Yusuke ‘Wally’ Yamaguchi — best known to pro wrestling fans for his time in WWE’s Attitude Era as ‘Yamaguchi-San,’ the flag (and sometimes sword) wielding manager of Japanese faction Kaientai — has died at the age of 60.
Tokyo Championship Wrestling President Jimmy Suzuki shared the news on Twitter, along with the announcement that TCW will run a tribute show in Yamaguchi’s honor on March 13. Per Suzuki, Yamaguchi had been dealing with major health issues for a while, stemming from a major stroke he suffered last year.
My best friend Wally Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi San)passed away .
He had stroke about one year ago. Had hart problem as well and he was on bed for about one year. I’ll have my show on March 13 as TCW Wally Yamaguchi Memorial Show. R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/bSkErjS9wm— Jimmy Suzuki (ジミー鈴木） (@JimmySuzuki1) March 9, 2019
While most WWE fans will remember Yamaguchi as the “choppy choppy your pee-pee” guy from a wife-stealing feud with Val Venis and John Wayne Bobbitt, many Japanese fans will remember him as the face of Gong Magazine, a weekly wrestling magazine that ran in the 1970s and 80s. For American fans, imagine if Bill Apter had shown up in New Japan in the 1990s threatening to castrate Nobuhiko Takada. He was vital in helping increase the popularity of Japanese wrestling in the United States through his work with the Observer, in helping to start FMW, in his early support of eventual Japanese wrestling booking impresario Gedo, and as a talent liaison for the World Wrestling Federation.
Our love and condolences go out to Mr. Yamaguchi’s family and friends.
We wish we had better Mr. Yamaguchi-san clips to share, but you know the one we have to watch again. It’s still one of the most wonderfully absurd things to ever happen on Raw, which is saying something.
