5 things I loved about Mr. Fuji

Fuji & Demolition
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Over the weekend WWE Hall of Famer Mr. Fuji died. By the time I started watching wrestling in late 1983, Fuji had transitioned from wrestler to manager, though he still had a few matches against good guys like Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and his former tag team of Demolition. While "the Devious One" had a great career in the ring, holding the WWF tag team titles a couple of times, I will remember him as a constant force on the outside of the ring. His managerial career in the WWF outlasted others from that era like Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Slick and Jimmy Hart.

So I've decided to do a tribute here today with five of my favorite Mr. Fuji moments. He managed many men during his tenure, so narrowing it down to five was tough. (These aren't in any particular order.)

Helping Yokozuna win
Courtesy: WWE

1. His constant "a-salt" on opponents. Mr. Fuji became synonymous with tossing salt into the eyes of his foes in the ring. That act continued as a manager. He "blinded" everyone from Hulk Hogan to Ricky Steamboat to Bret Hart. In fact that act of malice cost Hart the WWF World Championship at WrestleMania IX and Fuji's huge henchman Yokozuna won the gold. But the title run lasted mere moments when Fuji challenged Hogan on the spot and his salt toss backfired and Yoko got the treatment. 

2. He was a sharp dressed manager. For most of his time as a manager, Mr. Fuji wore a black tuxedo, bowler and carried a cane. That looked also lead to an interesting tuxedo match against Hillbilly Jim, in which both men are in tuxes, and the man stripped down to his underwear first loses. Watch the clip above. Eventually when he began managing Yokozuna, he wore a traditional kimono and carried the Japanese flag.

The cane about to go into action
Courtesy: WWE

3. His "cane-do" attitude. Mr. Fuji's cane often became a weapon of mass destruction when his men needed it the most. That cane was used to bring Demolition the WWF Tag Team Titles against Strike Force at WrestleMania IV.  Dozens of good guys left the ring with an imprint of that cane on their back, head or abdomen.

4. He was the king of the low blow. Fuji used to set up his opponents for the ultimate low blow, a head butt to the crouch. It hurts me to just type this one out.

5. He and the Magnificent Muraco put Crockett and Tubbs to shame. The manager-wrestler duo did a spoof of Miami Vice on Tuesday Night Titans called Fuji Vice. It was a a fun segment to capitalize on the popularity of the crime show and give it a wrestling twist. Again, watch the above clip.

These are just a few of the many accomplishments Mr. Fuji made during his long career. I'd be remiss to not mention him during on Demolition during the 1988 Survivor Series and joining forces with the Powers of Pain. Rest in peace Mr. Fuji. You will be missed.

WWE vs. former Superstars

Jimmy Snuka gets smashed

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Dozens of former WWE Superstars are taking the company to court. Some of the big names involved in a class action lawsuit include "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Road Warrior Animal, King Kong Bundy, Chavo Guerrero, Jr. & Sr., Sabu and both members of Demolition. Here's the full list of the 51 plaintiffs.

The suit alleges that the wrestlers incurred "long term neurological injuries" in the course of working for the company, while it "routinely failed to care" for them " in any medically competent or meaningful manner" and even "fraudulently misrepresented and concealed" the nature and extent of those injuries.

"Instead of upholding its duty to its employees, WWE placed corporate gain over its wrestlers' health, safety, and financial security, choosing to leave the Plaintiffs severely injured and with no recourse to treat their damaged minds and bodies."

Right now concussions and the long term impact is being studied and discussed at length. The NFL and NHL have faced similar lawsuits due to injuries players have suffered. WWE, the NFL and the NHL have change their policies to help protect Superstars and players. The death of Eddie Guerrero and the murder-suicide carried out by Chris Benoit brought about change in WWE.

Sabu

I'm not judging anyone who is a part of the suit. My biggest complaint is guys who never wrestled under the WWE banner are also trying to cash in on this situation. To my recollection Rod Price never wrestled in WWE. Guys like Sabu, Axl Rotten and Tracy Smothers suffered the brunt of their injuries years before stepping in a WWE ring. Chavo Guerrero, Sr. only had a handful of matches as did Black Bart and Bobbi Billiard.

Slick & Kamala are also suing

My point is many if not most of the names on the list were injured and "forced" to wrestle in companies other than WWE. But because Vince McMahon and his team are the last ones standing, they're the ones with the cash and are expected to be responsible. I have no doubt in some cases men and women have been asked to or have felt obligated to get in the ring despite being injured. Maybe for that they deserve some sort of compensation. 

Demolition vs. The Powers of Pain (both teams are suing)

I'll be curious to see what happens to Orndorff and Animal's status in the WWE Hall of Fame. Snuka has already been "removed" due to his court case involving the death of his girlfriend in 1982. By the way the "Superfly" was deemed incompetent to stand trial in that case, which makes me wonder who added him to this class action suit. But it's also unlikely now the likes of Kamala, Demolition and Bundy will ever be inducted. I know there are bigger issues at hand than that, but I digress.

