Yokozuna to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2012

Reported by Ernest Aguilar Zevallos

t was announced during the Smackdown tapings yesterday that the next entry in the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2012 will be former WWE champion Yokozuna.

The Samoan Superstar made his WWE debut in late 1992 and was managed by Mr. Fuji and it took only a couple of months for him to capture the WWE title. At WrestleMania IX, he successfully defeated Bret Hart in the main event to win the title, only to lose it minutes later to Hulk Hogan.

Yokozuna eventually went on to regain the title a few months later at King of the Ring 1993 by defeating Hogan and kept the title till WrestleMania X in Madison Sqaure Garden where he was defeated by Bret Hart.

He had successful feuds with Lex Luger and the Undertaker and then teamed with Owen Hart to capture the tag team titles twice.

In 1998 he was released from WWE and passed away on October 23, 2000, in his room in Liverpool, England, while on tour for a wrestling company.

Yokozuna - real name Rodney Anoa'i - is the cousin of The Rock, Rikishi, Umaga and other famous wrestlers who come from the Anoa'i family.