2016 appears to be the year of death, particularly when it comes to sports and cultural legends. Today is no different as we learned that WWE Hall of Famer, Mr. Fuji, passed away. He was 82.
Born on May 4th, 1935 in Honolulu, HI, Harry Fujiwara entered the wrestling scene in 1965 in Hawaii as Mr. Fujiwara, eventually touring with local circuits around Portland and the Pacific Northwest for a few years. He signed with the Vince McMahon’s World Wide Wrestling Foundation (WWWF as it was known back then) in 1972 after shortening his name to Mr. Fuji. Over the next 30 years, Mr. Fuji became one of the most recognized “heels” in wrestling and the WWE, famous for throwing his “salt” into our wrestler’s eyes.
Mr. Fuji was a five-time WWE tag-team champion before retiring from the ring in 1985 to become a “heel manager” with a roster of names which included George The Animal Steele, Kamala, Killer Khan, Demolition, The Powers of Pain, Yokozuna and Magnificent Don Muraco.
Mr. Fuji was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.