Bottom line: the situation sucks. I'm sure some involved in this case don't want to attack or hurt WWE, but feel they have no other choice in the matter. I'm no legal expert, but I would imagine there could be a settlement in the works. I'd be shocked if this makes it all the way to court. But I'd be even more surprised if WWE is held liable for the injures suffered decades ago.

SummerSlam A to Z: Powers of Pain

SummerSlam 1988
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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The Warlord and Barbarian were a couple of muscle bound guys with weird haircuts and facepaint who terrorized a couple of guys who looked just like them: The Road Warriors.  This feud happened in the late 1980's in the NWA.  The Warriors won the war, sending the Powers of Pain heading north to the WWF.  The duo appeared in the summer of 1988 as babyfaces, after Tito Santana introduced them on Wrestling Superstars in an effort to avenge Rick Martel's injury at the hands of Demolition.

The Baron

The POP ended up wrestling at that first SummerSlam against the Bolsheviks.  The Powers had a bizarre manager named The Baron who was played by former AWA tag team champ Baron Von Raschke.  He didn't last long though.  The match was a squash with the Powers going over.  Even though they were viewed as Road Warrior wannabes by many fans, it was believed (by me specifically) they'd be the team to take the titles from Demolition eventually.

Powers of Pain with Master Fuji
Courtesy: WWE 

That didn't happen either and the Powers ended up flipping roles with Demolition later that year at Survivor Series, adopting Mr. Fuji as their manager.  The team split not long after that and both Warlord and Barbarian enjoyed very little success as singles stars.  Warlord bested Tito Santana at SummerSlam 90.  That tag match in 88 was the Barbarian's only outing at the summer tradition.

Boo: Demolition

Smash & Ax: Demolition
Photo courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

It's October 1, and that means it's time to kick off the month with a daily "Boo Blog."  Each day there will be a Halloween related blog posted, many will be wrestling related, but we're opening it up to all sorts of pop culture and entertainment this year.

The original team
Photo courtesy: WWE

I'm starting off with a wrestling one, and perhaps one of the greatest tag teams in the history of the WWE: Demolition.  At least they are one of my all time favorite teams.

I didn't know it at the time, but when the team debut back in 1987, Ax was played by Bill Eadie, the man behind the Masked Superstar and Super Machine.  Smash was Randy Colley, who had been Moondog Rex previously.  According to Barry Darsow, who replaced Colley, fans recognized the former Moondog and wouldn't let him forget about it.  So the WWF replaced him with Darsow, who I knew as Krusher Khruschev in the NWA.  Got all that?  Good.  Let's continue.

Ax and Smash were big, burly guys, decked out in leather and spikes and had their faces painted.  They were first led to the ring by "Luscious" Johnny V, but really his character didn't really fit the role with these two brutes.  Soon after their debut, Mr. Fuji took over their contracts.

It didn't take long for fans to take notice of Demolition.  They tore through the competition, eventually earning a shot at the tag team champions, Strike Force at Wrestlemania IV.  With the help of Mr. Fuji's cane, Ax and Smash became the WWF tag team champions.  I'm pretty sure the two set a record for holding the tag team titles the longest in WWF history, with their first reign lasting well over a year.  Demolition ended up dumping Mr. Fuji during a double switch at the 1988 Survivor Series.  The Powers of Pain were the faces that night, but by the end of the match, ended up walking away with the devious manager.

Demolishing Mr. Fuji
Wrestlemania V

It was that night that I really took a liking to Demolition.  I was 15 at the time, and still tending to root for the babies over heels.  One of my favorite Royal Rumble moments came in 1989, when Ax and Smash were participates one and two.  They beat the hell out of each other for the first two minutes, before Andre the Giant entered, and then the champs focused their attention on him.

Ax and Smash ended up facing the Powers of Pain at Wrestlemania V.  The Warlord and Barbarian not only had Mr. Fuji in their corner, but as a partner that night.  The champs won the handicap match, pinning their former manager.

They beat everyone they faced until the Brain Busters used a chair and Andre the Giant to win the gold.  It didn't take long for Demolition to regain the belts and eventually drop them again to Andre and Haku.  But at Wrestlemania VI, they once again reigned supreme.

Smash, Ax, & Crush
Photo courtesy: WWE

The team added a third member in Crush who was brought in to presumably replace an aging and health weary Ax.  This new incarnation lost its luster in my view.  I think you could say it's when Demolition jumped the shark. It wasn't long before they lost the titles and quickly plunged into obscurity.  Less than a year later Ax was gone, Crush became an orange spandex wearing Hawaiian strong man and Smash was stealing things that didn't belong to him as the Repo Man.

In the early years of Demolition, the team drew criticism for being Road Warriors rip offs.  As a young fan back then, I never really viewed them as wanna-bes.  Demolition wasn't the only team sporting war paint and leather look.  I really think the long title reign and the dominance over some of the best WWF tag teams like The British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation, and Powers of Pain helped bring some legitimacy to this tandem.  Eventually when Hawk and Animal arrived in the WWF, they dominated Demolition, who were already on their way out for the most part.  Never the less, Ax and Smash remain one of the best as far as I'm concerned.