Yokozuna Memorial Show | |||
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Promotion | World Xtreme Wrestling | ||
Date | 29 November 2001 | ||
City | Allentown, Pennsylvania | ||
Venue | WXW Arena | ||
Attendance | 100 (est.) | ||
Event chronology | |||
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The Yokozuna Benefit Memorial Show was a professional wrestling event produced by World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion which took place on 29 November 2001, at the Lehigh Valley Sports Zone (WXW Arena) in Allentown, Pennsylvania. [1] It was held in memory of wrestler Rodney "Yokozuna" Anoa'i, the nephew of promoter Afa Anoa'i and former two-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion, who died of pulmonary edema in Liverpool, England during a tour of Europe the previous year. The show served as a benefit show for his widow and two children, Keilani and Justin. Eleven professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card, with two including championships.
Wrestlers from the Heartland Wrestling Association, Jersey All Pro Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation appeared on the show, [2] as did members of the Anoa'i family including The Wild Samoans, Afa and Sika Anoa'i, Afa Anoa'i, Jr., The Tonga Kid, and HWA Tag Team Champions The Island Boys (Ekmo and Kimo). [3] WWF Hall of Famer Bob Backlund and Extreme Championship Wrestling manager Bill Alfonso also made surprise appearances during the event. [4] [5]
The main event was a standard wrestling match between Da Hit Squad (Monsta Mack and Mafia), and their mystery opponents, The Headshrinkers (Rikishi and Samu), in their first match together since 1994. [6] In the semi-main event, The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane) wrestled The Acolytes Protection Agency (Faarooq and Bradshaw). Another featured match was Shannon Moore versus Jamie Noble, in a revival of sorts of the feud between World Championship Wrestling rivals 3 Count and The Jung Dragons, which Moore won. A second former WCW star, and graduate of the Wild Samoan Training Center, Billy Kidman beat Low Ki, [7] and The Tonga Kid and The Hungarian Barbarian defeated The Twin Tackles (Gene Snisky and Robb Harper), accompanied by Bill Alfonso, in a non-title match for the WXW Tag Team Championship. [5]
Two of the participants, Malachi and Supreme Lee Great, both called the show one their all-time favorites; [8] SLG named the show one of the top three highlights of his career. [9] Sal Corrente, co-founder of WrestleReunion, was also in attendance and later wrote "It was a night that won't easily be forgotten if I ever forget it". [10] The WWF's involvement in the event was featured in WWF Raw Magazine in March 2002. [11]
No. | Results [4] [5] | Stipulations | ||
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1 | Tommy Suede (with Ariel) defeated Supreme Lee Great (with Little Jeanie) | Singles match | ||
2 | Afa, Jr. (c) defeated Nuisance (with Valentina) | Singles match for the WXW Television Championship | ||
3 | Inferno, Fargo, Reno and WXW Cruiserweight Champion Shane Black defeated Billy Dream (with Jessica Daly), Protege, B.A.D. and Doink | Eight Man Tag Team match | ||
4 | The Tonga Kid and The Hungarian Barbarian defeated The Twin Tackles (Gene Snisky and Robb Harper) (with Bill Alfonso) | Tag Team match | ||
5 | The Island Boys (Ekmo and Kimo) (c) defeated Cory K and Malaki | Tag Team match for the HWA Tag Team Championship | ||
6 | Big Dawg Molsonn defeated Eric Cobian | Singles match | ||
7 | Billy Kidman defeated Low Ki (with Dylan Dean) | Singles match | ||
8 | Shannon Moore defeated Jamie Noble | Singles match | ||
9 | Homicide defeated Crazy Ivan | Singles match | ||
10 | The Brothers of Destruction (Kane and The Undertaker) defeated The Acolytes Protection Agency (Bradshaw and Faarooq) | Tag Team match | ||
11 | The Headshrinkers (Rikishi and Samu) defeated Da Hit Squad (Monsta Mack and Mafia) (with Dylan Dean) | Tag Team match | ||
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Matthew Tapunu'u Anoaʻi was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), under the ring name Rosey.
Agatupu Rodney Anoaʻi 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, a reference to the highest rank in professional sumo wrestling in Japan. He was a two-time world champion and also one time Royal Rumble winner.
Peter Alan Gruner Jr. is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Billy Kidman. He currently works for WWE as a producer.
Solofa Fatu Jr. is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring names Rikishi and Fatu with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is a one-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time World Tag Team Champion, and one-time WWE Tag Team Champion. He is a member of the Anoa'i family of Samoan wrestlers. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his sons, wrestlers Jey and Jimmy Uso, in 2015.
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In professional wrestling, the Samoan SWAT Team was a tag team who competed in promotions including World Wrestling Council, World Class Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The team later appeared in the World Wrestling Federation as the Headshrinkers and in Extreme Championship Wrestling as the Samoan Gangster Party. The team originally comprised Fatu and Samu, but various iterations included Big Matty Smalls, Samoan Savage, and Sione. Most members of the team were members of the Anoa'i family and at one point were managed by Paul Heyman, who currently manages Fatu's sons and Matty's brother, The Usos, Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns respectively, collectively known as The Bloodline. The current members are Juicy Finau, Lance Anoa'i and Jacob Fatu, who work in Major League Wrestling (MLW), with Jacob Fatu the current MLW National Openweight Champion; Finau and Lance are former MLW World Tag Team Champions.
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