As Richard A Staple reported earlier today here on eWrestlingNews,com, the wrestling world has lost one of its most legendary managers. WWE announced this morning that Harry Fujiwara, better known as Mr. Fuji, has passed away at the age of eighty-two. No cause of death was revealed.
Fujiwara began his wrestling career in the ring, debuting on December 15th, 1965 in his home state of Hawaii under the name Mr. Fujiwara. He signed with WWE (then the WWWF) in 1972 and became a five-time WWE World Tag Team Champion, three times with Toru Tanaka and twice with Mr. Saito.
Fuji and Tanaka hit main event status as a tag team in the company soon after their debut and defended the Tag Team Titles against Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino several times in 1972, when Morales was World champion. The team left the company in 1974 and had a brief stint in Georgia Championship Wrestling before returning to WWWF in 1977. Fujiwara would return a third time in 1981 and that was when he was teamed with Saito.
After retiring in 1985, Fujiwara became a manager and took on clients like George “The Animal” Steele, Kamala, Killer Khan, Demolition, The Powers of Pain, Yokozuna and Don Muraco. He became known as one of the top managers in the company, known for throwing salt in the eyes of his clients’ opponents. He continued to make occasional forays into the ring with his clients such as at WrestleMania V when he teamed with the Powers of Pain for a three-on-two match against Demolition.
Fuju left WWE in 1996, shortly after Yokozuna’s babyface turn, and retired from the business. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.
On behalf of everyone here on eWrestlingNews.com, we send our condolences to the family, friends and many fans of Mr. Fuji. He will be missed.
Several industry figures have commented on Fuji’s passing, as you can see below:
An unforgettable character in front of the camera and an even better one behind it. Rest in Peace, Mr. Fuji. pic.twitter.com/NkpQE8pyAU
— Triple H (@TripleH) August 28, 2016
RIP #MrFuji – he did more simultaneously for bad guy wrestlers and the salt industry than anyone thought possible. pic.twitter.com/K2eT6ryeAg
— Sam Roberts (@notsam) August 28, 2016
Sad to hear the passing of wrestling legend Mr.Fuji.Classic villain #bonzai pic.twitter.com/SibRKZlpV7
— Tommy Dreamer (@THETOMMYDREAMER) August 28, 2016
