    National Wrestling Alliance
    The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...

    • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version)
      NWA San Francisco United States Championship
      The NWA San Francisco United States Championship was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in San Francisco, California. The title, which originated as the American Wrestling Alliance United States Championship and was renamed in 1968, existed from 1960 until...

       (1 time)

  • Pacific Northwest Wrestling
    Pacific Northwest Wrestling
    Pacific Northwest Wrestling is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The first such company was founded by Herb Owen in 1925...

    • NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship
      NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship
      The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...

       (1 time)
    • NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship
      NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship
      The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...

       (4 times) – with Haru Sasaki (3) and Tony Borne (1)

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...

    • PWI ranked him #445 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003

  • Southeastern Championship Wrestling
    Continental Championship Wrestling
    Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based out of Knoxville, Tennessee from 1974 until 1988 and Dothan, Alabama from 1978 to 1990, managed by Ron Fuller. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods, it changed name to the Continental Wrestling Federation...

    • NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Toru Tanaka

  • World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
    • IWA World Tag Team Championship
      IWA World Tag Team Championship (WCW Australia)
      The IWA World Tag Team Championship was the top tag team professional wrestling title in the Australian World Championship Wrestling promotion from 1966 through 1971....

       (1 time) – with Tiger Jeet Singh
      Tiger Jeet Singh
      Jagjit Singh Hans is a semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He wrestled as a crazed heel, coming to the ring with a sword in his mouth . Singh wrestled in Japan for 22 years...


  • World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
    World Wrestling Entertainment
    World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

    • WWE Hall of Fame
      WWE Hall of Fame
      The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...

       (Class of 2007)
    • WWWF/WWF World Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Toru Tanaka (3) and Mr. Saito (2)

  • World Wrestling Council
    World Wrestling Council
    The World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....

    • WWC North American Heavyweight Championship
      WWC North American Heavyweight Championship
      The WWC North American Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship defended in the Puerto Rican promotion, the World Wrestling Council. Created in 1974, it was the primary singles championship of the promotion until the creation of the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship...

       (1 time)
    • WWC North American Tag Team Championship
      WWC North American Tag Team Championship
      The NWA North American Tag Team Championship was a major tag team championship that was used and defended in Capitol Sports Promotions...

       (1 time) – with Pierre Martel

  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
    • Worst Manager of the Year (1984, 1985, 1987–1995)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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