WWE Attitude Era personality Yusuke "Wally" Yamaguchi has passed away at the age of 61, according to a report from WrestlingNews.co.
Longtime WWE fans may remember him as the manager of the Kaientai faction back in 1998, which included TAKA Michinoku, Shoichi Funaki, Men's Teioh and Dick Togo. Yamaguchi was involved in an infamous storyline where Val Venis was pursuing his (storyline) wife, Mrs. Yamaguchi-san, which resulted in Kaientai abducting Venis and attempting to emasculate him.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Yamaguchi was heavily involved with Weekly Gong Magazine in Japan, which is a magazine dedicated to the sport of professional wrestling. He was also one of the driving forces behind the launch of the old Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) promotion.
Jimmy Suzuki, President of Tokyo Championship Wrestling, posted the following on Twitter:
My best friend Wally Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi San)passed away .
— Jimmy Suzuki (ジミー鈴木) (@JimmySuzuki1) March 9, 2019
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
WNS would like to offer our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Yamaguchi.
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